The passages share a theme of new vision.
1 Samuel 16
- God sees a need for a new king, and provides Samuel with an excuse to go to Bethlehem so that current king Saul won’t be suspicious. Of Jesse’s sons, the one who
appears
most promising to assume the throne is not the one who God chooses. God envisions the “tag-along” kid out shepherding as the new leader of Israel. God views things differently from we humans - often impressed by size, power, and bluster - and looks instead at the inner person (the Hebrew can mean heart, but also soul, mind, or character).
Psalm 23
– The King James Version is often read at funerals, so the “shadow of death” is imprinted in many minds. But it may not be the best translation. The word is a rare compound word in Hebrew (
tsal
= shadow, and
mavet
= death). Related to the word
tsal
is a verb that can mean “to sink, be submerged” or “to be or become dark”.
The psalm speaks not only to the dying, but to those who grieve. Even with a strong faith in God’s eternal care, we may still be submerged by the overwhelming darkness of sorrow.
Darkness can come from other challenges. COVID-19 may have some worried about the illness itself, or being laid off because restrictions are limiting commerce. It adds to other stressors also present: job insecurity, hunger, family dysfunction, and others have us sinking. Yet, the Psalmist finds, God is with us in the darkness (cf. Psalm 139:11-12), and will bring us to a brighter destination.
Ephesians 5:8-14
- We are told “in the Lord YOU ARE LIGHT!” Not “you will be when you…” but “you are”. It echos Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Paul’s command to live like children of the light reminds me of Yoda training Luke Skywalker in the way of the Jedi. Discouraged by a difficult task, Luke seems ready to quit. Yoda won’t let him. “Alright, I’ll give it a try,” Luke says. Yoda sharply responds “No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)
Paul will not let us back out. Like the greater amounts of sunlight bring growth in the Northern Hemisphere as spring advances, the light of Christ in us will result in fruitful lives. Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit is worth referencing.
John 9:1-41 -
Here new vision (the man healed of blindness) is compared to a lack of new vision (the religious leaders can only see a sinner when they look at the man born blind). The leaders cling to their belief that God would not bless someone like that. But the man persists. John Newton echoes his testimony, “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”
One caution: John wrote his Gospel later than the others. The differences between the Jewish leaders and the Apostles had grown more pronounced. John uses the term “the Jews” for the religious leaders and those who followed their teachings, but usually does not mean all Jewish people. Remind listeners John and all the other Biblical writers (except Luke) were Jewish, and the early church included many Jewish people of that time.
May your and your people envision something (or someone) in a new way. If I may paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browing,
“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only
those
who
see take off their
shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
++++++++++++
Bill Cotton is recuperating. This week Bob Dean has written this Memo. Bob is a retired pastor and member of the Iowa Conference, who lives a degenerate life in Ankeny, Iowa.
