Easter 5
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Acts 8:26-40
Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it."
-- Acts 8:29
The Spirit of the Lord continues to guide the church in reaching out to those who are beyond the faith community. As Gentiles, who are now the beneficiaries of this exploding grace of God, it is hard for us to appreciate how radical an act that was. To understand, we would have to picture in our minds some people whose lives seem beyond the pale of acceptability and who clearly, based on scripture, seem to have been excluded from the blessings of God. Here was an Ethiopian eunuch -- an outsider from a racial, national, and sexual perspective. Yet he had been sufficiently attracted to the faith to make the journey to Jerusalem to worship and sought to understand by reading the scriptures.
Philip was led, not by his understanding of faith or scripture but by the Holy Spirit, to approach him. When he does, he discovers the eunuch reading from Isaiah. Philip takes the opportunity to show the eunuch how this scripture finds its meaning in Jesus. It is interesting to note that though the Spirit leads Philip, it is the eunuch who guides the action. It is his question about the prophet Isaiah that provides the direction for the conversation. Later, it is his initiative in asking, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" (v. 37). that moves the action along. Philip responds to the leading of the eunuch and joins him in the water, offering him baptism.
The human mind tends to seek order and therefore is often constrained by the wisdom of the past. This is the reason that religion is often a very conservative process. The Spirit of God demonstrates a freedom to lead us into a new understanding of the future that God opens for us. To respond to the Spirit is to trust that the God who gave order to the chaos at creation has the capacity to give meaning to the uncertainty of the future. Since we do not know what will happen, we will have to continually learn to trust God and respond to the leading of the Spirit.
Psalm 22:25-31
The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
-- Psalm 22:26a
From utter despair to complete confidence, this psalm moves across the entire spectrum of human emotions. Prior to this passage, the psalm begins with the now famous words that Jesus is quoted as saying on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (v. 1). But now the psalmist expresses his confidence in the all-encompassing dominion of God. God's dominion includes the poor and afflicted with whom he is continually concerned. God's rule is open to all who seek him. Because God is creator of the entire universe, none can be excluded from his concern. "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord" (v. 27). Bridging those human-made distinctions that determine nations is too small a thing for God.
God comes from eternity and will not be contained by the limits of time. The dead are also included. "To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down" (v. 29). However even this is not enough to express the full dominion of God. "Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn" (vv. 30-31). God's concern is for the poor and the wealthy, those who have already died, those who have not yet been born, and all people of all nations.
The psalmist, having experienced complete isolation in the abandonment of God, now experiences the fullness of the community of God that includes all dimensions of time and space. When we find ourselves becoming mired down in the trivia of our life, it is good to recall the universality of God.
1 John 4:7-21
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
-- 1 John 4:10
The issue of atonement is how God overcomes the gap that exists between God and the created world. This is often illustrated by breaking the word into three separate words: "at one ment." The word we use to describe the alienation or separation that exists between the world and God and that is exhibited between humans and creation as well as between fellow humans is sin. It not only describes a rebellion against God but also the state of separation in all our relationships that violates his intention. This is why Jesus could summarize all the law and the prophets in the commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. John first makes clear that the initiative for overcoming this gap is not left on the shoulders of humanity but is taken up by God. God does this, not in response to some noble or heroic act on our part but simply because he loves us.
The action taken by God was to send Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Because we are so aware of child abuse, this image of God sending Jesus as a sacrifice strikes many ears as an act of abuse. A human parent that would cause his child to suffer for the parent's agenda would be said to be engaging in child abuse. An alternative interpretation is that God's love for humanity and all creation was so great that God would send the best, his Son, to reflect his love and therefore win them back. Jesus makes clear in the gospel of John that this is a voluntary act on his part. The cross becomes the price Jesus is willing to pay rather than the price God demands. In an age in which people use scripture to justify sinful behavior, it is a distinction that is important to make.
John 15:1-8
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
-- John 15:1
Israel is symbolized as the vineyard that God has planted (Isaiah 5:7). The prophets criticized Israel for not bearing the fruit that God intended (Isaiah 5:2). Now Jesus is seen as a midrash or commentary on the life of Israel. If Israel was alternately obedient and disobedient to God, what would it have been like if Israel had been obedient?
Like Israel, Jesus is seen as God's firstborn Son (Exodus 4:22). It is said of Israel that God took a "no" people and made them into God's people. Jesus does not come from the natural process but comes from that which is freshly created, the virgin birth. Jesus has his own wilderness experience where he is tempted by his own needs and is led out of his own bondage to Satan. In a way similar to God's providing the Ten Commandments that marked Israel as special, so at Jesus' baptism, he is marked as special and becomes a light to the nations.
The vine has branches (the disciples) who themselves must bear fruit. While being a disciple does not protect you against evil, the suffering you experience can be like a pruning, even as Israel was pruned during the period of the judges. Jesus is not a new vine that replaces Israel but is the embodiment of Israel as obedient child. Through Jesus we can be grafted on to the vine even though, as Gentiles, we were not the original branches. All branches must bear fruit. The test of the true Israel, be they Jew or Gentile, is whether they bear fruit. "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit ... Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers ..." (vv. 5-6).
Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it."
-- Acts 8:29
The Spirit of the Lord continues to guide the church in reaching out to those who are beyond the faith community. As Gentiles, who are now the beneficiaries of this exploding grace of God, it is hard for us to appreciate how radical an act that was. To understand, we would have to picture in our minds some people whose lives seem beyond the pale of acceptability and who clearly, based on scripture, seem to have been excluded from the blessings of God. Here was an Ethiopian eunuch -- an outsider from a racial, national, and sexual perspective. Yet he had been sufficiently attracted to the faith to make the journey to Jerusalem to worship and sought to understand by reading the scriptures.
Philip was led, not by his understanding of faith or scripture but by the Holy Spirit, to approach him. When he does, he discovers the eunuch reading from Isaiah. Philip takes the opportunity to show the eunuch how this scripture finds its meaning in Jesus. It is interesting to note that though the Spirit leads Philip, it is the eunuch who guides the action. It is his question about the prophet Isaiah that provides the direction for the conversation. Later, it is his initiative in asking, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" (v. 37). that moves the action along. Philip responds to the leading of the eunuch and joins him in the water, offering him baptism.
The human mind tends to seek order and therefore is often constrained by the wisdom of the past. This is the reason that religion is often a very conservative process. The Spirit of God demonstrates a freedom to lead us into a new understanding of the future that God opens for us. To respond to the Spirit is to trust that the God who gave order to the chaos at creation has the capacity to give meaning to the uncertainty of the future. Since we do not know what will happen, we will have to continually learn to trust God and respond to the leading of the Spirit.
Psalm 22:25-31
The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
-- Psalm 22:26a
From utter despair to complete confidence, this psalm moves across the entire spectrum of human emotions. Prior to this passage, the psalm begins with the now famous words that Jesus is quoted as saying on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (v. 1). But now the psalmist expresses his confidence in the all-encompassing dominion of God. God's dominion includes the poor and afflicted with whom he is continually concerned. God's rule is open to all who seek him. Because God is creator of the entire universe, none can be excluded from his concern. "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord" (v. 27). Bridging those human-made distinctions that determine nations is too small a thing for God.
God comes from eternity and will not be contained by the limits of time. The dead are also included. "To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down" (v. 29). However even this is not enough to express the full dominion of God. "Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn" (vv. 30-31). God's concern is for the poor and the wealthy, those who have already died, those who have not yet been born, and all people of all nations.
The psalmist, having experienced complete isolation in the abandonment of God, now experiences the fullness of the community of God that includes all dimensions of time and space. When we find ourselves becoming mired down in the trivia of our life, it is good to recall the universality of God.
1 John 4:7-21
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
-- 1 John 4:10
The issue of atonement is how God overcomes the gap that exists between God and the created world. This is often illustrated by breaking the word into three separate words: "at one ment." The word we use to describe the alienation or separation that exists between the world and God and that is exhibited between humans and creation as well as between fellow humans is sin. It not only describes a rebellion against God but also the state of separation in all our relationships that violates his intention. This is why Jesus could summarize all the law and the prophets in the commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. John first makes clear that the initiative for overcoming this gap is not left on the shoulders of humanity but is taken up by God. God does this, not in response to some noble or heroic act on our part but simply because he loves us.
The action taken by God was to send Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Because we are so aware of child abuse, this image of God sending Jesus as a sacrifice strikes many ears as an act of abuse. A human parent that would cause his child to suffer for the parent's agenda would be said to be engaging in child abuse. An alternative interpretation is that God's love for humanity and all creation was so great that God would send the best, his Son, to reflect his love and therefore win them back. Jesus makes clear in the gospel of John that this is a voluntary act on his part. The cross becomes the price Jesus is willing to pay rather than the price God demands. In an age in which people use scripture to justify sinful behavior, it is a distinction that is important to make.
John 15:1-8
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.
-- John 15:1
Israel is symbolized as the vineyard that God has planted (Isaiah 5:7). The prophets criticized Israel for not bearing the fruit that God intended (Isaiah 5:2). Now Jesus is seen as a midrash or commentary on the life of Israel. If Israel was alternately obedient and disobedient to God, what would it have been like if Israel had been obedient?
Like Israel, Jesus is seen as God's firstborn Son (Exodus 4:22). It is said of Israel that God took a "no" people and made them into God's people. Jesus does not come from the natural process but comes from that which is freshly created, the virgin birth. Jesus has his own wilderness experience where he is tempted by his own needs and is led out of his own bondage to Satan. In a way similar to God's providing the Ten Commandments that marked Israel as special, so at Jesus' baptism, he is marked as special and becomes a light to the nations.
The vine has branches (the disciples) who themselves must bear fruit. While being a disciple does not protect you against evil, the suffering you experience can be like a pruning, even as Israel was pruned during the period of the judges. Jesus is not a new vine that replaces Israel but is the embodiment of Israel as obedient child. Through Jesus we can be grafted on to the vine even though, as Gentiles, we were not the original branches. All branches must bear fruit. The test of the true Israel, be they Jew or Gentile, is whether they bear fruit. "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit ... Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers ..." (vv. 5-6).
