Hey there friends! Today we carry on in the gospel of Luke. I forgot to mention it yesterday anywhere in the blog so I'll share it a day late but Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the Bible and it's placement is by design. Psalm 119 is at the very center of the Bible and the structure of it is that there is a poem that starts with every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In other words at the very heart of the Bible from beginning to end God can be praised. Try and tell me the Bible isn't designed by a genius hand ;) Luke's got some good stuff too but I'll leave that for you to discover and ponder on your own time.
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this reveal to you about Jesus?
If this yesterday's theme was about the least, lost, and last than what is this section about?
What part is meaningful to you? Why?
There's somewhat of an irony about today's reading in comparison to yesterdays. If yesterday was all about how the last, least, and lost get into heaven than today's reading is all about how hard it is to get in for anyone that isn't the last, lost, and least. Jesus laments against people who are too self righteous, who are too rich or consumed by their material pursuits, who are not childlike, who are not persistent enough (both the woman and the blind man at the end of this section. Another example of gender equality with dualistic stories.) But this ultimately is not that ironic nor does it contradict yesterday's message. Do you recall which story we ended on yesterday? It was Lazarus and the Rich Man. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn him family about what would come but Abraham said they already had their warning with the prophets. Today, Jesus reinforces this point by literally taking the word and becoming flesh he is acting as Lazarus for the people - giving them another warning to turn from their ways and turn to God. But, as broken and flawed people we know that they will not just as we often do not.
How you have changed since taking your faith more seriously? What parts of you did you have to "lose" in order to "gain" God?
Praying the Hymns
Our prayer for today is hymn 275 in our hymnal - The Kingdom of God. I invite you to sing in praise and glory for the mystery of God's kingdom.
1 The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed.
When it is sown in the earth, it is the smallest seed.
[Refrain:]
It is like the kingdom of God and a mystery.
2 For when it is sown, it grows into the largest plant,
greater than all of the herbs, and grows into a tree. (Refrain)
3 It grows so birds can rest inside its crown of leaves,
deep in its shadows, away from any evil prey. (Refrain)
4 And so we can liken it to seeds which make a tree larger than all of the trees from just the smallest seed. (Refrain)