Thursday, January 8

Today’s Readings: Psalm 5; Isaiah 59:15b-21; John 4:46-54; Revelation 2:8-17; Psalm 113

One of the interesting elements of the Epiphany story from last Sunday was how God reached out and revealed Godself to those outside the formal religious structures of the day. God chose to reach out to the wise men, for instance, instead of to the priests or Pharisees. That same trend of God reaching out to the outsider is picked up once again in today’s Gospel reading in John when we hear the story of the healing of the official’s son. In that story, we are introduced to a person whose faith effects a remarkable healing. That individual, ironically, did not come from the safe confines of the established religious establishment of his day. He was located outside of those confines. That pattern this week got me to thinking about all the ways our location within established religious traditions might at times hold us back at times in our spiritual lives. If God had revealed Godself to faithful members of a church council instead of to the wise men, for instance, would the members of the council said, “Gee, we would love to follow you but we have responsibilities to fulfill around here so why don’t you go on ahead without us”? Or if Jesus had made himself available to effect a healing for a faithful church-goer, would that faithful church-goer have asked Jesus what letters he had behind his name (i.e. M. Div. or Ph.D) before he would have presented his loved one for healing? Today, I would encourage you to open your head and heart as you consider the ways our commitments might be obstacles that prevent us from experiencing the fullness of God’s presence and power in our lives. Perhaps we can find ways of living into that sense of openness that the wise men and the court official had so that we might have deeper experiences of the Divine. Til next time…