Epiphany 5
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
Isaiah 40:21-31
... those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
-- Isaiah 40:31
The prophet speaks to the people who are living in exile and accuses them of myopia. They are so nearsighted that they cannot see that God is really in charge. The prophet's words are like a hymn to the transcendent majesty of God who is so far above the earth that the inhabitants are like grasshoppers and their rulers are nothing. This is the God who "stretches out the heavens like a curtain" and "brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name ..." (vv. 22, 26). The prophet was challenging the people to believe, despite all the evidence, that God was the only real authority that they needed to obey and that they could trust this God to bring them home from exile.
Given the fact that the nation had been completely destroyed, the temple torn down, and the people carried off and transplanted in foreign lands at the whim of the emperor, it was a hard truth to believe. Often we are overwhelmed by the immediate circumstances and join the Israelites in saying, "my way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God" (v. 27). We can grow weary in our efforts to be faithful and in our attempts to witness to the justice and mercy of God. At such times we need to hear the prophet's call to "wait for the Lord" who "shall renew (our) strength." We are not alone in our efforts, and the transcendent God will be faithful.
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in this steadfast love.
-- Psalm 147:11
Psalm 147 is a prayer of praise that seems to oscillate between the human and the cosmic. As is befitting full praise, which includes physical acts and emotional expression as well as words, we are urged to sing our praise (v. 1). We are reminded that God's work on behalf of the needy (vv. 2-3) is the same power that orders the cosmos (vv. 4-5). It is this all-powerful God who enters the battle between the oppressed and the oppressor (v. 6). We are urged to express our thanksgiving musically (v. 7) to God who feeds the earth with water (v. 8) and animals their food (v. 9). Such a God is not impressed with demonstrations of power (v. 10) but does respond to those who trust in God's love (v. 11). Those whom God has gathered as a witness should praise him (v. 12) because this God protects them outside and inside (v. 13) and provides peace and provisions (v. 14).
By God's command the earth also receives its peace and provisions (vv. 15-18). This cosmic God who cares for the entire universe is the same God who has instructed Israel about what God wants. All other nations in the world depend upon Israel to declare what God has revealed. Even Christians must remember that God revealed the divine will through the Jewish people and a Jewish person (v. 20). We are to praise this God and no other.
Far too often in the contemporary Christian community, we have reduced praise to thanksgiving, and the focus of our worship is on our own response and not the God whom we worship. The psalmist offers us a strong reminder that the focus of our worship is the praise of God.
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:22b
Paul, having described his own freedom, speaks of voluntarily limiting his freedom in order to accommodate himself to the needs of the particular group before him. It is an instructive passage in light of the variety of strategies that many in the Christian community have adopted to reach out to the various groups within our society. How far should we go in accommodating our message to the various segments of our society? Paul's accommodations could have resulted in his violating certain behavior that others would have seen as essential to the faith. In recent years, styles of worship have been the source of great controversy as the church reaches out to the unchurched. Other controversies have been raised over the ability of the church to accommodate various sexual ethics. Still other debates have centered around the church's voice in societal issues.
Can the church be so well grounded in Christ that it has the freedom to accept the variety of accommodations made on behalf of Christ so that more will be reached by the faith? Where are the lines that you have drawn beyond which the church should not go in reaching out to others? When do those lines become small idols that have replaced the freedom of Christ?
Mark 1:29-39
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
-- Mark 1:31
This little incident with respect to Peter's mother-in-law is packed with meaning. Women had very little means of supporting themselves apart from their relationship with their family. When two people were married, the woman left her home and joined the man's home. It was the relatives of the man's family who would have responsibility to support her if anything happened to her husband. So why was the mother of Peter's wife living with them? It would seem as if her husband must be dead and there were no relatives who would be willing to accept the responsibility. Not only was she living with them, but also she was ill and, therefore, increasing the burden on the family. Jesus, by healing her, not only released her from the illness but also restored her sense of dignity. Now she, too, was free to bring her talents to bear on serving the needs of those within the community.
In doing so, Jesus broke with the narrow definition of family and testified to the expanded definition of family within the new community of faith. Later, he would declare "whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). Christian family values were not the values of the nuclear family or even the bloodline but were the values that mandate that we care for all members of the community of faith as members of our God-given family.
... those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
-- Isaiah 40:31
The prophet speaks to the people who are living in exile and accuses them of myopia. They are so nearsighted that they cannot see that God is really in charge. The prophet's words are like a hymn to the transcendent majesty of God who is so far above the earth that the inhabitants are like grasshoppers and their rulers are nothing. This is the God who "stretches out the heavens like a curtain" and "brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name ..." (vv. 22, 26). The prophet was challenging the people to believe, despite all the evidence, that God was the only real authority that they needed to obey and that they could trust this God to bring them home from exile.
Given the fact that the nation had been completely destroyed, the temple torn down, and the people carried off and transplanted in foreign lands at the whim of the emperor, it was a hard truth to believe. Often we are overwhelmed by the immediate circumstances and join the Israelites in saying, "my way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God" (v. 27). We can grow weary in our efforts to be faithful and in our attempts to witness to the justice and mercy of God. At such times we need to hear the prophet's call to "wait for the Lord" who "shall renew (our) strength." We are not alone in our efforts, and the transcendent God will be faithful.
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in this steadfast love.
-- Psalm 147:11
Psalm 147 is a prayer of praise that seems to oscillate between the human and the cosmic. As is befitting full praise, which includes physical acts and emotional expression as well as words, we are urged to sing our praise (v. 1). We are reminded that God's work on behalf of the needy (vv. 2-3) is the same power that orders the cosmos (vv. 4-5). It is this all-powerful God who enters the battle between the oppressed and the oppressor (v. 6). We are urged to express our thanksgiving musically (v. 7) to God who feeds the earth with water (v. 8) and animals their food (v. 9). Such a God is not impressed with demonstrations of power (v. 10) but does respond to those who trust in God's love (v. 11). Those whom God has gathered as a witness should praise him (v. 12) because this God protects them outside and inside (v. 13) and provides peace and provisions (v. 14).
By God's command the earth also receives its peace and provisions (vv. 15-18). This cosmic God who cares for the entire universe is the same God who has instructed Israel about what God wants. All other nations in the world depend upon Israel to declare what God has revealed. Even Christians must remember that God revealed the divine will through the Jewish people and a Jewish person (v. 20). We are to praise this God and no other.
Far too often in the contemporary Christian community, we have reduced praise to thanksgiving, and the focus of our worship is on our own response and not the God whom we worship. The psalmist offers us a strong reminder that the focus of our worship is the praise of God.
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:22b
Paul, having described his own freedom, speaks of voluntarily limiting his freedom in order to accommodate himself to the needs of the particular group before him. It is an instructive passage in light of the variety of strategies that many in the Christian community have adopted to reach out to the various groups within our society. How far should we go in accommodating our message to the various segments of our society? Paul's accommodations could have resulted in his violating certain behavior that others would have seen as essential to the faith. In recent years, styles of worship have been the source of great controversy as the church reaches out to the unchurched. Other controversies have been raised over the ability of the church to accommodate various sexual ethics. Still other debates have centered around the church's voice in societal issues.
Can the church be so well grounded in Christ that it has the freedom to accept the variety of accommodations made on behalf of Christ so that more will be reached by the faith? Where are the lines that you have drawn beyond which the church should not go in reaching out to others? When do those lines become small idols that have replaced the freedom of Christ?
Mark 1:29-39
He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
-- Mark 1:31
This little incident with respect to Peter's mother-in-law is packed with meaning. Women had very little means of supporting themselves apart from their relationship with their family. When two people were married, the woman left her home and joined the man's home. It was the relatives of the man's family who would have responsibility to support her if anything happened to her husband. So why was the mother of Peter's wife living with them? It would seem as if her husband must be dead and there were no relatives who would be willing to accept the responsibility. Not only was she living with them, but also she was ill and, therefore, increasing the burden on the family. Jesus, by healing her, not only released her from the illness but also restored her sense of dignity. Now she, too, was free to bring her talents to bear on serving the needs of those within the community.
In doing so, Jesus broke with the narrow definition of family and testified to the expanded definition of family within the new community of faith. Later, he would declare "whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35). Christian family values were not the values of the nuclear family or even the bloodline but were the values that mandate that we care for all members of the community of faith as members of our God-given family.
