Testing...testing...is this thing on? - May 20
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:97-120; PM Psalms 81, 82, Lev. 26:27-42; Eph. 1:1-10; Matt. 22:41-46
Saint Stephen’s is trying new technologies while we are physically dispersed. We’ve adopted the mindset that we are making small experiments. Some work. Some don’t. We learn through testing them! The application ZOOM crashed on Sunday morning around the world, affecting the video-streamed Children’s Chapel lesson Jennifer Jones and others had planned. This week John and I have been broadcasting with some different tools. There has been a mix of success and frustration. I spent a couple of minutes Tuesday afternoon broadcasting footage of me with a quizzical expression, a few giggles, and mutterings of “I don’t know…Is it working?” It was a test, and it sort of worked. Tests point to our limits: where we are succeeding and where our opportunities for improvement remain.
We find Jesus with the Pharisees today in the reading from Matthew. Both the Sadducees and Pharisees have been testing Jesus. They have been trying to trip up and trick him, so that they can humiliate and discredit him. What happens next is a bit of “just desserts”. Those testing through intellect have the tables turned upon them; Jesus volleys a question back their way and they are stumped, for “no one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.”
Ultimately, Jesus holds up the truth that, while questions and curiosity are welcome, the Pharisees cannot trick or out-reason God. This is a hard truth we get to mull over, too… especially when our faith in God is tested. We may try to trick ourselves or others, or we may rationalize our choices, but our God is the God of truth. God calls us to honest inquiry and understanding – rather than a series of “gotchas!”
Maybe living out our Christian faith becomes a series of small experiments, too. We get to test with curiosity where we find our own grounding in God’s blessing and grace. We get to reflect upon the irony that when we are testing a software, colleague, or social limit, we are tested in that exchange, too. So, stay curious and make small experiments – not to be right, but to learn more, about God, those around you, and yourself.
-- Katherine+
Questions for Reflection
What questions do you have for Jesus?
Who is someone who tests you? Who do you test?
Daily Challenge
Think of an experiment or something new you’ve done lately. What worked? What didn’t? Write down what you learned about yourself. Take a moment to give thanks to God for your growth and awareness.