Proper 28 / Pentecost 26 / OT 33
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
At that time Deborah, a prophetess ... was judging Israel.
-- Judges 4:4
We seek to understand what might be called the natural order of things and relationships. We observe our universe and try to discern how God intended life to be. We conclude that it is natural that plants produce food for humans, that women have babies, that animals are domesticated for human use, that sexual attraction is part of human relationships, and so forth. We seek to define what the order is because it gives direction in life. It is not natural for plants to eat people and knowing that helps us feel some measure of control and even security as we relate to plants. The natural order helps provide an ethic for what is right and wrong. It provides some order in the midst of chaos. But every once in a while, the order seems to break down, and we experience chaos in our lives.
In struggling with that turbulence in our lives, we discover that though God does have an order to the universe, our view of it is often too narrow and restrictive. Most of the judges in Israel, for example, were men. But in the chaos of Canaan's oppression, God raised up Deborah to save Israel. "For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." The natural order of things, as perceived by a male-dominated world, was broken open. What other "natural orders" are too narrow and will be exposed as we trust God in our chaotic times? Perhaps one of the reasons we have such a difficult time responding to the changes in the church that are happening around us, is that we have become more wed to our perception of what is right than in our trust that God will lead us.
-- Judges 4:4
We seek to understand what might be called the natural order of things and relationships. We observe our universe and try to discern how God intended life to be. We conclude that it is natural that plants produce food for humans, that women have babies, that animals are domesticated for human use, that sexual attraction is part of human relationships, and so forth. We seek to define what the order is because it gives direction in life. It is not natural for plants to eat people and knowing that helps us feel some measure of control and even security as we relate to plants. The natural order helps provide an ethic for what is right and wrong. It provides some order in the midst of chaos. But every once in a while, the order seems to break down, and we experience chaos in our lives.
In struggling with that turbulence in our lives, we discover that though God does have an order to the universe, our view of it is often too narrow and restrictive. Most of the judges in Israel, for example, were men. But in the chaos of Canaan's oppression, God raised up Deborah to save Israel. "For the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." The natural order of things, as perceived by a male-dominated world, was broken open. What other "natural orders" are too narrow and will be exposed as we trust God in our chaotic times? Perhaps one of the reasons we have such a difficult time responding to the changes in the church that are happening around us, is that we have become more wed to our perception of what is right than in our trust that God will lead us.
