Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of proper 26
Morning, Psalm 72; Evening, Psalm 119:73 to 96;
Nehemiah 13:4 to 22; Revelation 12:1 to 12; Matthew 13:53 to 58:
“He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ (Matthew 13: 54 to 56)
Every time I read this passage it reminds me to not leave God out of what is happening. His hometown folk thought they knew who Jesus was as he grew up among them, but they, and often we, fail to craft the question correctly. It is not “Where” did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? The correct question is, “From whom” did this man get this wisdom and these great deeds of power?
God can, and often does, use any one of us to do great deeds of power. The sooner we accept that all great deeds of power come from God, and that God is always using someone among us to do, or to speak great deeds, we will then stop being critical of one another and appreciate God working through us, for us. When this acceptance happens, hopefully we will stop being critical of people we have known only because we have known them. We must always ask, “What is God doing now?”
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: For those who Influence Public Opinion (BCP p. 827)
Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 