Day 93
Numbers 35:1-36:13, Luke 9:28-56, Psalm 40:9-17
Today's readings speak quite a lot about what the church is and what the church does. It challenges us about what we offer the people who need us, what we get caught up in and how we are in relation to God.
If we were to delve into the passage from Numbers we see that some of the first cities of refuge are among the priests. The reading then gets bogged down in 'avengers of blood' and the death penalty but what jumped out at me was this idea of refuge and sanctuary. The church used to be very good at offering sanctuary, especially to criminals, but what about those who just need a place of refuge. There are many people who wouldn't dream of looking to the church for fear of being judged, for fear of being marginalised further. For those people who need a place of sanctuary, what is it that the people of God offer? Jumping over into the Gospel, Jesus healed the boy and gave him back to his father as if he were breathing in and out, v42b sums it up as if it were no effort at all. Do we offer healing and wholeness as if it were run of the mill stuff? Jesus speaks of accepting the little children (v48) as of primary importance. Who do we accept into our communities? Within these passages there is a real challenge to the church of today.
The second challenge comes just before the "little children" comment. I would suggest that we are not so good at doing all those things in the paragraph above, because we are often caught up with the little things like the disciples in v46. We argue about so much, have meetings to debate not a lot, we spend time doing very little when there are people out there who need our refuge.
The challenge for me though concluded in the Psalm. Although it doesn't relate so much to the idea of outreach it relates very much to how we are with God. In this small section of one Psalm the writer includes so much: devotion, supplication, proclamation, and exaltation of God. In this Psalm there is devotion to God, the God of Moses and Elijah, who for us came as the Christ of the transfiguration. Out of that devotion we see "proclamation [of] righteousness in the great assembly".
When the church gets its priorities right with God, we start to proclaim the gospel in word and deed. There is a lot we can learn from the readings today. How will you respond the next time someone comes forward looking for refuge?
Today's readings speak quite a lot about what the church is and what the church does. It challenges us about what we offer the people who need us, what we get caught up in and how we are in relation to God.
If we were to delve into the passage from Numbers we see that some of the first cities of refuge are among the priests. The reading then gets bogged down in 'avengers of blood' and the death penalty but what jumped out at me was this idea of refuge and sanctuary. The church used to be very good at offering sanctuary, especially to criminals, but what about those who just need a place of refuge. There are many people who wouldn't dream of looking to the church for fear of being judged, for fear of being marginalised further. For those people who need a place of sanctuary, what is it that the people of God offer? Jumping over into the Gospel, Jesus healed the boy and gave him back to his father as if he were breathing in and out, v42b sums it up as if it were no effort at all. Do we offer healing and wholeness as if it were run of the mill stuff? Jesus speaks of accepting the little children (v48) as of primary importance. Who do we accept into our communities? Within these passages there is a real challenge to the church of today.
The second challenge comes just before the "little children" comment. I would suggest that we are not so good at doing all those things in the paragraph above, because we are often caught up with the little things like the disciples in v46. We argue about so much, have meetings to debate not a lot, we spend time doing very little when there are people out there who need our refuge.
The challenge for me though concluded in the Psalm. Although it doesn't relate so much to the idea of outreach it relates very much to how we are with God. In this small section of one Psalm the writer includes so much: devotion, supplication, proclamation, and exaltation of God. In this Psalm there is devotion to God, the God of Moses and Elijah, who for us came as the Christ of the transfiguration. Out of that devotion we see "proclamation [of] righteousness in the great assembly".
When the church gets its priorities right with God, we start to proclaim the gospel in word and deed. There is a lot we can learn from the readings today. How will you respond the next time someone comes forward looking for refuge?
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