We had better get used to sharing our good things

Morning: Psalms 40, 54; Wisdom 6:12-23; Colossians 3:1-11

Evening: Psalm 51; Luke 7:1-17

Some religious leaders think they have a corner on God’s favour, but Jesus still heals the son of a foreigner, a Roman centurion who demonstrates great faith. Even today, some pious church folk think God’s grace is just for them ... But Jesus ushers in the renewal of humanity. In that renewal, there are no distinctions of race, religion, or rank ... Paul writes: “Christ is all and in all.” People may not like this idea but ... if we want to be whole someday, we had better get used to sharing good things instead of keeping them to ourselves.

 

Find a reliable guide

Morning: Psalm 50; Wisdom 5:9-23; Colossians 2:8-23

Evening: Psalms 114, 115; Luke 6:39-49

In its rush to publish and devour the next best-seller ‘How to’ guidebook, our culture risks being guided by the ‘blind’. By ‘blind guides’, Jesus means those who lack true wisdom or understanding. Without wisdom, which takes time, it is foolish to presume you can guide others into life ... you cannot know its pitfalls. Jesus invites us to dedicate ourselves to wisdom and goodness and to build on solid rock. For many, he is that rock. They trust him; he is a reliable guide. Find a reliable guide, then you will see where the pot-holes are, too.

 

Where will Jesus’s teaching lead me?

Morning: Psalm 119:49-72; Wisdom 4:16-5:8; Colossians 1:24-2:7

Evening: Psalm 49; Luke 6:27-38

Jesus’s teaching is strange, yes, and exciting. Who has truly plumbed its depths? “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you ... Give to everyone who begs from you ... Do to others as you would have them do to you ... lend, expecting nothing in return ... Be merciful ... Do not judge ... do not condemn ... Forgive ... give ... the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Exciting, amazing, astounding. Where will such teaching lead me, when I live it?

 

Listen carefully to Jesus’s strange teachings

Morning: Psalm 45; Wisdom 3:1-9; Colossians 1:15-23

Evening: Psalms 47, 48; Luke 6:12-26

Some describe faith as if it consisted of boring platitudes, but that is religion. Listen carefully, instead, to Jesus’s strange teachings: Poverty is a blessing, and hunger, or tears, or when people mistreat you for your faith. And it is woeful to be rich, or well-fed, or to laugh, or have people speak well of you. Why? Perhaps Jesus wants us to question our assumptions about all these states? Something else is going on here. The truly holy lies beyond either pain or pleasure. The poor are often the happiest of people and the rich are still subject to discontent.

 

With the utmost patience ... it cuts both ways

Morning: Psalm 145; Sirach 2:1-11; Acts 12:25 – 13:3

Evening: Psalms 67, 96; Isaiah 62:6-12; 2 Timothy 4:1-11

What happens in you when someone tries to convince you about what you think is their whacky idea? What do you do when they are annoyingly persistent and patient with you? Today is St. Mark’s Day. He probably was used to people being impatient with his whacky ideas about a man called Jesus. Paul, with whom Mark sometimes travelled, taught: “Be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience ...” I need most that last part - utmost patience, whether listening to whacky ideas or speaking them! Because patience cuts both ways.

 

Beware of falsehood and ravening wolves

Morning: Psalms 63:1-8, 98; Wisdom 1:1-15; I Peter 5:1-11

Evening: Psalm 103; Matthew 7:15-29

Have you asked someone for directions, and they led you astray? Some give directions whether they know the way or not. Jesus is blunt ... On life’s way, you will meet those who are dangerous, like wolves. Be discerning about whom you trust; you can usually tell. Do they have integrity? Bluster and certainty may be covers for ignorance or self-serving deceit. Choose a guide who knows the way, its twists and turns. Wise travellers choose wise guides, who are not themselves dangerous, but they know a wolf when they meet one, and how not to be devoured by it.

 

The old and the new ... as with wine, so with life

Morning: Psalms 30, 32; Daniel 6:16-28; 3 John 1:1-15

Evening: Psalms 42, 43; Luke 5:27-39

‘New wine’, for Jesus, signifies new life. New wine must be put in ‘new wineskins’; in the same way, renewed life is embodied in new customs. I once thought Jesus was teaching that new is best. I had not noticed that he also says: “No one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” Wines are most enjoyable when allowed to mature. Old, good, mature wine was once new. You cannot have quality wines without new wine. While the new matures, you savour the old. As with wine, so with life.