Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 37:14-15a (New Living Translation)

14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed…

The enemy was at the gates. There was no natural way that they would be repelled.

Isaiah went into the temple to pray. He set the letter of demands from the enemy on the floor in front of him, and Isaiah prayed.

“That’s just a crutch,” we could say. “God didn’t need to ‘see’ the letter. Isaiah was grandstanding, putting on a show like the showboat he was.”

Isaiah was a man of God, chosen by God to speak His words to everyone else. Isaiah used the physical to aid his spiritual weakness and pray.

“Well, I don’t need such gimicks or props.” Really? Maybe there are times when I don’t. Maybe there are times when I do. Maybe there are times when I need to admit my weakness and show my weakness and act out of my weakness and humble myself. Maybe I need to put something on the table in front of me when I pray.

Luke 15:1-2 (New Living Translation)

1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

Once again we have a case where Jesus didn’t seem to know how to live properly. He was violating social norms, and that upset powerful, influential people.

Note that the “notorious sinners” came to Jesus to listen to His words. Jesus, unlike earlier-mentioned Pharisees and teachers of religious law, didn’t proclaim, “Listen to me or else.” Jesus spoke and lived. Others noticed these things and came to Jesus to learn what was happening, why Jesus was the way He was. His life attracted people.

Back again to the verse. Jesus met sinful people. Hmmm, let me go to Starbucks and find people who don’t sin. I’ll sit next to them. Hmmm, I seem to be sitting by myself. Where are those folks who don’t sin? I can’t find them. Everyone seems to be like me, i.e., a sinner.

We each need to be with “good” people. Good people are good for us. I know some good people and I associate with them. I learn from them, I imitate them, and their “goodness” seems to rub off on me.

And then there are those who, well, society doesn’t approve of those other folks. They need to be around “good” people as well. Am I one of those “good” people who might rub off on them? Am I one of those Christians whose life might show Jesus Christ to them?

And, do any of these other folks see my life and come to me?

Luke 7:50 (New Living Translation)

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This verse is the conclusion of the (hi)story of a certain immoral woman who came to Jesus. She poured expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus and cleaned his feet with her hair.

Although there is much learned discussion among the important and learned persons in the room, we have no words from this certain immoral woman. Yet, Jesus proclaims that her faith in Him as the Christ has saved her.

A few words about “faith” as used in the New Testament. It appears from this (hi)story that faith is more than a belief. Faith also involves action. This certain immoral woman acted. He actions showed her beliefs, i.e., her faith.

I write a lot, and that is my form of talking a lot. How do my actions compare with this certain immoral woman’s? Should I compare the two?

Her actions of faith have been discussed by persons for 20 centuries. If you were to follow the lives of this certain immoral woman or mine, follow hers.

Philemon verse 6 (New Living Translation)

And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.

Philemon, the recipient of this letter, is a Christian. His “faith” mentioned above is a belief in Jesus as the Christ. Hence, this sentence is telling us that a generosity comes from being a Christian.

Hmm. Christians = generous people. Hmm. Me. Christian. Generous?

Well, since “generous” is subjective, I can claim to be generous. Would others agree with that subjective judgment? And if I’m not so generous, does that mean I’m not so Christian? Why do I come up with such questions?

Luke 7:2-4 (New Living Translation)

2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him (Jesus) to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”

An officer of an invading and occupying army had a sick slave. Whoa. Is there any good in that first sentence? Anyways, this officer heard of a man named Jesus who was healing sick people—seriously sick people.

Unable or unwilling to cross too many cultural barriers, the army officer found some intermediaries—some respected Jewish elders—to approach this Jesus and ask for help. These men did so out of appreciation for what the army officer had done for them. It worked well for all involved.

Who were these respected Jewish elders? They were men who were (1) older, (2) wiser, and (3) more visible than the average person. They had a sense of what was happening in front of them. They didn’t deny the miracles of Jesus—they occurred right in front of them. They didn’t deny the occupying army—it was right in front of them. They didn’t deny sickness and healing—those were right in front of them.

What did they have to lose? Not political power as they weren’t rulers. Not money as they probably weren’t rich.

They did have the respect of the people to lose. That was a lot. So, they acted like respected people act. They accepted reality and spoke to the persons who spoke to them.

They spoke plainly, clearly, and truthfully. Perhaps that is why they were respected. Perhaps there is a lesson for us here.

Isaiah 9:7 (New Living Translation)

His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

The prophet is relaying from God what the future will hold. He, the Messiah, will rule. The ruling will have justice, i.e., law.

What is more, and what I think is more important, the ruling will have fairness. Some translations use the word “righteousness” instead of “fairness.” The concept is the same. The ruling will be by the letter of the law. The ruling will also be by the spirit of the law. What we used to call “technicalities” won’t determine rulings.

“I didn’t cheat my neighbor. I used the footnote to the sub-clause of the clause on page 237 of the contract addendum that states…”

No. You cheated your neighbor.

“If God didn’t want me to take advantage of ignorant fools, He wouldn’t have create…”

No. You cheated that person. That was unrighteous and unfair.

I don’t cheat people. I am fair. Sure, I read things carefully and remind people of the fine print and don’t miss any chances to point out the… Is that righteous? Perhaps not.

Luke 6:45 (New Living Translation)

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

I like the first sentence in the verse above. Yes, good comes from good and evil comes from evil.

I don’t like the second sentence. I mean, sometimes I am just kidding, right? Everyone knows that. Besides, who pays attention to anything I say in the course of the day, right?

Sorry folks. What I saw, what we all say, flows from our hearts. The politician who didn’t know the microphone was turned on? The statement overheard in the hallway? They all come from the heart; they all reflect what is in our hearts.

Maybe I will do a better job at keeping my mouth shut. Still, the words are in my heart, and God knows what is there. Perhaps I should work on my heart. Perhaps I should have far more of God in my heart and far less of me there.

Malachi 3:5 (New Living Translation)

“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is speaking to the prophet to speak to the people. The Lord lists sinners who will go on trial for their sins. This is an interesting mix.

Sorcerers: they seek the demons to speak instead of listening to God.

Adulterers: they cheat their spouses on their sacred vows.

These two are really bad.

Then there are the rest of them. Liars are those who lie. Me? Cheaters of money. Me? Taking advantage of the powerless. Me? And then God summarizes with the concept of Justice.

What is just? Am I just in my life? Can I wiggle around this one with some technicalities about what constitutes a foreigner and what “living among you” means in a court of law? Yes I can, but that is wiggling and doesn’t seem to be justice upon further consideration.

Luke 6:40 (New Living Translation)

Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

I love to teach. I think I am pretty good at it—at least a few persons have told me so.

Have I ever “fully trained” a student? Have I ever trained a student enough so that they will be a teacher? Have I ever put my ego and pride aside so that someone else will replace me and be the teacher?

Oh, I don’t like that last question very much. Who said that verse? Oh, Jesus. Oh.

Multiply teachers. Multiply writers. Admit that time here is just time here and it will pass. Someone else will be here after me (the Lord willing). They will probably be a better follower of Christ than I was. They will probably be a better teacher of the Gospel that I was. They will probably fully train students to become teachers that I did.

Those are all items of good news. Now, can I push myself aside to accept them as good?

Zechariah 8:16 (New Living Translation)

But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace.

Speaking through the prophet, God is telling the people how to live in a way to will be good for them. Step Number 1: tell the truth to each other.

Well, a few little white lies that are … Well, I don’t want to tell someone that their outfit is … Well, … Well, I can create all sorts of reasons for not quite telling the truth, and we all understand the reasons, and well, you know…

Well, this is pretty plain stuff right in front of me, and try as I might, I really can’t create a reason why this doesn’t apply to me right now (Excuses? Oh, yes. I can create plenty of excuses.)

Someone once said something about tangled webs we weave when we don’t tell the truth to each other. I suppose God, who created all of this and all of us, knew better. It is up to me to let God be God and me be a part of the creation and, well, I guess I should follow the instructions…starting with Step Number 1.