Contemplative Bible Reading

This is a different from most posts. Today, December 25th 2022, is Christmas Day. Christianity worldwide celebrates this as the day Christ came to earth.

Well, there are 365 or so days in a year, so there is a chance that Christ was born close to the winter solstice. Researchers who research such things have proven that Christ was born on every day of the year, if that makes any sense.

In America, we have sort of turned this into a commercial event where commerce exceeds all other days of the year. There is nothing wrong with commerce and employing people to allow them to support their families and many others.

There is nothing wrong with folks, who would not otherwise do so, looking up in the night sky for a bright shining star and thinking about God at least once a year.

Here is something a Christian could say on this day, “We can all enjoy the happiness of today everyday. I know people who have this joy everyday. Would you like to meet some of them and learn of the reason for their hope and joy?”

Jonah 3:7-8 (New Living Translation)

7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

This is part of the (hi)story of Jonah and his reluctant evangelism to the city of Nineveh. After being thrown into the sea during a storm, being swallowed by a great fish, and … is there anything more and worse than that stuff? Anyways, Jonah goes to Nineveh, tells the people of the true creator God Jehovah, and the king gives the above decree.

“Fast and mourn,” was the decree. “Turn from evil ways,” it continues. And it ends with “stop all violence.”

This is repentance—a complete change of mind, change of heart, and change of action.

Note the last phrase about turning from violence. This great and prosperous city was noted for the violence of residents on one another. How could such lead to a great city? Well, consider the “great cities” of America today and the violence of residents on one another. And let’s not forget that such violence happens in the rural areas, too. It happens just about everywhere just about any century.

Pray earnestly to God. Please God, don’t give me what I deserve. Hmmm, same prayer I should pray every day. I’m not a violent, evil person, but I am a person and that means…

Luke 8:46-48 (New Living Translation)

46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. 48 “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

This is the end of the well-known (hi)story of the woman who touched Jesus and was healed of her suffering of bleeding. Jesus ends this with, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Jesus was well. Jesus carried wellness always. People saw and felt this in Jesus. They flocked to Jesus to have a piece of being well. Jesus, in turn, made them well.

See that person over there? That person is well. They are whole, at peace, and happy. I want to be near that person. I want some of that wellness.

Jesus carried wellness. I should, too.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. 2 For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

3 God’s will is for you to be holy…

Let’s begin with the final phrase. What is God’s will for me? Here is a simple statement: be holy.

We don’t use the word “holy” much these days. I suppose we are focusing on other things that someone decided were more important than “holy.” We don’t call the Bible the “Holy Bible” any longer. Oh well.

What does it mean to be “holy?” Let’s go back to the first sentence, “live in a way that pleases God.” Hmm. Well, that is pretty simple. Is it easy to do? Well, sure as long as I’m sitting in a comfortable chair at the coffee shop sipping good hot coffee and smiling at the other smiling people as they walk through to sip their good hot coffee. We are all smiling and loving and pleasing to God.

What about those days when I wake cold with a headache and a sore neck and have to drive an hour in rain and traffic to sit in an uncomfortable chair and listen to a boring person bore a group of people in a meeting room and…?

Holy? Hey God, come sit in this meeting.

Nope. All wrong. Please God all the time in all circumstances. It is God’s will for me to live a holy life. ‘Nuff said. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (New Living Translation)

19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

This is excellent advice for just about anything. Here is an idea. Is it good? Let’s test it. If it works, keep it. If not, don’t use it.

Here is LSD—a strong hallucinogen. Is it good? Let’s test it. WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE!!!!

Okay, that was an extreme example. (Some folks don’t think it was an extreme example.) That extreme example may help us to set some boundaries on things.

Notice three key little words in the second sentence, “that is said.” Test everything that is said. It doesn’t say, “test everything that anyone puts in your hand.” There is a difference. The difference is small, but it is significant.

This is delicate. It is a balancing act like walking on the top strand of a barbed wire fence (not recommended). How can I test something without being polluted by it? If my proposed test will “get me a little too dirty,” I should propose another test.

Still—test and do not stifle.

Luke 9:12-13a (New Living Translation)

12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”

13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. Let’s focus on the preliminary conversation.

The disciples, faithful and good servants, come to Jesus and tell Jesus of the obvious predicament. There are thousands of folks here with no food. Those folks were listening to Jesus.

Obvious suggestion, “At the end of the sermon, dismiss the crowd and tell them to go elsewhere for food as there is none here.”

Obvious reply, “We are here, now. Let us minister here, now.”

Yeah, but, some short-term work won’t solve the long-term problem. Let’s have an after action review to figure out how to do these sermons-in-the-wilderness events so we don’t have this problem and then we can…

We are here, now. How can I minister to others here, now? How can I serve others here, now? There are needs here, now. God put me here, now. Let me be like Christ here, now.

Luke 8:43-36 (New Living Translation)

43 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. 44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Jesus healing the woman who had “constant bleeding.” When Peter told Jesus that everyone was touching Him because it was a big crowd, Jesus replied, “Someone deliberately touched me.”

There is a difference between bumping into people in a crowd and tapping someone on the shoulder to gain their attention. This woman was embarrassed when she gained the attention of Jesus, but that it what she wanted. Well, she sort of wanted the attention of Jesus. What she wanted was to be well, and Jesus seemed to carry wellness with Him.

Let’s repeat, there is a difference between bumping into people in a crowd and tapping someone on the shoulder to gain their attention. The woman deliberately touched Jesus. She saw Jesus in a crowd and didn’t just wander with the crowd. She went to Jesus. She recognized something in Jesus that she wanted and needed. Something inside her said, “Do this. Go to Jesus.”

Sometimes we bump into God without thought and are blessed. Sometimes we bump into people who have been blessed by and carry the blessings of God. Sometimes we deliberately seek God and touch God. Blessings come from each type of encounter.

Daily, let us deliberately touch Jesus.

Luke 8:43-36 (New Living Translation)

43 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. 44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”

This is part of the (hi)story of Jesus healing the woman who had suffered with “constant bleeding.” Jesus knew that He had healed someone, because He “felt healing power go out from me.”

If healing power went out from Jesus, did he have a tank of it that was draining one miracle at a time? If so, how did Jesus recharge or refill that tank of healing power? Is this just a figure or speech or one of those things we have in translations that doesn’t translate well?

Still, how do we recharge or refill our tanks with this or that power from God? Many ways. One is the gathering of Christians on the first day or the week or any day of the week. Move away from destructive people. Gather with constructive Christians. Be a constructive Christian. Refill someone else’s tank.

Let us bless one another as Christ blessed this woman and blesses each of us each day.

Deuteronomy 10:11 (New Living Translation)

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Get up and resume the journey, and lead the people to the land I swore to give to their ancestors, so they may take possession of it.”

Moses is reminding the people of the history of their passage from Egypt to the Promised Land. God had given Moses the tablets with the law. Moses smashed those tablets when he saw the sins of the people. Moses made a second set of tablets for the law.

This all took 40 days and 40 more days and all that. It was a messy pause to a journey.

Then God told Moses to, “Get up and resume the journey.”

We have messy periods of time in our lives. Something bad happens. We evacuate for a hurricane. We bury a relative and meet with all the lawyers. Life seems to pause.

Get up and resume the journey.

Perhaps a better way to think of this is to continue the journey with God through the messy periods of time in our lives. Minister to those you meet while evacuating the hurricane, burying the relative, meeting the lawyers, and so on. The pauses in life are not alone. There are others present who need God’s grace, and I am sitting right there. Who better to share than me?

Mark 10:19-21 (New Living Translation)

19 … Honor your father and mother.

20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

There are several items to discuss in these and the surrounding text. Let’s compare the person to whom honor is due. Jesus speaks first of the old law. This is because Jesus knows this man knows those laws and abides by them. One of the laws is to honor your father and mother. That honor takes many forms, but one part of the old law was that the children would provide material care for their aging parents, i.e., spend money on their aging parents.

Next Jesus moves to the subject of the poor. Jesus encourages the man to spend money on the poor. In other words, honor the poor in the same way that you honor your parents.

But I am poor, so give to me or all my friends and I are poor, so we just get along and all is well.

Perhaps, but are we honoring our parents and our close friends more than everyone else? I think that Jesus is once again giving a “new law” to the people of the day. Don’t just honor your parents, honor everyone. Jesus served and sacrificed for everyone. I should do the same—even on the days when I am tired and just don’t feel like it.