Thanks be to God that we are not accepted and included in the Kingdom of God based on our own merits or achievement.  In today’s Gospel reading we see something of what Jesus expects of us, and if truth be told, probably none of us ever measure up to this very well.  Thanks be to God that we can always be forgiven and be given another chance.  That doesn’t stop us from trying but certainly removes from us the burden of failure and never quite ‘making it.’  Thanks be to God for such grace.

Something I have found from time to time that is that all sorts of folks have never thought that they’d be welcome in church, much less be part of God’s kingdom.  They have the misconception that they have to be ‘the right kind of person’, or have ‘the right kind of background’, or be particularly good or righteous or ‘proper’.  They figure that with their supposedly seamy or unsavoury background they’d never be welcome or fit in.  But then, just look at who Jesus included as His closest followers: a quisling & collaborator (Matthew), a terrorist (Simon the Zealot), a doubter or questioner (Thomas), a bunch of uncouth fishermen, and two men with foul tempers (James and John, so called the Sons of Thunder because of their outbursts).  And then there was the persecutor of the church, a man with blood on his hands, Paul of Tarsus.  With such a crowd, who can doubt that he or she is not also welcome.  So, our job is to let them know and invite them.

Today’s story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath sets before us one of the more difficult tasks or questions concerning Scripture, namely whether we should apply it to ourselves right now in our present situation, or not.  Some people, of the so-called Health & Wealth, prosperity, school would say, ‘yes, we should definitely apply it to ourselves, for God’s will for us as Christians is always health and prosperity.’  I have some very real problems with this notion, for many of God’s servants were neither wealthy nor prosperous, for instance, Job, Jeremiah, Paul and, of course, Jesus.  (Job, of course, did have prosperous times but also great afflictions and loss.)

And so, as I have indicated in my meditation, I would see it more as a question of our giving over to God whatever we are or have, and letting God work through these things as He wills.  Anyway, there is something for you to wrestle with.

Today’s Scripture passage tells the story of a certain dinner engagement that Jesus was invited to, and highlights something that we rarely even think about, namely our motives in doing the things we do.  Those who favoured helping out their child or one of their livestock when in trouble never even gave it a thought.  Of course, we’d do the right thing by them.  But, in putting off helping someone else because the Sabbath supposedly forbid it: they never suspected that there might be a kind of double standard there.  And, as for wanting to look good etc. at the banquet, be closer to the action, so what?  Everyone does it!  I suspect that there are ‘tons’ of things that we do, without even thinking about it, that possibly have less than stellar motives behind them.  Certainly, it is something worth thinking about

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation speak of God’s incredible mercy and patience.  However, the problem is that they don’t last forever given the shortness and uncertainty of life.  Time has a way of running out for us, and as my years continue and play out, I am forcibly reminded continually of that fact.  And so, whether it is a matter of accepting God’s gift of salvation or of doing some good deed or speaking a kindly word, the time is now.  As the old commercial said, ‘Why wait for spring?’  Indeed, why wait for anything.

It seems to me that what Jesus is trying to get across to us is that small things, small actions, do make a difference.  And so, rather than despising them or shrugging them off, we should make the effort and carry out those things, even if they seem inconsequential or even silly.  A good deed, a friendly or encouraging word, a short time of prayer or Bible study, or a bit of courtesy when in traffic or at the store, can have large and totally unforeseen consequences.  And so, let us all make an effort to take care of those little things.  And as someone once said, ‘take care of the little things, and the big things take care of themselves.’

One of the most perplexing and troubling questions that have bedevilled me of late is how well-meaning people, Christians, can come to such divergent conclusions when they all claim to follow the same Lord and be guided by the same Scriptures.  We find something of this in today’s Scripture passage and meditation:

      The leader of the synagogue was seemingly fixed on adhering woodenly to the rules and regulations concerning work and the Sabbath,
      even at the expense of human need.  But, he was willing to overlook those stipulations when it came to his own finances and livelihood.
      In other words, self triumphed over the needs of others.  It is a good example of what can so easily happen to all of us, even when we are
      focusing on God’s word, the Holy Scriptures.

Here we need to be humble and very careful.  Our own personal agendas and personal agendas can get in the way of reading them properly (as happened with the leader of the synagogue), or it can be our own experiences, training and upbringing or our presuppositions.  For instance, the oppressed peoples of South and Central America, informed as they were by Marxist philosophy and their own deprivation, easily saw in the Scriptures God’s word for the oppressed and the marginalized, and we, in the West, can likewise see God’s stamp of approval on property rights and privileges.

Here, then, we need to be careful: to listen, to look at the immediate context and setting, and to appeal to the whole testimony of Scripture and the wisdom of the Church over the ages.  Sadly, unfortunately, we can get it wrong, as that fellow did that day, but, with our Lord’s help, and the discernment of each other, we can get it right--at least, somewhat.

(Interestingly, along this line, I would sometime like to present a course or teaching on how to approach and read the Scriptures for newcomers.  If interested, please let me know)

It is said that time waits for no one, and while God is incredibly ‘generous’ in His mercy and forbearance, there does come a point in time when it becomes too late.  Opportunities are like that, whether it is the opportunity to put our trust in Him or to do something for Him or for someone else.  Sometimes time is of the essence.

How easy, and natural, it is for us to put things off, to postpone dealing with certain things, especially if they are difficult or time-consuming or unpleasant.  And yet, the Scriptures continually remind us of the urgency of our times and the necessity to take certain actions right now.  That is what our Scripture passage and meditation for today remind us of.

I have often said that stubbornness doesn’t run in my family, no, it gallops.  One of my sons was often heard to say, when I tried to help him with something, ‘No Dad, me do it.’  In retrospect, I have to say that determination and self-reliance are good traits, but certainly can be overdone, especially when it comes to things that we simply can’t do on our own.  One of these things is salvation, and yet far too many of us, try to do it on our own instead of asking for God’s help.  That’s where the Summary of the Law does a great job of providing a goal, but not as a standard that we have to live up to on our own.  If nothing else, it tells us that we need help.

Here is something that I have never seriously considered, namely that there is the possibility of ‘rewards’ in heaven.  I sort of thought being there and being with Jesus was ‘reward enough’.  But Jesus speaks of ‘rewards in heaven’, so it certainly is something that bears consideration.  And most definitely, for me at least, thinking that we might be rewarded in some way for the good that we’ve done on earth seems altogether fair and just.  Not as a way of ‘earning’ salvation most assuredly, but as a reward for a job well done.  The whole idea sort of ‘warms my spirit’ and wants to make me try even harder.  Something to think about.

Often we believe it mentally, and even say it with our words, but do we really act upon when it comes down to practice, to our daily lives?  I mean our understanding, our conviction, that God can do anything.  Far too often, I suspect, we are like the two sisters in today’s account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  We wistfully say, ‘if only’, whether in blaming (as they did) or in lamenting, grieving, a seemingly lost opportunity.  And, like them, we mutter, ‘yes, but not yet’ when it comes to God’s intervention, believing that He can indeed do it, but not now, not in our lives.  And, either way, we miss out on what God might want to do in our lives.

Fear is a tricky and multi-faceted concept.  On the one hand, we can have the type of fear we label as terror, which can be quite rational, expected and normal, depending on the circumstances.  (For instance, it’s quite natural to be terrified if your community is experiencing nightly bombing, as happened in London during the Second World War.)  And then we can have phobias, which are often irrational and unwarranted, such as a fear of the dark or a fear of crowded places.  And then, over against these, we have what the Bible calls holy fear, Godly fear or Godly reverence.  It denotes a reverence or healthy respect toward God, who He is, what He does and what He demands.  Even though perfect love casts out fear (as 1 John 4:18 indicates), we should still have a healthy respect toward God.  To me, it is sort of like the healthy respect I have for grizzly bears.  It’s not as if I have an unhealthy fear of them but a respect that I feel is due to them given their capabilities.  I don’t have a phobia about them, neither am I terrified by them; it’s just that I would not want to stumble upon one unexpectedly--unexpectedly, whether for it or me--or ‘cross’ one of them in some way.  Instead, I give them their due and try to behave ‘properly' towards them.  I sort of feel this way about God, except that I know that He also loves me and cares for me.  Even so, the healthy respect remains.

Any of us who have raised children probably have had this experience. You are trying to get something across to your children and yet those children insist on running around the room with their hands over ears, exclaiming loudly and repeatedly, “I can’t hear what you're saying, I can’t hear what you're saying!”

It’s a childish thing to do, and yet, unfortunately, it is something that we adults sometimes say to God. God wants to get through to us, tell us something, and we, on the one hand either ignore it or refuse to admit it, or, on the other hand, chose to disobey it. It’s sort of like putting our fingers over our ears.

However, God doesn’t give up on us, and continues ‘trying to get through to us’, and when we think about it, it’s for our own good. So then it is best to 'listen up’ right away and do as He says.

Jesus’ call to love others is especially challenging, especially given that it isn’t always something that we are naturally inclined to do.  I still remember reading a particular prayer as a young person.  It asked for God’s help in loving a person, even when we didn’t like him.  I was bewildered, as I thought that love and like went together.  I didn’t realize that like is an emotion, whereas love is an action, a decision.  Love is a decision to actively desire, and work for that other person’s good, whether we particularly like that person or not.  That is how Jesus can command us to love our enemies and even those who mistreat us.  It is a rather stiff command, but one that He can help us with.  Thanks be to God.

I’m afraid that this is probably a failing for many of us, namely that we don’t pray enough, and that when we do pray we don’t do so with much expectation or persistence or specificity.  This is where Bartimaeus is a good role model: he knew what he wanted (the results of his prayer), he knew in his heart (and head) that Jesus could deliver it, and he wasn’t about to give up until he received it.  Oh, that we could be like that!

It had never really dawned on me just how much Jesus depended upon His Father--for direction in life (as in choosing the Twelve), for help in times of trial and temptation (as in the Garden of Gethsemane), for provision (as in the Feeding of the 5,000) and for healing (as in the raising of Lazarus).  I had sometimes taken Jesus’ prayers in the latter two cases as being somewhat per functionary, just ‘going through the motions’, but now I’m thinking that they were for real.  And, if Jesus needed help in this way, then we certainly do as well.