Today’s scripture: Luke 4:38-44 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Melody Merida):
When I was in my pre-teens, the church I attended invited a group of young adult singers from a Christian ministry to visit and put on a week-long revival at the church. During that week, these young adults were invited to stay in the homes of several church members. My parents volunteered our family to host two of the young men in our home. Right away I fell in love with Scott. But I wasn’t the only one to fall in love with him; virtually every girl in the church developed an instant crush as soon as they laid eyes on him. He was so handsome! I mean, movie star handsome. And this movie star was staying in my house!
Over the course of the week I strutted my stuff around church and my school, telling everyone who would listen some juicy bit of information I had learned about Scott. I shared the details of a game he played with us in the yard one afternoon, and how he took his shirt off because of the heat. I told about the time he hugged me and said that he was so glad he was a part of our family for a week. Every day there was a new story in my adventure with Scott.
On one of the last days of the week we got some fantastic news, relatively speaking: the headquarters for their ministry, where the group lived when not on the road, had suffered a small fire and the group could not return for an additional three weeks. They had no other churches on the schedule for two more weeks. This meant that Scott would end up staying in our home for three whole weeks, during which time I pranced around like a princess who had found her Prince Charming.
Then the inevitable happened, however, and Scott eventually had to leave. All of my siblings and I wept; Scott did too. I couldn’t believe that he was leaving us. I begged my dad to see if he could pull some strings so that Scott could get hired by the church to sing every Sunday. My dad said no; he said that Scott had to keep traveling to churches all around the country so that he could sing for them. I didn’t understand it at the time, but my dad said that Scott was “called” to travel and share the good news of the kingdom of God. Keeping him in our home forever, as wonderful as it sounded to me, would have meant that so many others would not have been blessed with the good news he had to share.
Today’s scripture reminds me of my house guest from so many years ago. Jesus was “called” to share the good news of the kingdom — the message that love is the answer, the idea that peace will prevail, the notion that true power rests in serving — just like Scott was called. The people of Jesus’ day didn’t want to share him like I didn’t want to share Scott. But keeping the good news all to ourselves should NOT be an option. When we hold onto that life-changing message with an iron grip we are letting the good news die with us.
Jesus was meant to be shared; not necessarily in the proselytizing sort of way, but in the way of love. I’m not talking about standing on the corner on a soapbox; I’m talking about standing on the corner and handing out food to the hungry, or any other such action that mimics the heart of Jesus. That message is the one this world most needs to hear; it is the one we most need to share. Don’t keep Jesus all to yourself. Give the good news of the kingdom of God as freely as Jesus did.
Thought for the day: Am I keeping the good news all to myself or am I actively sharing the heart of Jesus with others? Help me, God, not to keep Jesus and his message all to myself. Amen.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.