Medicine for our Soul - October 2

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144; Hosea 4:11-19; Acts 21:15-26; Luke 5:27-39

‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

There are many descriptors for this time we live in. I have heard of the age of technology or the age of information. If I had a name for this era of humanity it might be the age of finger-pointing. Maybe due to information and technology, we can see the global problems we as humanity all face. And almost all of these problems are universally someone else’s fault (or at least someone else’s responsibility to fix).  Or maybe it just feels like that to me. 

Twenty years ago or so I was walking through Nashville and I came across a sign outside a downtown Presbyterian church, “Sinners Only, No Saints Allowed.” I chuckled at the time, but the sign made a lasting impression. We are all in need of grace.

Jesus’s call to the sick in Luke’s Gospel is more than just a reminder that we need grace though. If Jesus is for the sick, and Jesus is for you and me, then this passage implies that our identity is one of humility and repentance. How different can our relationships, our communities, and our world truly be if we see the church as the medicine for our souls, a reminder that each and every one of us has work to do. It becomes a little harder to point a finger when we are working on ourselves.  

After all, “sinners only, no saints allowed.” And Thanks be to God.

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What areas of your own life can you work to improve?  How can a faith community be medicine for your soul?