January 17, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Paul knew that his life was always his own to do with as he sought fit. Whether he was to be a defender of the faith in God as taught by the rabbis of old including his own teacher Gamaliel and the Temple leaders or a defender of the faith in God as taught by the Messiah, the True Rabbi, Jesus the Resurrected One of God who is the Christ. The choice was his own. The arguments seemed compelling before the cross and more so after the cross. He who was an enemy of the faith in God as presented by Jesus of Nazareth became a prisoner of the Old Covenant. He was so shackled to it that nothing else made sense. He was a true Pharisee and a Zealot for Jerusalem and the Temple. He saw such service as being true to the God that he had always known. God, Yahweh Elohim, was the Lord of his life. The Law and the Prophets were his allies in the battle for truth. If we pause and consider, as I pointed out previously, Paul was of dual citizenship being a Roman citizen by virtue of his father and a Jewish citizen by virtue of his mother. His desire for the purity of Israel, Jerusalem and most of the Temple put him in conflict with his own sitz im leben. Those who held true power in Israel, in Jerusalem and in the Temple were not authentically Jewish but Roman appointees. Even the chief high priest was not strictly Jewish nor was the king of Israel (Herod) nor the governor of the territory (Pilate). By virtue of his own duality, he was easily seen as a traitor either to one or the other. Who was this “God” who was Lord of his life? It may well be that Saul of Tarsus was slave to no man; not priest, rabbi, governor or king. Saul of Tarsus may well have been more aligned with the Maccabeans from two centuries before who fought for the purity of the Temple against the Romans who defiled it with the imagery of Rome prominently displayed. Saul of Tarsus, as he was known before his encounter with the Resurrected Christ on the Damascus Road, was a prisoner of the Law of the Mosaic covenant. He was seeking the Promised Land and its prominence within the world scope of faith and politics as given to Abraham whose faith was in God alone. As a Pharisee, his identity was in the fastidious protection of the Law and the execution of it. Execution of the Law was his perceived calling. His desire was to live a life worthy of that calling. Such worth and value was highlighted in his pursuit of the followers of The Way. He, and his compatriots, did not see The Way as the chosen truth or life which would honor and glorify God.

Then came Jesus of Nazareth as the Resurrected Christ of God who indeed was the Messiah of Israel and of the whole of the believing world who placed their faith, their trust and, most of all, their hope in Him. Think upon this image, if you will, and use a scene from the life of Peter as the template for this illustration. Outspoken Peter, along with cousins James and John, often found themselves way over their heads in what they believed and wanted to believe about Jesus. For at least three years, they struggled with their identity crisis of being of two worlds. One world was that of Galilee as a blended family of people consisting of Jew and Gentile alike. Their own Judaism was influenced by centuries of being of what had been the Northern Kingdom over and against what had been the Southern Kingdom. They knew the Torah but the practices of their lives may not have been as strictly conforming to the ultraconservatives of the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem and Judea. Now, in the company of Jesus of Nazareth they were called to live in a world far different than the one they had known for themselves and the one promoted by their “brothers” of the south. We see some of that conflict with the introduction of Judas Kerioth into the circle of the Twelve. Judas never quite fit in. His agenda was different than their own though they never did put their finger on it until the end. But, there was one time when Peter was literally in over his head concerning his relationship with Jesus. Caught in the midst of a tempest on the Sea of Galilee in a boat or a flotilla of fishing vessels which included all the disciples but not Jesus, Peter was presented with another unique opportunity to bear witness to the singularity of Jesus. Fearful of dying at sea, a horror for a seasoned fisherman of Galilee, Peter reaches out to Jesus who came walking across the face of the deep. Even now as I frame the scene in that way, I am called back to when God created the heavens and the earth. The Holy Spirit was said to have “hovered over the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1.2) It makes sense, doesn’t it, since all that was created was created through the Son of God whom we know as Jesus the Christ. (John 1.3) Peter calls and out Jesus calls back, “If it is you let me come to you on the water.” Jesus replies with “Come.” I can almost hear Jesus saying “If it is really you, Peter, then come to me.” And Peter does with confidence in Jesus and in his own decision to believe. As long as he keeps his eye on Jesus all goes well. But, the moment he gazes at the world was the moment he realized he was in over his head. He soon was and the waters swamped him below the surface and threatened to drown him. Jesus, of course, saved him from a watery grave. Peter and the disciples and any who bore witness to the event called Jesus “Lord of land and sea.” He was their one Lord.

Mighty ones of God, the same is true for us whether we are in over our heads with legalism, easy-believism, self-absorption, false confidence or at our strongest or most calm: Jesus is our one and only Lord. He is our hope in this world and in the next. He is the essence of our calling and the objective of walking by faith and not by sight. In our earthly life, He shared sameness with us so that in the life that is ours and yet to come we will share sameness with Him. He is the worth and value of our lives. Let us live such a life that demonstrates the value and worth of Jesus as Lord.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.