Year B - Pentecost +23 or Energy to Witness 23
November 1, 2015
There is no primary. This gets us into chicken and egg conundrums. There are counter-balancing rhythms and relationships.
The scribe concludes that loving G*D and Neighb*r are more important than temple sacrifices. Jesus does not say, “Then come; follow me.” He says, “You are not far from the presence of G*D.” Can the scribe go back to being a scribe that prescribes temple sacrifices? How long before good old cognitive dissonance sets in and he becomes a temple alumni? Does that mean that honest questions put one in the presence of G*D?
No one may have asked Jesus additional questions beyond antagonistic questioning by Pharisees and Sadducees and sympathetic questioning by a scribe, but there are questions to be asked. In the next verses, Jesus takes up an antagonistic question back at temple leaders before ending with an ambivalent observation about a widow’s mite.
Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, widows. Around and around we go with paradigms, memes, experiences, and more. None of these define Jesus’ assurance, defiance, or growth in the intersection between religion and G*D. Each is a response to a context and a person. It might be helpful here to remember Matthew 13:52 where we are reminded that the head of a household (female?) brings old and new things forth from their treasure chest to deal with the particulars of the moment.
Who has modeled for you the bringing together of different pieces of information (our life) to apply to a present situation? They are a saint for us. May you so model for others.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for blessing us with your response.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.