Tag: status

• 1 Chronicles 24: Minutiae

  
  

  1 Chronicles 24: Minutiae

  Saturday, November 23, 2024

  

  When we discover that we focus on the minutiae of life rather than its living, we know that we have stepped over a line. When we begin to split hairs and argue the details, we know that we have gone a bit too far. When we become fascinated by the rules and parameters rather than the Spirit, we must take a step back and evaluate. Today we have an opportunity to reflect on the minutiae and the living of our lives.

  “Historically, this organizational system [of priestly duties] was developed only after the return from Babylon and not in David’s day. Two motivations led to its development. The first is a practical matter: the increased number of priests required a rotation of priestly duties. Second, this ordering of the priesthood may have been an attempt to resolve a squabble between the line of Abiathar, banned from the priesthood by Solomon (1 Kings 2:26), and the line of Zadok, represented by those priests returning from exile . . . [in which] both are linked with Aaron through his two sons”.  (Mays 323)

  

  In this example of revisionism we see the ancient struggle with minutiae which remains with us today. We fuss about who sits where and who wears what and who knows whom rather than focus on overcoming our fears and living our life to our fullest potential. We have seen this before; we understand the truth of these words. Deep within we know that must put aside our fretting over details and forget about any hierarchy we construct to turn instead to God’s generous goodness and high goals. Rather than lust after a name or position in society, rather than amass possessions to leave to our heirs, we must respond to God’s call.

  Our true example is Jesus Christ, not the most popular person we know. And our true goal is to love as God loves us, not to love for the sake of gaining something. With all of this in mind, we remember those who squabble over petty gains, we remind ourselves that our vocation must be more than minutiae, and we ask for God’s blessing in all we do.

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  Mays, James L., ed.  HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 323. Print.

  First written on November 15, 2010, re-written and posted today as a Favorite.

  For more on Zadok or Abiathar click on the images above or go to: http://www.realmagick.com/zadok-high-priest-zadok-in-the-bible/ and http://spectrummagazine.org/node/2759 

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  November 23, 2024

  material versus spiritual, revisionism, status, The Spirit

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• Luke 16:19-31: The Rich Man and Lazarus

  
  

  Luke 16:19-31: The Rich Man and Lazarus

  Thursday, February 23, 2023

  

  The Lazarus in scripture whom we perhaps know well is the brother of Martha and Mary whom Jesus’ raises from the tomb in a prefiguring of his own resurrection. Today’s Lazarus is not this friend of Jesus but rather a poor man named covered with sores, [who] had been dumped on [a rich man’s] doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.

  In death we see the reversal of their stations; the rich man suffers in hell while Lazarus finds himself in the lap of the patriarch Abraham. This inversion of status is one we might easily predict if we only read the Gospel with care. Jesus is constantly reminding us that the first will be last and the last first. And yet we easily – and frequently happily – ignore this teaching.

  We make our Lenten journey to our Easter home and today’s words from Luke ask us to consider our station in the eternal world with more care than we examine our position and status in this world. In the hubbub and noise of modern society we are easily caught up in gaining, storing, achieving and making a mark. Yet here we see that we are wise to focus instead on nurturing, tending, healing and transforming ourselves and – with the gift of the Spirit – making Christ visible in a greedy and foggy world.

  As we think about our status in God’s eternal kingdom, let us examine more closely how we bring this Gospel message into our temporal lives and how we share this message with others. Let us be more attentive to the little ordinary moments in each day that we ignore and so easily bypass. And rather than work so hard at ignoring the people and events that bring us discomfort, let us work instead to bring the beauty of God’s kingdom into fullness today.

  We remember our Lenten practice. Rather than thinking: “Let us make three tents to contain the joy of God’s wisdom,” let us think instead, “Let us share the joy of God’s great gift of love”.

  Tomorrow, rejecting the cornerstone.

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  Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrick_ter_Brugghen_-_The_Rich_Man_and_the_Poor_Lazarus_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

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  February 23, 2023

  Abraham, inversion, status, transformation

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