Seek first to understand – October 16

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14); PM Psalm 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117
2 Kings 25:8-12,22-26; 1 Cor. 15:12-29; Matt. 11:7-15

As I was about to head to bed last night, I saw a headline about the British singer Adele’s new single released this week, ahead of her album “30” that is to come out in November. Adele is a talented artist whose stirring lyrics and vocals hit me to the core. Though my better half Sam was ready to turn in, he sat with me as we watched the video and listened to the song. It is called “Easy on Me”. Adele walks through a vacant house, gathers a suitcase, and heads to a car to leave a property with a real estate sign in the front yard that has a sold rider on the top of it. She begins to sing as she drives away, pleading for the listener to go easy on her in evaluating her choices.

The singer/songwriter explained in an interview her hope to share a window into understanding her choices in ending the marriage between herself and her now ex-husband. Though the split has brought pain and complexity to their nine-year-old son’s life, Adele said of her latest work, "I just felt like I wanted to explain to [my son], through this record, when he's in his twenties or thirties, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness.”

While her voice is like platinum and honey, Adele’s life experiences have not been plush or easy. Perhaps like many of our stories, life gets messy and muddled. It is easy to idealize one’s being in a snapshot for this year’s Christmas card, or in an Instagram story from a beach trip last weekend. Those frames in time do not always capture the layers of humanity at play. The frustration. The discord. The tears. The pain. Adele’s song “Easy on Me” is opening the door to understanding the reality of her life.

Perhaps Jesus was trying to help the crowd get a more true, more accurate concept of John the Baptist in Matthew 11. Jesus has been preparing his disciples, and now is teaching and preaching in the region of Galilee. John, while imprisoned, hears of the work Jesus is doing and sends his followers to inquire of Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, or do we need to look elsewhere?” The Son of God responds in the mostly-affirmative: the proof is in the pudding. Actually, Jesus says, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor…”

As John’s friends depart to give him an update, Jesus is talking to the crowd about John, who is a legend of his own. People flocked to the wilderness to behold this man who baptized people in the river. Jesus examines the hearts of the crowd, asking, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?...A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes…and more than a prophet.” (v. 7-9) Jesus is completing the picture for the crowd, giving them a lens for the truth of who John the Baptizer is, and what his role in the larger picture is: a soothsayer and visionary, the Elijah of his day ushering in the truth, preparing the way for Jesus.

Not everyone in the 1st century was ready to hear or understand that message. Some of us are slower to come around to grasping that truth today.

Let us go easy on one another as we welcome those who dare to share their truths. And, let us report the stories of healing and restoration around us, so that the truth of God’s redeeming love may shine in our hearts and spring from our lips.

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

What is a truth about yourself, or perhaps a change in your path, that others wrestled to understand? How did you communicate the story? Looking back, what would you keep the same, and what would you change?

Daily Challenge

Today, three martyrs from the early days of the Anglican Church are remembered. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, all put to death by Queen Mary – a staunch Roman Catholic – in 1556.