Lectionary Reflections for June 30, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14;\u00a0Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20;\u00a0Galatians 5:1, 13-25;\u00a0Luke 9:51-62<\/em><\/p>\n Bold Requests and Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n Faith inspires boldness and God wants us to be bold in our requests and in our responsibilities.\u00a0 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invites his followers to \u201cask, seek, and knock\u201d trusting that God cares for the small and large details of our lives.\u00a0 Paul asserts that God\u2019s power moving within our lives can achieve \u201cmore than we can ask or imagine.\u201d\u00a0 Today\u2019s scriptures assert that God\u2019s realm promises great things, and asks us to be persistent and focused in our quest to be faithful; we may have to let go of familiar relationships and comforts to awaken to the wonders God has in store for us.\u00a0 Sacrifice is essential to living faith, and our sacrifices open us to surprising powers and possibilities.<\/p>\n When Elijah asks his successor and student Elisha what he would like for a final blessing, Elisha\u2019s response is audacious, \u201cPlease let me inherit a double share of your spirit.\u201d\u00a0 He has seen his mentor do great things, face adversity, and even in his final day perform miraculous acts.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want to think small or live small.\u00a0 He wants a double spiritual blessing.\u00a0 Perhaps, Elisha knows that he will need all the courage, insight, and imagination he can muster to speak for God in a perilous time in the nation\u2019s governmental and religious history.\u00a0 Prophetic ministry is not for those who think small; it is for adventurers who ask much of themselves and more of God to achieve God\u2019s and their greatest dreams.<\/p>\n The Psalmist boldly cries out to God.\u00a0 He wants God\u2019s attention so that he can remind God of all that God has done for the people and himself.\u00a0 He wants God to show his saving power again in a time of personal and national trial.\u00a0 In his cry to God, the Psalmist is also remembering God\u2019s liberating actions and from this memory comes the ability to withstand the current crisis: God has been faithful \u2013 in the creation of the world, in the liberation of the children of Israel, and in the Psalmist\u2019s own life.\u00a0 He cries boldly because he remembers God has been \u201cour help in ages past\u201d and will be \u201cour hope in years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul proclaims boldly the gospel of Christian freedom.\u00a0 He is asking his Galatian listeners the question, \u201cWhat will you do if you know you can\u2019t lose?\u00a0\u00a0 What will you do now that the big issues of life \u2013 your relationship with God and ultimate destiny in God\u2019s realm \u2013 are settled in your favor?\u201d\u00a0 You are free, he proclaims, and true freedom involves boldly going against the world\u2019s values and your own narrow self-interest; it involves living by love, self-control, care for the vulnerable, generosity, and sacrifice for a higher good.\u00a0 In awakening to grace and living by God\u2019s vision, we open to the inspiration of the Spirit that leads us toward authentic joy and abundance.\u00a0\u00a0 Grace enables us to become large-souled persons who see our own well-being and the well-being of others as intimately connected.<\/p>\n Jesus makes bold requests of those who wish to follow his pathway.\u00a0 His words are harsh, but they are words that invite us to consider our values and priorities. Followers of Jesus need to look forward rather than backward.\u00a0 They need to let go of familiar patterns, social requirements, and relational certainties to experience the greater joy of God\u2019s realm.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 disciples need to let go of the need for vengeance.\u00a0 Everything that shrinks your world, imprisons you in the past, and ties you to habitual reactions must be jettisoned for the values of God\u2019s realm.\u00a0 I am not certain Jesus\u2019 intent is for us to forsake our families and obligations but to see them in a new light \u2013 to love, but love without possession, to own without greed, to save but to give generously, and to care for loved ones but break out of patterns that stand in the way of God\u2019s vision for your life.<\/p>\n A healthy congregation is on the move, asking great things of itself and God, expecting to achieve great things, and willing to let go of the past achievements to be faithful to God\u2019s calling today.\u00a0 Our churches need to take Elisha\u2019s request seriously, praying for a double portion of spirit to face today\u2019s challenges.\u00a0 We also need to put God first, not over against our commitments to family and professional life, but to see our other responsibilities in light of our vocation as God\u2019s beloved children.\u00a0 God is moving through every aspect of our personal and congregational life, bringing all of the strands together in ways that promote wholeness individual, community, and planet.\u00a0 We need to let go of egocentrism and self-interest, even national interest, to seek the well-being of our most vulnerable companions and to express God\u2019s love in deed and word.\u00a0 Such actions are bold indeed; they will cost us something, but they will also bring us more than we can ask and imagine in blessings and power to heal the Earth.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s scriptures assert that God\u2019s realm promises great things, and asks us to be persistent and focused in our quest to be faithful; we may have to let go of familiar relationships and comforts to awaken to the wonders God has in store for us. Sacrifice is essential to living faith, and our sacrifices open us to surprising powers and possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,52,73,77],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christianity","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-sacred-texts","tag-spiritual-formation"],"yoast_head":"\n