Waterless Wandering in the Desert (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche

Changes can be good; and, of course, some changes are unavoidable. Alternately, though, some changes must be resisted, no matter what.

There are all sorts of changes happening, lately, in our life. For example, we recently bought some new kitchen appliances. As a result, we’ve been passing interesting milestones; such as “last load of dishes in the old dishwasher” and “last funky smelling ice from the old ice maker.” Another change finds me donating my (very) old Hardy Boys novels to the local Friends of the Library for the annual book sale (I’m not abandoning my old chums; just need to get the updated language versions so I can read them to my Grands without having to stop and explain every fifth word).

Recently, my credit union merged with the NASA credit union. Between that and the SpaceX facility at the edge of our town, I am now one step closer to my life-long desire to be an intergalactic explorer.

So, yes, change can be good.

This week’s scriptures, though, capture several things that should not change; mutual love, hospitality; care for the poor, crippled, imprisoned, and blind; providing for those who cannot repay. These have been required of God’s people for millennia ... and still are. When we fail to do these kinds of things, when, as it indicates in Hebrews, we “neglect to do good and share what we have,” we are heading down a wrong path, one that places our focus on the wrong things.

God’s people often changed how they related to other people, kept failing to love and care for those in need, despite repeated messages from God to do so. They chose to ignore God’s instructions and, instead, followed idols: gods so false they were actually nothing.

Jeremiah delivered a spiritual metaphor from God to illustrate this. He said that substituting their own reasoning for God’s was the same as choosing false gods over God. This led to “two evils,” not just one: “they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.” Does it make any sense to ignore free, continuous water while simultaneously attempting to collect rain in a cracked container? It’s like walking away from a desert oasis, leaving behind the water source, assuming there will be enough rain out in the desert to meet our needs.

Sounds crazy to me.

There are consequences for making this kind of change, for choosing the empty path over the full one ... but the consequences are likely not what you think. God makes it clear in Psalm 81 that, should we keep choosing other paths over the one He established for us, He will give us over to our “stubborn hearts,” allow us to follow our “own counsel.” In other words, it’s not that God will strike us down or send some similar punishment. It is much worse: God will simply ... let us go our own way.

Changes can be good. But walking out into the desert of life without the living water of God is the same as becoming emptiness through worshipping emptiness ... that’s a change we must resist, no matter what.

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PHOTO: Adobe Spark Post

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 17 (22) (September 1, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=277

Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
Proverbs 25:6-7
Psalm 112
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14

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Join us Friday morning at “Our Breakfast Place” (formerly The Egg and I) for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. The hour starts at 8:00 and is comfortably packed with Bible discussion, Breakfast, Prayer, and fellowship. We would love for you to join us.

Blessings,
Steve

The Billion Dollar Giveaway (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I was offended. It was supposed to be a celebration, and they were ruining it!

We had accomplished something truly amazing. Having crossed the $2 Billion point in our efforts, our leadership was taking a day to celebrate our accomplishments. Bigwigs flew out from the main office. They took photos of us holding a giant $2 Billion check. We were being touted in the news.

It should have been a perfect day. And yet, detractors in our own office had dubbed our accomplishment “the billion dollar giveaway.” Sniping from the wings, it seemed to me. It wasn’t their accomplishment, so they intended to ruin it for the rest of us. I mean ... come on ... there were cookies and cake in the break room!

I was in a state. No telling what I was saying out loud. It was at this point my boss gently guided me into his office and closed the door. He told me to calm down. He then shocked me by putting a name to my behavior.

Aesthetic outrage.

Yep, that’s right. He was telling me that the whisper campaign of our fifth-column naysayers, while possibly a violation of decorum, had no impact on the substance of our gathering. We had, in fact, accomplished the very thing we were celebrating. In other words, my outrage had no real substance. I had no real reason to be offended.

Wait. What? But ... But they ... Oh.

Slowly it began to sink in. He was correct. My response was to some superficial matter and had completely ignored the substance of the event. I was offended at their violation of what I perceived as the rules of proper conduct. Until he made me see it, I had lost track of what was truly important.

Jesus ran into a similar mindset in this week’s scripture from Luke. He healed a woman while at church! To our modern sensibilities, this may seem absolutely the right place and time, but not so to the leader of the Synagogue. He was offended. How dare Jesus ... or anyone ... say or do anything to breach the decorum of the Sabbath! — There are rules, people! — In his view, all that healing should take place on one of the other six days.

But Jesus came back with inescapable logic. Not a person there would leave their farm animals bound on a Sabbath, unable to have access to water. How does that stack up against providing much needed relief to a human on the same day?

What we make room for in our spiritual space is, not surprisingly, personal. And also no surprise, we give ourselves some latitude. The downside of this is that, sometimes (often?), we don’t allow the same leeway in the spiritual space of others ... particularly if what they do breeches our definition of decorum.

You may find that some people prefer the traditional pieces of worship to the actual work of worship. Nothing Jesus said that day was new, and it wasn’t news to His audience. For centuries, the Prophets had been telling God’s people that the work of worship — attending to the needs of the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, the imprisoned ...and the ill — was more important to God than the sacrifices and festivals ... even though God had instructed them to do those things, too.

The acts of worship have meaning and purpose. They are not, however, satisfactory on their own. Like Jesus, we must become attuned to the needs of those near us — our neighbors, if you will — and act on that knowledge in a timely manner: do the actual work of worship.

Even if it causes a bit of aesthetic outrage along the way.


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Photo: “Leading An Ox to Water” by Steve Orr

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 16 (21) (August 25, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=276

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17

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Join us Friday morning at Our Breakfast Place (formerly The Egg and I) for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. An hour of food, scripture, and discussion starts at 8:00am. It’s a wonderful way to launch the weekend.

Blessings,
Steve

It’s All About the Vine (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Did Roger Ebert know he was saving the movie when he wrote his review of A Walk in the Clouds?

The plot: A veteran, fresh from the trauma of World War II, befriends a pregnant young woman on her way home from college. She has been abandoned by the man she thought loved her. And she now fears a harsh response from her father, the strong-willed master of their family vineyard ... and their family. The veteran agrees to temporarily pose as her husband; hopefully, this will blunt her father’s reaction.

The other critics, for the most part, were not all that kind. Even the positive reviews were mostly of the “faint praise” variety. Admittedly, the story is fairly simple, filled with sentiment and idealism. And those are the elements most criticized.

Ebert took a different tact, resetting the viewers’ expectations. He called the film “a glorious romantic fantasy, aflame with passion and bittersweet longing. One needs perhaps to have a little of these qualities in one's soul to respond fully to the film, which to a jaundiced eye might look like overworked melodrama, but that to me sang with innocence and trust.”

I agree with Ebert. You should set aside any cynicism and see this film. You will be enriched.

But don’t let any of this drama distract you: it’s really all about the vineyard. The family’s entire existence revolves around it. Each day is filled with what it takes to keep the vines healthy and producing the varietals needed for a great wine. The challenges are constant; and before the film is over, an existential crisis threatens the vineyard.

At the heart of it all is the original vine, the root. Without it, the vineyard would be lost.

Like the vineyard in this week’s scripture selections from Isaiah and Psalm 80, it cannot survive on its own. The vineyard God has planted represents His people. Sadly, all it will produce is wild grapes, useless for making wine. The people keep failing. And begging to be forgiven. It’s cyclic. Eventually, God says He has had enough, is giving up on His vineyard. Then, the animals, the other plants, and even the weather work to destroy it.

Is there any rescue? Yes, but centuries would pass before someone would appear to end that heartbreaking cycle. That cycle-breaker was Jesus, the promised Messiah. He is the root, the original vine. Without Him, the vineyard will be lost, cut off from God.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.” (John‬ ‭15:5-8‬ ‭The Message‬‬)

Sentimental? Idealistic? Too simple for a cynic to believe? Perhaps. But it absolutely sings with innocence and trust. And nothing could be more true.

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Check out A Walk in the Clouds here: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0114887/?ref_=m_nv_sr_1

Check out Roger Ebert’s review here: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-walk-in-the-clouds-1995

PHOTO: Steve Orr (Grapes at Granville Island Market)
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 15 (20) (August 18, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=275

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

Friday mornings are a treat. DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets at 8:00 and includes an hour of scripture, discussion, food, prayer, and laughter. Join us at “Our Breakfast Place” (formerly the “Egg and I” restaurant), corner of New Road and Franklin, near Outback. We are usually in the function room (down the outside of the building, near the back).

Blessings,
Steve

Who is Doug and Why Would You Fry Him? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I was conditioned. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

When we moved to Boston, we were actually looking forward to learning all about this new place. We expected we would need to make some cultural adjustments. We just had no idea how much adjustment was going to be needed.

The thing we thought we could depend on to make our transition a bit easier is the very thing that failed us: the English language. I might have expected a language challenge if we had moved to London, England or, say, Edinburgh, Scotland. But not from a move within the USA. I thought we only had to adjust to the New England accent. I was so naive.

From the very beginning, we could not communicate.

Perhaps the biggest challenge: we had to learn all new terminology. A shopping cart was a “carriage.” Sprinkles on ice cream? “Jimmies.” A milkshake was a “frappe,” and a water fountain was a “bubbler.” Those small cardboard cups of ice cream with the little wooden spoon? “Hoodsies.”

Each of these had a distinct name ... and no other name. Take, for instance, ice cream. If you asked for sprinkles on your ice cream, you would be met by a blank stare. If you failed to ask for a Hoodsie, by name, you didn’t get one. And don’t get me started on the drama that follows ordering a “double dip” when you should have requested two scoops.

When change encounters culture, culture wins. We weren’t going to change them. So, it didn’t take long for us to fall into the habit of assuming we just didn’t understand ... especially when a strange word appeared before us. We had become conditioned.

Hopefully, that explains my response when I saw the sign for FRIED DOUG.

I admit the fleeting thought: Who’s Doug and why would you fry him? But, I had come to the point I no longer questioned, critically, the terms and practices of my culture. My repeated experiences had formed a certain mindset: others who preceded me in history had made choices to speak and act certain ways. Even if I didn’t really understand the why, I was conditioned: FRIED DOUG must mean something.

Or, must it? For me, my FRIED DOUG clarity came just moments later when the crowd moved aside. As they parted, I realized I had only been seeing part of the sign. Now that I could see it all, I could easily understand my error. There, immediately to the right of “DOUG” was the letter “H.”

... Oh.

FRIED DOUGH made a lot more sense than FRIED DOUG. My own habit had tricked me into believing there was one meaning, when In fact there was another.

It’s similar, in a way, to what was happening with God’s people when Isaiah confronted them with their hypocrisy in this week’s scripture selection. God rejected all their religious practices, en mass. In fact, God told them those actions and observances had become a burden, and He had grown weary of bearing them! God rejected their prayers, their gatherings, their festivals: every part of what they did or said as worshippers.

Why? What had they done to warrant such a reaction? I’m sure they attempted, much as we do today, to performed each religious practice, properly. Where had they gone wrong?

They fell into a habit.

Their culture required certain religious practices of them. They had been conditioned to do them, and so ... they did them. But, over time, what made those practices meaningful had fallen away. God said their hands were bloody from doing evil. They had to restore themselves by serving justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow.

They needed the clarity the Prophet Isaiah was providing. Like the “H” in my FRIED DOUG sign, they were missing something essential. Without that missing piece, their worship was worse than meaningless: the object of their worship no longer wanted to hear from them. If they wanted their religion to be acceptable to God, they had to actually do good.

There is no doubt they were going to have to make some serious adjustments. The question is: do we?


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 14 (19) (August 11, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=274

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40

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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday morning at the “Egg and I” restaurant (soon to be renamed “Our Breakfast Place”). We start at 8:00, and enjoy a time of scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship.

Blessings,
Steve

Whatever Happened to Anne of Green Gables? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Anne who?

I assume that’s what some of you are thinking right now (even if the name rings a bell, you just can’t think why). Fans, no doubt, are quoting Anne, ticking off how many times they’ve visited Green Gables, and re-enacting “The Lady of Shalott.”

Fans are the majority. So I can safely assume most are thinking: whatever did happen to Anne Shirley, the feisty orphan who impacted so many lives on Prince Edward Island (PEI)?

For the “Anne who?” crowd, keep reading. All will come clear.

To date, L. M. Montgomery’s first novel, Anne of Green Gables, has sold over 50 million copies, has been translated into 36 languages, and has never been out of print. It is the source of multiple movies, television productions, plays, and musicals. Not bad for a 111 year old novel.

As longtime “Fans of Anne,” we recently traveled to Charlottetown, PEI (Canada) to find the answer to our question. It was there we attended Anne & Gilbert, the Musical. The 2.5 hour show is lively, interesting, fun, and, to those wanting to know “what happened next,” informative. Picking up where the first novel leaves off, we learn through song, dance, and dialogue about the post-high school years of Anne-With-An-E and her wanna-be beau, Gilbert Blythe.

There’s a lot to that story and I’m not going to print any spoilers, here. Go see the musical. One of the rewards for doing so is that you will get to enjoy the musical numbers, particularly the toe-tapping, often hilarious, You’re Island Through and Through.

The author was a Prince Edward Island devotee. She once wrote, "We Prince Edward Islanders are a loyal race. In our secret soul we believe that there is no place like the little Province that gave us birth... Prince Edward Island, however, is really a beautiful Province — the most beautiful place in America, I believe."

The song captures this, perfectly, with such lines as:

If You're Pleased As Punch With Where You Live
And Proud Of What You Do
You're Island, You're Island Through And Through
And If You Mind Your Business
And You Mind Your Neighbor's Too
You're Island, You're Island Through And Through

Verse after verse provides reasons why a person could claim to be “island through and through.” Much the same way, the verses in this week’s selection from the Letter to the Colossians provide us a means to know if our citizenship is “above” with Jesus. We are called to set our minds “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

We are to strip off our old selves by dropping those earthly things that argue against our Heavenly citizenship, such as impurity, evil desire, greed (which is idolatry), anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language. We are further commanded, “Do not lie to one another....”

The reward for taking these steps is a renewal that leads to community, a state where our differences no longer divide us, where “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”

In other words, Jesus through and through.


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PHOTO: https://m.viator.com/Prince-Edward-Island-tourism/Anne-of-Green-Gables-on-Prince-Edward-Island/d5643-t18561

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 13 (18) (August 4, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=273

Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23
Psalm 49:1-12
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21

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Join us Friday morning at the “Egg and I” restaurant (soon to be renamed “Our Breakfast Place”) for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We start at 8:00, and we fill the hour with scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship (and a little frivolity).

Blessings,
Steve

Who’s Gonna Walk You Through the Dark Side of the Morning? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Relationships can be hard.

But do they have to be?

Have you heard the Selena Gomez single, It Ain’t Me? It’s a catchy tune, one you just might want to set on repeat for a while. If you do listen to it, take a few minutes to meditate on the lyrics.** I expect something, there, will ring true, especially if you’ve ever had hard times in your love life.

She sings of a past love, remembering some of the times they enjoyed being together. But she also laments they drifted apart, mostly because of the other party’s bad behavior. In the chorus, she asks:

Who's gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?
Who's gonna rock you when the sun won't let you sleep?
Who's waking up to drive you home when you're drunk and all alone?
Who's gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?

You get the sense she did those things, at least for a while; got out of her empty bed to drive her love home from a night of debauchery, helped with the hangover, provided support through the dark times.

But then, she answers those questions: It ain’t me.

The questions are rhetorical. She’s already moved past the point of no return. She’s not going to do any of those things, anymore. She’s not coming back. She’s had enough.

It’s over.

But make no mistake: the song is about fidelity ... or, at least, the desire for it. As is the book of Hosea, despite how it may look otherwise in this week’s scripture. At God’s instruction, Hosea marries a person who seems unsuited for a sustained relationship. They form a life together, have children together. But, his spouse keeps cheating on him. And the children are not his.

The longer you stay in a relationship, the greater the likelihood the two of you are going to face difficulties. There are no two people who are alike: that, alone, guarantees conflicts. But, it’s at a whole different level when a spouse continues to looks elsewhere for intimacy.

So, what holds them together?

This is the question we need to answer about God and us. In Hosea, his marital relationship serves as an illustration of how God sees the chosen people; God loves them, and demonstrates that love every day. But the chosen people keep looking to other gods, false gods. They are serially unfaithful.

The amazing thing, here, is that God forgives their infidelity. In fact, God proclaims, ... in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God.”

He wants them back.

God knows we stray. But, despite our infidelity to God, God remains faithful to us. Sure, there will be some rocky times. There will be those times when, by our pursuit of others to fill the place of God, we separate ourselves from God. But, God wants us to return. Even at our most remote, God loves us and remains faithful.

Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning?

You know.


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PHOTO: Steve Orr

** You can listen to “It Ain’t Me”, here. Just press SKIP AD when it appears on the screen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6sSQq7a_Po&app=desktop

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 12 (17) (July 28, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=272

Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13

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Will you be with us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? We read the Bible, discuss how it works in our real lives. Plus, we find time for a meal, some fellowship, a prayer, and, perhaps surprisingly, quite a bit of laughter.

Join us at 8:00 at Waco’s “Egg and I” restaurant. We’re usually in the function room (along the outside to a separate entry near the back), but ask if you don’t find us

It’s a great way to start the weekend.

Blessings,
Steve

If I Ever Wrote That Novel About Lazarus (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

If I were to write a novel based on the Bible, my focus would be the Bethany siblings: Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. The title? BETHANY

My idea is to conflate four different Bible stories, to make one character out of four. I would combine Simon the Leper, Simon the Pharisee, Lazarus of Bethany (the resurrected brother of Mary & Martha), and Lazarus the Leper in the parable.

How interesting would it be if this Simon Lazarus was from a wealthy family (olive groves) and then, through “prodigal” living, contracted some skin disease (Leprosy was a term applied to several bad skin conditions)?

Because Leprosy was considered communicable though touch, Simon Lazarus would be ostracized by his family and by the entire community. He would sit outside the gates of his own family’s estate, begging for alms (and wishing he could return to his former life).

At some point in the story, Simon Lazarus would be cured of his disease by Jesus. That cure would lead to a conversion experience and to an ongoing friendship with Jesus ... but much damage would already have been done by his previous profligate life, and not just to his health.

His younger sister, Mary, had followed his example and become involved in similar wild living and dissolution. His elderly parents, orthodox Jewish believers, blamed Simon Lazarus. Already broken-hearted by Simon Lazarus’ rejection of all they believed, Mary’s poor life choices break their health. In time, their grief leads first one and then the other to their deaths.

The cured and converted Simon Lazarus is eventually welcomed back into his home, but now only he and older sister Martha constitute the family.

Eventually, over the years of his ministry, Jesus would visit the home of Simon Lazarus multiple times. On one occasion, a woman comes in and anoints Jesus’ head. On another, the same penitent woman enters and weeps on Jesus’ feet before anointing them with perfume and wiping them with her hair.

This woman would be Mary, the younger sister of Lazarus. Having lived a dissolute life, she has been drawn to Jesus by his teachings and his obvious love of sinners. He would have formed a personal relationship with her, just as he did with other “tax collectors and sinners.” She would even attend some of those early gatherings where Jesus dined with some of them. In other words: her own story of being drawn to Jesus would be told, completely separate from that of Simon Lazarus.

She would be so changed by her lifestyle (and the passage of years) that Simon Lazarus would not recognize her when she first appeared to anoint Jesus. It would only be after her conversion that Lazarus would realize she is his baby sister, the one he was not allowed to see all that time he was ostracized.

And what about Martha?

Martha stayed true to her family’s beliefs. Martha stayed and kept the home, nursing her parents in their old age. Martha watched her siblings waste their inheritance and their lives. And after her parents’ deaths, Martha became the matriarch. Maybe the years were not so many, but they were heavy with import. Much of significance had happened ... much that might not be forgivable.

In my novel, this is the Martha we would encounter in this week’s scripture from Luke; the one who stayed, the one who held it all together, the one who was, as Jesus described her, “worried and distracted by many things.”

Let’s remember this: Jesus knew the depths of those He encountered. When he spoke these words to Martha, he knew where Mary needed to be ... and he believed that, in that moment and in her future, that is where Martha needed to be, as well. His words were not an indictment of Martha, or of her desire to maintain order and decorum in her home.

Martha needed Jesus just as much as her siblings ... but not for the same reasons. Martha needed to hear those words from Jesus. They were for her. Let’s not make the same mistake many have made over the years. This is not, and never was: Mary good, Martha bad.

Jesus was issuing an invitation to Martha. It’s the same one He speaks to us: you can set down your heavy load. You can rest in Jesus. You can take a risk and allow Jesus to gently remove your armor. You are safe with Jesus.

You are, finally ... really ... home.


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 11 (16) (July 21, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=271

Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

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Friday morning will be another amazing gathering of folk at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. When we gather at 8:00 at the “Egg and I” restaurant, we share an hour where, together, we encounter God. It’s food, fellowship, Bible discussion, and, surprising to some, joy and laughter.

Join us.

Blessings,
Steve