Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Yesterday was our disappointment with God, today we talk about God's disappointment with us. God disciplines those he loves, and that is sometimes hard to accept. We don't want to think that we're wrong, but somewhere in the midst of this we should be learning to trust God.

How do we handle disappointment with God? Sometimes it's hard to admit we even feel it. Jesus recognized this, and he came through to surprise everyone. Things don't always end like that, but God is always close by.

Today Jesus is escaping the crowds to make a beeline for a demon-possessed outcast. This flies in the face of our tendency to try to build the biggest crowd we can in our churches: not only did Jesus flee popularity, he actually made himself unpopular by upsetting the local livestock trade. God's ways don't always make sense, but they are worth standing up and taking notice of.

It must have been amazing to be in Jesus' inner circle. Sometimes you were confused, but you had a front row seat for all the action. God has always invited people, even the small and seemingly insignificant, into that place. 

We are chosen God to participate in the work he is already doing. This was taking place in both the Old and New Testaments, and continues today. But we aren't alone; God continues beside us in his own work.

Wholeness and flourishing: those are the things God intended to define our lives. Jesus performed healing miracles on the Sabbath, and I don't think it was just because he ran into sick people in the temple. I think it's a portrait of what Sabbath is for: bringing wholeness back to our lives.

When God's people show obedience and walk with him, he shows up for them. Even in the presence of deceitful neighbors and uncertain time, he still invites us: "follow me."

Sometimes it can feel like we're waiting for our moment to come. In Maccabees, we see one great leader falls, while someone else is called up to take his place. Jesus is very careful about not letting fame interfere with ministry, and often tells people who have been healed not to even make it known. Timing is everything. God's timing may take longer than we expect, but it's always worth waiting for.

I admit I am growing weary of Maccabees. So much fighting.. but today's scripture is actually a good balance. The Psalms give us an opportunity to glorify God for who he is, and the calling of Jesus' disciples reminds us that his only qualifier for discipleship was the willingness to follow. This is refreshing to me. God isn't always showing up only in a firefight, he's also working in the common things.

The way God works isn't always the same. Sometimes he stands with the strong, other times he stands with the weak. Sometimes he's declaring that things are about to change from the lips of a charismatic wild man in the desert. Always, his character is to extend his love and draw us into his Kingdom.