June 12, We Declare... Where do we go from here
This is also the last of my blogs, at least for now. I have been reevaluating the fragmented and sometimes overcommitted busy-ness of my day to day life and have decided this is one thing I could give up. Since this blog has not turned out to meet the needs of those who spoke of missing my weekly reflections, and since few if any of them are even reading it, I have decided to stop - at least for now.
Back to the series.....
Over the course of the series we have read of the call to share God's good news with others - even with the world! We have reflected on how we sometimes turn the good news into bad news, causing pain and frustration instead of joy and freedom. We have looked at how the Good news of God's love and vision for peace and justice was around already in the Old Testament, and have been reminded of the power granted to us by the Holy Spirit to really communicate God's message in a way that they can understand. So where do we go from here?
This week's passages range from a Psalm of praise ( Psalm 148) - Praise the Lord! Sing Alleluia!, to an invitation to participate in God's abundant generosity from the prophet Isaiah (Is 55) to a call to take on Jesus' yoke (Matthew 11) to a thought provoking story of Jesus' interaction with a Samaritan woman (Jn 4) and a reminder of Christ's priorities (Phil 2). How do these help us know where we go from here?
The first thing that came to my mind is that these all remind us of what the good news is. God is amazing and always has been! God has given us so much, and offers us even more if we are willing to take take it. God through Jesus has let us know that we are not laden with a heavy burden of striving for an impossible righteousness but with the light yoke of choosing to live as beloved children of God. Jesus does not honor the codes of who is in and who is out, for a Samaritan Woman would be out by the codes of his day, especially one who had had five husbands! We are all "in" and worthy of communication with and from God. And Jesus showed us that being God's child is not always glamorous or fun, it can be humiliating and painful - but God is with us and understands for God has come in human form and experienced some of the worst that humans do each other. God loves, God gives, God helps, God cares, God understands. This is good news!
The second thing that struck me a I pondered these passages was a comment made during a discussion of the Matthew passage this past week. Someone pointed out that a yoke is generally not worn by one animal, but ties two or more animals together. It helps them stay in step. It helps them share the workload. It helps them combine their strength. It can help an inexperienced animal learn from one that is more experienced. There can be many beautiful things about a yoke. The yoke Jesus asks us to don draws us into a community where we can learn and grow together, learn from each other, draw power and strength from each other. Yoked together in this community we can become and accomplish way more than any of us could on our own. If we take on the yoke of following Jesus together, the yoke is easy. Reading the passages again as a member of a community of God's children discerning, experiencing and sharing God's good news, makes them even more amazing.
The third thing that has caused me to ponder is the conversation that Jesus had with the woman at the well. Even the woman was surprised that a Jewish man, never mind a Jewish rabbi, would speak to her. This did not stop her from entering into the conversation - the longest recorded in the Gospels, and one where Jesus showed her respect in addressing her questions and understandings. Blinded by today's "Political Correctness," we may not see how radical this was. In many Jewish eyes this woman would have been nothing - definitely not worthy of a theological conversation. Is there someone we are excluding from our conversations because they are too young or too old or too male or too female or too ???? Who are we cheating ourselves of the opportunity to learn from? Who are we writing off as not worthy to engage? Jesus challenges us to see other people as worthy of our time and our listening ear. Jesus challenges us to really see other people.
So those are three aspects that have drawn me as I consider again what it means to declare what I have seen and heard. I am called to continually remember all God has done and is doing, to praise God for it, and to open myself to accept God's generosity. I am called to carry the yoke Jesus has created for me. It may not be the same yoke another person has to carry, but it is one that binds me to the people around me who are also doing their best to follow Christ and share God's good news. And I am called to truly engage with others - for neither they nor I am unworthy of conversation. God loves us both. Remembering these things can help us as we move forward learning to truly listen to understand where others are coming from, and to humbly hold their beliefs with respect while holding true to our core beliefs, recognizing that maybe not everything we believe is a core belief.
May the Holy Spirit continue to work in us individually and collectively so we can go forth with confidence as beloved children of God sharing what we have seen and heard and learned to be true. May God help us go forth and work in us and through us to further God's kingdom.
May God bless you!
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