Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 17, 2021
God Showing Up in “All the Wrong Places”
Matthew 8:5-13, The Message - As Jesus entered the
village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my
servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”
Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”
“Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to
all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man
who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to
another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this
kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all
about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will
soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from
the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find
themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”
Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you
believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.
This passage always steps on my
toes. It should step on the toes of all
of us who claim to be “on the inside” of God’s community. This is one of those passages where we want
to be the Roman Captain, but we are not.
We are Israel where Jesus has not seen such faith. We’re supposed to have such faith, but it
often escapes us. We sometimes get “outfaithed”
by outsiders and it’s not fun.
One of my favorite theologians is
Soren Kierkegaard. He spent much of his
life as a self-imposed outcast of the church because he felt the Danish state
church had lost its way. He was embraced
more as a philosopher in his own day (he is regarded as one of the founders of
existentialism) and was not really taken seriously as a theologian until almost
a century after his death. But his
writings on the nature of faith and the church have called many insiders to
greater faith. I am one of those
beneficiaries.
I have often gotten the chance to
officiate at weddings and funerals for families that are not “church-goers.” Many times, during those experiences, I
encounter folks who talk about their faith in a way that is so refreshing and inspiring
that I leave the encounter feeling like I received more from them than I
gave. I have often read magazine
articles/books by people who don’t call themselves Christians and found that I
encountered Christ in their writings. I
have heard God speak through podcasts/TED Talks from folks who would be
offended if I called them a Christian. Some of the most profoundly moving music I
have ever heard was not created by Christians and yet I feel the Spirit in the
notes they put together. My point, and I
think Jesus’s point as well, is not that the insiders are bad. The point is that we insiders often forget
that we do not have a monopoly on the things of God. God is not confined to work through the
church. God’s voice can be heard in
places where the church has not/will not go.
God’s healing is not reserved for those who “deserve” it (as if that
were possible). We professional faithers
sometimes get too big for our britches and need to be humbled.
Question: When was
the last time you were humbled by someone who is an “outsider” to the faith?
Prayer: God forgive
us for our presumptions about where you will show up, how and through whom you
will speak, and who will receive your healing.
Give us humble spirits so that we experience your grace in whatever way
it is offered. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
that God will speak to you today in a surprising way and then spend the rest of
the day anticipating how it will happen.
Song: Not
surprisingly, I chose a song today from an “outsider.” This is one of my favorite songs ever. It awakens my spirit every time I hear
it. I hope you have music that does the
same for you, regardless of where it comes from:
My Oh My – David Gray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_M8fQG9OSI
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