7/25/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 2. 5-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Have you ever thought about Mary’s husband, Joseph? I mean, have you considered what it must have been like to be Joseph, the step-father of Jesus. He appears for a to us in a few snapshots as a traveller by faith. His “faith” journey took him to Bethlehem seemingly by Roman decree. That decree was used by God to bring his family to Bethlehem where the prophecy of the “son of a virgin was born” was fulfilled. He gathered his family and moved away from Jerusalem and the decrees of Rome to the land of Egypt. There he prospered as he had in Bethlehem before the magi arrived. His faith sustained him and he his family until it was time to return to the “promised land” as his ancestors did two thousand years before. He also made the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the high holy days, specifically the birth of his step-son (and I purpose that He was born on Passover, the cycle of life is rife in the story of Jesus.) We know for sure one such journey when Jesus was twelve years of age. The pilgrimmage probably served a dual purpose of celebrating the Passover and Jesus’ bar-mitzvah. It would be the last time we would hear of Joseph’s journeys. In all his ways, he acknowledged God by honoring God’s call on his life to be the earthly father of Jesus. It was on this one journey to Jerusalem, however, that Jesus would change His view from earth to Heaven. Being found, after being missing for three days, back on the steps of the Temple teaching the elders about the scriptures, Jesus responded to the frantic search of his parents, “Where else would you find me but in the House of My Father?” (Luke 2.49) It was after that we would only hear the name of Joseph on the lips of those in Nazareth who would marvel at the authority of Jesus’ words and reputation saying “Isn’t that Joseph’s son? Isn’t He the son of a carpenter?” What Joseph had sought to do with his life was to “acknowledge God in all he did.”

The testimony of his life must have had a profound effect on Jesus’ life. The simplicity of building up by repurposing natural resources which a carpenter (and a stonemason, as Joseph may well have been, too) would do was implied in the very teachings of Jesus. Jesus, too, acknowledged God in all He did. But, only a very few in Nazareth could say the same. When Jesus journeyed back to Nazareth at the age of 30, the people still marvelled with the failure of Jesus to comply with their expectations. He was apparently more than a carpenter’s son. He taught as one who had authority but He never attended rabbinic training in Jerusalem (say, as Saul of Tarsus did at the feet of Gameliel.) He was a man with the power of God’s spirit for healing as stories of miracles in Capernaum preceded Him. But, had he lived in such places as the Qumran community where some enlightened priests were known for such things? And when He did teach in Nazareth, His claim to fulfill the Jubilee attestation only troubled those who gathered in the synagogue further. They determined to only acknowledge Him if He served them and their needs first and foremost. Did they believe they were entitled to such practices? Being refused their requestes because they failed to acknowledge God, His Father, Jesus was led to a precipice where He would be stoned and caused to plunge to the depth of the valley floor below. Instead, He walked right through the middle of them as Moses who led the Hebrew children through the Red Sea and returned to Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee to begin His ministry of reconciliation. Shortly after that, as the beloved disciple would later remember, it would be said by Nathanael “Surely nothing good can come from Nazareth!” Was there a background story behind his words far more than a questionable reputation of the city itself? He, too, fell prey to a lack of acknowledgement. It was not until Jesus “revealed” Himself to Nathanael with a vision that Nathanael would believe not only Philip’s word but Jesus’ word as well.

With each acknowledgement, the path became clearer (and shall we say “straighter”) for those who pursued the righteousness of God by seeking Him first. It is the same for us, too, as we live out our decision to be disciples of Christ. We find strength, blessing, opportunity and resources previously unknown or latent which become useful in acknowledging Him before all others. The road which leads to the “House of God” seems more open to us. But, not without warning. We are also given insights to when even believers fail to acknowledge Him as Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords. The greatest of these would be Peter, also known as Simon the Fisherman. It is his story which may most resemble our own lives as disciples. It is a story which depicts the work of Jesus, the son of a carpenter and stonemason, who reclaims one of God’s children as His very own. When Michaelangelo was asked how he could so vividly and succinctly created statuary from solid pieces of stone, he replied, “I see the form in it and carefully work to let it out.” In us, as in Peter, Jesus sees the jewel of great price within our rough nature skewed by sin. He acknowledges to us that it is there and of great price. He is willing to pay the price to make the treasure His own. He sets before us the continuing value of the word which guides our reflection today, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” Jesus has acknowledged both His Father and us. His paths are made straight and the consequence is sure. What about us? Can the same be said?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, Your love is almost beyond our imagination as to its full meaning and implementation. Yet, in Jesus you have made it abundantly clear. We desire more than simply to be saved. We want to be harvest gatherers and change lives even if the world refuses to change and accepts the dead end as its only end. Pour out Your Spirit on us and clear our minds, hearts, souls and bodies so that You can use all of us to bring about Your good. We want Your will to be ours. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.