10 Years makes Quite a Difference - April 24

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 25; PM Psalm 9, 15 ; Dan.4:19-27; 1 John 3:19-4:6; Luke 4:14-30

I am notorious for leaving my Book of Common Prayer / Hymnal all over the church.  I actually have two, one that was a gift from my Mother-in-Law given to me on June 14, 2013, at my ordination.  The other was given to me on May 11, 2013, by a group of six members of St. George’s in Arlington, Virginia, that I had met with monthly for two years as they helped me reflect on my role as seminarian at that church.  The second book is red, and the one from my mother-in-law, with a black cover, is the one I usually use at church. 

Yet, I couldn’t find my usual BCP on Sunday morning (it has since been located), so I rushed downstairs to grab the red book from my office and I opened the book to see the note from my seminarian committee, almost ten years ago today. My how things have changed! 

Are you the same way, ten years have passed and your understanding of God, God’s grace, love, redemption, and resurrection have taken on new meaning and life? 

Today’s Gospel is the story of Jesus in his hometown preaching in the temple as a boy.  He unrolls a scroll from the 61 chapter of Isaiah and reads a passage to the people in the synagogue.  People are amazed.   And then when Jesus offers criticism, the town turns on him and drives him out.  They cannot see the connection. It will take another ten to twenty years for people to begin to understand just who this boy is and the implications for all of humanity.

While this passage certainly points to Jesus’s knowledge of Scripture, his connection to the text in Isaiah, and the prediction of how the first Christian people would see the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, this text points to another very simple truth – we will grow in our faith.   What we see today, we may see with new issues and a fresh understanding later. 

Where were you 10 years ago?  What did you believe?  Does Jesus take new meaning in your life today?

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection: Think back to where you were ten years ago. Where were you 10 years ago?  What did you believe?  Does Jesus take new meaning in your life today?

Daily Challenge: Write a note to yourself ten years from now. Put it in your Book of Common Prayer or a bible, and now add a calendar reminder in your Google or Outlook calendar to read the note.