07-05-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 5, 2024
In Matthew 13, we read the words:

Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.  

I love how the Gospel writers begin a new story with a rather bland introductory sentence. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. You think to yourself, “Big deal!” Yet as readers of the Gospels, we should recognize this as a set-up for the unexpected. The unusual is even more shocking when we have been lulled into the realm of the predictable. Christians should be those who see every moment as fertile ground for an unanticipated character or situation to appear on the stage of life and engage our faith. Shouldn’t we expect the unexpected? That sounds like nonsense, but so do most of the claims Christians make.

Merciful God, allow my faith to perceive the possible within every moment. Amen.