The first priority … mercy

Morning: Psalm 38; Lamentations 2:8-15; I Corinthians 15:51-58

Evening: Psalm 119:25-48; Matthew 12:1-14

“What’s my first priority?” asks a little inner voice.  It can get drowned out by louder voices clamouring for me to put them first.  ‘Pressing priorities’ and ‘deadlines’ may appear to be more important than they are.  Erma Bombeck wisely joked, “I love deadlines … I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by!”  When they pressed Jesus about the law, he responded, in effect, like Mr. Bumble in Dickens’ Oliver Twist, "If the law supposes that, the law is a ass—a idiot."  For Jesus, if our much-vaunted ‘priorities’ do not serve mercy, they should wait.

Something greater than wisdom

Morning: Psalm 26, 28; Lamentations 1:1-12; I Corinthians 15:41-50

Evening: Psalms 36, 39; Matthew 11:25-30

I used to pray most for Wisdom. Wisdom shows itself in loving actions.  Yet Wisdom comes from putting your trust in the right place.  “Come to me,” Jesus says, “all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens … learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Even infants trust gentleness and humility because behind them is Love.  You can be wise like Solomon or intelligent like Einstein, but I am learning from Jesus … Now I pray more for Love, so that I may become truly wise.

The problem with this generation …

Morning: Psalm 25; Jeremiah 44:1-14; I Corinthians 15:30-41

Evening: Psalm 9, 15; Matthew 11:16-24

Yesterday, a (millennial) friend of mine lamented about ‘Baby Boomers’ in terms that echo Jesus: “To what shall I compare this generation?”  One, perhaps justifiable, caricature of Boomers is that they are ‘entitled’ – they get what they want, now!  Spiritual guide Bill Plotkin says many Boomers have not yet emerged from adolescence!  Such laments call for repentance, and that means action.  Our grandchildren’s future – post-millennials and beyond – requires the action of Boomers now to address the harms done by our generation’s excesses.  If we are ever to be called wise, Jesus is right, wisdom must be vindicated by her deeds. 

Rejoice at how precious you are

Morning: Psalms 148, 149, 150; Jeremiah 29:1,4-14; Acts 16:6-15

Evening: Psalms 114, 115; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

My mother has fairly serious dementia. There are poignant moments as I visit with her this week.  Mum asks, “Are you my son?” and apologizes that she doesn’t have a meal ready for me.  She says she’s “not much of a mother”!  Of course, I expect nothing of her; I only hope that she will sense how precious she is to me.  She no longer remembers the bumpy stretches of our relationship – I gladly forget them too!  When the disciples or we seek affirmation from Jesus, he only wants us to rejoice that we are precious to him.

Is it my expectations that need to change?

Morning: Psalms 20, 21; 2 Kings 25:8-12,22-26; I Corinthians 15:12-29

Evening: Psalms 110, 116, 117; Matthew 11:7-15

Your expectations shape your beliefs – If you think God should be like this and isn’t, or that God should act that way and doesn’t, you may think you don’t believe in God, whereas you just don’t believe in the ‘god’ your own mind created!!  In Jesus’ day, many expected the ‘Messiah’ would be a warrior, who would impose God’s will by the violent overthrow of the dominant Roman imperial power.  So, they rejected Jesus.  My expectations condition my responses to life’s events.  When I think events should happen differently than they do, maybe it’s my expectations that need to change?

You will receive power to speak truth

Morning: Psalm 103; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Luke 1:1-4

Evening: Psalms 67, 96; Isaiah 52:7-10; Acts 1:1-8

Yesterday, my mother lamented, “Graham, I forget so much!” “Me too,” I said.  Given the failings of human memory, we are fortunate that Luke, whose day we mark today, wrote what he did … more than 25% of the New Testament.  Without his Gospel and Acts, we might forget what was accomplished by the power of the Spirit. But through his ‘orderly account’ of Jesus and the apostles, especially Paul, Luke reveals that the power of the Spirit to speak truth is available to us all … when we open ourselves to a power greater than our own. 

Jesus: turning the world right side up

Morning: Psalm 18:1-20; Jeremiah 38:1-13; I Corinthians 14:26-40

Evening: Psalm 18:21-50; Matthew 10:34-42

Jesus is often said to be turning the world upside-down.  When you are settled into a comfortable way of life, you don’t want that!  But what if the world is already upside-down?  We in ‘the West’ realize more and more that our way of life may cause suffering among those around the world whom Jesus calls our sisters and brothers.  So, what if Jesus’ work, using our hands, is to turn an already upside-down world right side up? … which may turn out to be dizzyingly uncomfortable for some of us.