Where Do You Find Joy in Your Life?
Can you find all the miracles in today readings? Spectacular ones - Widow’s dead son raised to life by Prophet Elijah, Paul being converted from killing Christians to becoming one of them, Jesus bringing back to life the son of the widow from Nain. Non-spectacular miracles – the widow taking in Elijah, the hunted man because of his faithfulness to God, Elijah’s fidelity, the widow’s kindness. What about Paul’s fidelity and devotion until his death as a martyr?
Then there is Jesus. He, like Elijah, was given power from God to bring someone back to life. Jesus was moved to extraordinary compassion for a widow in a strange little town. She was about to lose everything that had value for her: her son and through him, her status in the community. She had no value on her own and couldn’t inherit anything without her husband and son. Jesus recognized this and out of love for this woman raised the young man back to life. All of these miraculous events happened because of love. That’s a miracle in itself!
Where is the truth in these stories? What is the message for us? Let’s not overlook the message of God’s infinite compassion. In their commentary the Jesus Seminar writers note that the words of this resurrection story there is no word or phrase that appears to be remembered in the community as having come from Jesus. The story was not told by any of the other evangelists. It was Luke’s way of showing that God’s love is active for the benefit of those, especially women, who are powerless.
Where does that leave us? We can’t perform miracles, or can we? Certainly we are called to have love for those who have been pushed to the margins of society because they come from different ethnic backgrounds. What about those who have been sexually abused, especially those abused by priests? What can we do to help these people begin to come back to life or continue to heal? There are no limits to God’s love. As we say often here at SMMCC, “All are welcome!” “Jesus risked becoming ritually contaminated in order to prevent a widow from being further marginalized. What are we willing to risk for the sake of bringing God’s love to others?” Is this where we can find joy?
I’ll bet you have seen or experienced amazing healings of body, mind or spirit! I imagine you have participated in helping someone’s healing from addiction, getting treatment for mental illness, or helping someone die peacefully and transition to eternal life.
I challenge you to find the areas where you haven’t quite reached the ability to deal with that type of issue. Being willing to try doesn’t mean, of course, you can pretty much guarantee success. It means your love has expanded to include that person or situation. God who is eternal love will provide the rest. Could that be a message of today’s scripture readings? What do you think is a messages for yourself and our faith community? Let’s think about the Indiana Women’s Prison Project. Helen and I are looking into possibilities there.
(Taken from: Preaching the Revised Lectionary, Year C, by Dianne Bergant.)
Maria Thornton McClain
Can you find all the miracles in today readings? Spectacular ones - Widow’s dead son raised to life by Prophet Elijah, Paul being converted from killing Christians to becoming one of them, Jesus bringing back to life the son of the widow from Nain. Non-spectacular miracles – the widow taking in Elijah, the hunted man because of his faithfulness to God, Elijah’s fidelity, the widow’s kindness. What about Paul’s fidelity and devotion until his death as a martyr?
Then there is Jesus. He, like Elijah, was given power from God to bring someone back to life. Jesus was moved to extraordinary compassion for a widow in a strange little town. She was about to lose everything that had value for her: her son and through him, her status in the community. She had no value on her own and couldn’t inherit anything without her husband and son. Jesus recognized this and out of love for this woman raised the young man back to life. All of these miraculous events happened because of love. That’s a miracle in itself!
Where is the truth in these stories? What is the message for us? Let’s not overlook the message of God’s infinite compassion. In their commentary the Jesus Seminar writers note that the words of this resurrection story there is no word or phrase that appears to be remembered in the community as having come from Jesus. The story was not told by any of the other evangelists. It was Luke’s way of showing that God’s love is active for the benefit of those, especially women, who are powerless.
Where does that leave us? We can’t perform miracles, or can we? Certainly we are called to have love for those who have been pushed to the margins of society because they come from different ethnic backgrounds. What about those who have been sexually abused, especially those abused by priests? What can we do to help these people begin to come back to life or continue to heal? There are no limits to God’s love. As we say often here at SMMCC, “All are welcome!” “Jesus risked becoming ritually contaminated in order to prevent a widow from being further marginalized. What are we willing to risk for the sake of bringing God’s love to others?” Is this where we can find joy?
I’ll bet you have seen or experienced amazing healings of body, mind or spirit! I imagine you have participated in helping someone’s healing from addiction, getting treatment for mental illness, or helping someone die peacefully and transition to eternal life.
I challenge you to find the areas where you haven’t quite reached the ability to deal with that type of issue. Being willing to try doesn’t mean, of course, you can pretty much guarantee success. It means your love has expanded to include that person or situation. God who is eternal love will provide the rest. Could that be a message of today’s scripture readings? What do you think is a messages for yourself and our faith community? Let’s think about the Indiana Women’s Prison Project. Helen and I are looking into possibilities there.
(Taken from: Preaching the Revised Lectionary, Year C, by Dianne Bergant.)
Maria Thornton McClain
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