Devotion for Wednesday, April 8

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Psalms 58, 138; Jeremiah 17:5-10, 14-17; Philippians 4:1-13; John 12:27-36

Meditation: Today’s scriptures oscillate between something akin to the psychologist’s “total positive regard” and “wrath-of-God-hell-fire-and-damnation.” Whew! Hard to get a handle on these polar opposites!

That’s not to say that everyday life is full of similar kinds of oscillation. We can be righteously indignant about taxes, the intolerant attitudes, prices at the grocery store, or our boss’s latest tirade. Yet, the next moment, we find ourselves touched by concern for another, or finding solemnity in prayer or in nature so that butter wouldn’t melt in our mouths. David Tracy once wrote a theology book called Blessed Rage for Order. Maybe it is resolution we crave (either good or bad) that gets us swerving so from side to side. The resolution could be full of mercy and kindness, or maybe it’s about wiping the slate clean and starting over.

Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is all over this subject. If I was to put my finger on a theme, I’d say that it was: “Have this mind among you that was in Christ Jesus.” In chapter 2, Paul spells this out by singing a hymn current in his day which spoke of Jesus emptying himself of heavenly glory so that he could embrace our human condition and bridge the ugly ditch left between us and God. Indeed, the words to this great story need to be in a hymn because they are too lofty only to be spoken. They deserve to be sung.

Yet, Paul is also careful to bring such language down to earth. As enthusiastic and lofty as may be his famous words, “Rejoice always (and again I say, Rejoice)” and about “the peace which passeth understanding,” he also takes time to encourage a reconciliation between Euodia and Syntyche, two women in the Philippian church. He understands that having hope from the Gospel doesn’t always sit well with those who are missing the point of it. So, he turns to salve the wounds of those who have been fighting the good battle. He asks another church member to bring the two Christian sisters together back into their common purpose, into having “the same mind among them that was in Christ Jesus” who “emptied himself” and “took on” our condition. Perhaps what he is really saying is that if we can work things out with one another here on earth, we are embodying what Christ has brought us from heaven. Wouldn’t that be a fine resolution of it all? Our hope calls us to this daily action.

Prayer: Reconciling God, do you jerk from wrath to graciousness like we do? Do you get upset with us so that you’re like a parent at the end of a rope, a judge who has seen a defendant one too many times, a teacher who sees one bad answer copied wrongly by too many students from one another? Are you always full of that peace that passes our understanding, a benevolence that is more awesome than the view from the rim of the Grand Canyon? Did you get it all worked out through the coming of Jesus Christ? Help us to consider the things that are true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing and what is commendable this day. Perhaps we can take some small step toward having the same mind that was in Christ Jesus in us. Hear our prayer, O Lord. Amen.