August 19, 2016

Faith or Fear—Our Choice

James E. Magaw Sr. | Read Hebrews 12:25-29

(Image by: Pixabay)

Lectionary Week

August 15–21, 2016

Scripture Overview

The Luke text portrays the healing that Jesus has just performed as a call to decision, a call to “repentance and changed lives.” Hebrews proclaims to the readers that they “have come . . . to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem . . . and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” For Luke, Jesus and his wonderful works signal the accessibility of God’s transforming power and thus signal also the time for repentance. The accessibility of God’s transforming power is evident in the lessons from Jeremiah and the psalm, although Jeremiah has no choice! And amid opposition from the wicked, the psalmist af rms what Jeremiah had been told by God—that his life from its very beginning has belonged to God.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Jeremiah 1:4-10. God offers light to a world covered in darkness. Where do you see God’s light in your life? How can you offer this light to others?
• Read Psalm 71:1-6. When in your life have you turned to God for refuge? How did trust in God help the situation?
• Read Hebrews 12:18-29. We belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. How does that realization help during dif cult times?
• Read Luke 13:10-17. How do the limitations we experience turn us to the power and grace of God?

Respond by posting a prayer.

Apocalyptic language such as this tends to divide the Christian community. It need not do so. Written in times when it was dangerous to be a follower of Christ, such symbolic language is meant to encourage us to be true to the faith and to trust in God. When the...

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Holy One who shakes the earth, you also restore its order. In our fear, give us confidence; in our grief, strength; in our heartbreak, hope; and in the darkness that often returns, be to us the light that never goes out. Amen.

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