Prayer Practice
Lectio – Read today’s
passage through once. Then spend some time praying and asking God to show you
what you need to pay attention to in the text. Read it again. Now ask the Holy
Spirit to help you see what this text, and the part that has stood out, may
mean for you. Don’t expect to get a clear word every time but always be ready
to really hear from God’s Spirit through this Word.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Rejoice With Me
by Dan Kidd
I suspect many of us like to hear and tell stories
about ourselves. When it comes to stories about religion in the first century,
the Pharisees were used to playing the lead. They’d worked hard for that role. They’d
spent years studying Scripture, teaching, working out, and practicing their
faith; they dressed the part. And they were the ones who were ready to notice
and redress anyone who wandered off the path of faithful, Godly behavior. And
now they observe Jesus—this teacher and prophet with incredible wisdom and
insight into the Scriptures, who spoke with uncanny, divine authority, and who’d
gathered quite the community of disciples—devoting his attention to sinners and
tax collectors instead of themselves.
Jesus noticed their discontent—their dissatisfaction with playing anything but the lead role in a religious story—and he told them some parables.
Each parable culminates with this invitation: “Rejoice
with me!”
“I have found my lost lamb!” “I have found my lost coin!” “I have found my lost son.” “Rejoice with me!”
Jesus was on mission to seek and to find and to save. Like a shepherd tracking the trail of wayward sheep. Like a woman turning her house upside down in pursuit of that misplaced coin. Like the father who stood gazing into the distance, anticipating his son’s return so that he could sprint to him and embrace him again.
And, when the older son is missing from the party—sulking in protest like the Pharisees—the father notices his absence and goes searching for him too.
I’ve missed this before, but this time through I was struck by how gentle the father was with the older son; That is to say, how gentle Jesus was to the Pharisees. “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again.” Pharisees, for all your envy, pettiness, and everything else, don’t you see that you were always with me, and everything I have is yours too? Knowing that I see you, love you, and consider you my family, can we not celebrate together the resurrection of these who were dead and are now living again?
Lord, I realize that I am prone to self-centered narratives and spotlight envy. I’m also prone to believing that some people are so lost that they are beyond your crook or embrace. Place in me a selfless heart that rejoices with you for what you are doing in the lives of others. Set me straight whenever I cast a cruel eye on someone. And when I wander, Holy Spirit, lead me back to yourself so that what is yours will be mine also.
3 comments:
Dan,
This was a great devotion, and one that revealed new truths to me. I love your line toward the end about spotlight envy. Oh, how I can relate. How many times I have examined my day only to realize I missed opportunities to share Jesus with someone, because I made a statement all about me.
Thanks for this today. ---Judy
Dan:
I echo Judy's comments as so many opportunities have passed me by either by my unwillingness to capture the chance to share the gospel or just plain self-centeredness that blocks out the Holy Spirit's urging me to be other-centered and in the moment.
I also thought about Jesus being gentle and kindhearted to his arch enemies--The Pharisees. Sometimes He is a penetrating teacher while at other times He is a pinning them in a corner chastising them as hypocrites and the devil himself. The lesson for me is when to call a spade a spade. When should I call out a person for unbridled opposition to the gospel and when should I take a Holy Spirit pause, listen and then respond in loving kindness. I pray that I be "quick to listen, slow to anger" and even slower to respond if I would likely make a mess out of His plan for the one I am addressing. Not easy stuff, eh?
Thanks again Dan.
Robin Lorms
Thank you, Judy and Robin. I'm so glad that you found new things in this passage today. It's a great passage with such depth and conviction. While I was thinking about how easy it is for us to put ourselves in the center of our stories, I was also thinking about entertainment awards season (with the Oscar nominations coming out yesterday) and how we acknowledge that supporting roles are important, but we celebrate the leads even more. We're conditioned to most appreciate center stage.
It's also remarkable to me that even Jesus' nemeses receive from him warmth, care, and an invitation into celebrating along with him. Jesus, models for us here what it looks like to love our enemies and those who persecute us well.
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