Happy Friday!
Grace and peace.
This coming Sunday is the first week in Ordinary Time (aka Kingdomtide), and it starts the second half of the year with a rather direct challenge to our allegiances. Where do we place our allegiance, and to whom do we give our obedience and devotion?
- In Mark 3:20-35, Jesus faces persecution of his own, both from his family who call him crazy, and from the religious leaders who claim that he is demonized. His response is decisive though, in two ways.
- Firstly, he reveals the absurdity in claiming that his power to defeat the devil comes from the devil, which implies that it can only come from God.
- Secondly, he embraces all who obey God, who give their hearts in allegiance to God’s Reign as he has done, as his family.
- In 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Paul describes the troubles that we experience in this life as small compared with the glory which awaits us in Christ. It is this hope that enables us to stay faithful, and to share the message of God’s grace, even as we face suffering in this life.
- In Genesis 3:8-15, God confronts the man and woman who have turned away from obedience to God and followed the temptation of the serpent.
- While in Psalm 130 the attitude is one of crying out for God’s grace to rescue the psalmist in time of trouble. No matter what life may throw at us, our faith needs to remain in God.
The Intersection for this week, then, is that life is hard and will bring suffering, especially when we try to live with integrity and faith. However when we keep our allegiance with God we have God’s promise that God will sustain us, and we have the hope in the eternal life that God promises us.
Another thought – in this life, we also have the joy of a family of faith with whom we can share our tears, our joys and our hope, while helping one another to stay faithful to God.
What Intersection(s) did you find this week?
Video – https://youtu.be/UInioJZU2BA
