7/27/2023

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)

“A voice of one calling: ‘Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.‘” (Isaiah 40.3-5)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Are Proverbs 2.5-6 and Isaiah 40.3-5 saying two different things? Proverbs says “trust in the Lord and He will make your paths straight.” Isaiah declares “Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord and make the path between you and Him a highway.” Can God and man be in the same lane on this. He will make. You should make. Are these diametrically opposed or are they merely two sides of the same coin? And if they are intimating a singular truth based on trust and preparation leading to a same path, then what is that truth? I cannot help but to believe that this truth is nothing more and nothing less than the desire for reconciliation. What we desire is for all things to be made new. Look around us and you will hear it in all the advertising of all the things human beings have created: new and improved. We live in a culture and climate of “one better.” The pursuit of an elusive perfection drives us nearly to the brink of madness and extinction. What we want seems impossible to achieve but we will try to capture it or die in the effort. It would be here that I would insert God’s word as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (as it is not in the Gospel of John; Matthew 19.26, Mark 10.27 and Luke 18.27) where Jesus says “With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible!” Let’s not be confused on this. The possible-impossible dialogue is not about human achievements and works nor about God’s infinite ability to do all things as testified by the intricacies of the created world around us. This is not about works, handicrafts, good deeds or even the best intentions. What is being presented to us is God’s desire for us to be made new, whole and His again in a community of faith where hope abounds and love is immutable. What I am speaking to is the “highway” of reconciliation.

This “highway,” the straight pathway, we make and find ourselves on has two lanes. One lane is that which comes from God to us. The other lane is that which goes from us to God. Yes, there are many exit and entrance ramps. There are many roads into the land beyond the horizon and around the next corner. But, there is but “one way, one truth and one life” which makes the only authentic connection to the life that absolutely satisfies our longing and God’s desire. Sin has caused the “great disconnect” between humanity and God. That feeling of “something missing” is the expression of that “great disconnect.” We all feel it inside ourselves. We experience it in our heart, mind, body and soul. It influences our psyche, our ego, our super-ego. It informs our intellect, our imagination and our intuition. It drives us forward in a search for wholeness and meaning which can only “truly and authentically” be satisfied by the power of reconciliation between God and each person.

I mentioned Peter, the disciple and apostle of Christ, and the suffering he experienced because he failed to acknowledge Jesus as His Christ, His Lord, His Savior and His friend. I have wondered if it wasn’t that last designation that may have struck him the hardest. Why? Because it was the most personal connection of all. On the night previous as Jesus and eleven disciples (Judas of Kerioth had already been sent out to prepare “the way” for reconciliation to happen) sat at a table prepared for a great feast of Passover in the presence of their enemies. Yes, the wolves were “at the door” crouching and waiting. The Roman centurions were on every corner ready to put down a rebellion. They were on high alert with nervous anxiety because Jerusalem had now swelled beyond its capacity to hold. Jews from around the then-known world had made their yearly pilgrimmage to celebrate Passover. Passover was a remembrance of deliverance from out of the hand of the oppressor by the hand of God. He had made a straight path for them to get from Egypt to the Promised Land. Their failure to acknowledge Him in obedience and singular worship created such detours and delays that it would take forty years and a “new” generation of Hebrews to finally cross the Jordan as their ancestors had the Red Sea. But, it was not merely a remembrace of the past and what God had done that they celebrated. It was also a reminder of what was yet to come. There would be one who would lead them from the Promised Land of their forefathers into the Kingdom of God their true Father. It would be a place where all things would be made new. It was a place of “jubilee” where all the sins of the past would be eliminated and their rightful places restored. And in the midst of that celebration, Jesus told those eleven disciples in the hearing of the hosts and servants in that house, “I no longer call you servants but friends. Servants do not know the master’s business but a friend has received full knowledge.” (John 15.15) The disciples had lived with Jesus for three years through thick and thin. They had experienced the height, depth and breadth of life together with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Their thinking had been challenged and tested. Their resolved was tempered and steeled. They had been blessed and anointed. But, now, they were not merely students of the word, they were becoming the word themselves. They each had come to Jesus in their own way but now there truly would only be one way. It would be the way of the Lord. And in the darkness, Peter looked as Jesus was led brutally through the High Priest’s courtyard and saw Jesus’ eyes. It was the look of longing for recognition as one friend to another who was experiencing pain as never before. The betrayal by a colleague or an enemy was one thing. The betrayal of a friend is far more impactful.

In that moment there was that disconnect between meaning, purpose and existence. The hope of all things made new seemed fleeting at best. The bridge was out. The flow of traffic on the highway of life slammed to a standstill. There was mental, emotional and spiritual gridlock. There had to be an answer to get things going again. That answer was and is “reconciliation.” That is where “trust in the Lord and He will make a straight path” and “believe in the Lord by making a straight path” not only comes together as if colliding but they mess together to create a free flow of life and hope and love which feels electric. What those two “ways” are I will reflect more on tomorrow. Until then, shalom y’all.

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.