Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 22: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 119:145 to 176,Evening, Psalms 128, 129, and 130;
Micah 2:1to 13; Acts 23:23 to 35; Luke 7:18to 35
“And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.” (Luke 7: 22)
Jesus could have just said “Yes, I am the one.” But there is a lesson in paying attention to what we see and hear. The two disciples of John would have been well aware of their Isaiah scripture where it says, “Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy;” (Isaiah 35: 4 to 6). This is almost verbatim of what Jesus reminded John’s disciples of in our Luke reading for today.
We can’t realize our scriptures are being lived out right in our presence unless we first know our scriptures. It is when we articulate what we have seen and heard in our own life stories that we realize God in Christ Jesus is working in our lives in the same ways as of old.
I think I should confess to my readers that I am an optimist. I think Christian hope has shaped me this way. I believe the world is getting better more and more. I know that I live in a world of nay-sayer’s who will say, “ it’s never been this bad” and will say “it’s getting worse.” But I don’t accept that. The improvements are small and incremental, but better none the less. The incremental steps of being better are often bitter.
Our eyes are being opened, we are learning to walk in new ways, and we are given hope for a better world. Progressive and just steps have come as the result of the labors of people who follow in the example of John the Baptist who sent his disciples to ask Jesus about whether or not He was the one. We have the late Martin Luther King Jr., the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, and former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to mention a few, too few. My point is that we have people among us who still follow the example of John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus in making our world better, little by little. These saints speak to us today, not so much with their words, but rather, with their personal sacrifice for a better world; and folks, it’s still happening now!
Today we remember Robert Grosseteste; Bishop of Lincoln (9 October 1253) and his information can be found at: Robert Grossteste (satucket.com)
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Almighty God, lover of all souls and most merciful redeemer, you walked among us in the person of Christ Jesus to set the example of sacrificial and unconditional love for one another. Lead us to follow in the example of Jesus in this life that we may do those things pleasing in your sight; Amen.
onewhoponders 