Thursday, March 05, 2020

Spiritual Journey Thursday: Balance

Clearly I let things get out of balance this month, because the first Thursday crept up on me. On the subject of balance, suggested by our host Fran, I offer this from Walter Brueggemann, from his sermon "Trusting Two Rocks," preached in August 2008. His texts are Isaiah 51:1-6 and Matthew 16:13-20. Brueggemann writes:

"Both stories, both rocks, aim to create a peculiar, self-aware people who will live in the world differently. And that is how these two texts are addressed to us, after they are addressed to ancient Jews and to Jesus' disciples. We in the church now are just like them. We in the church now also live in the midst of a superpower that is not unlike Babylon or Rome. And our superpower, like those ancient superpowers, leaves us off balance with demand and the frantic pace of economic uncertainty and political instability. It is enough to cause you to lose your balance, to retreat into something safe, to quit thinking about it or to just go along.

But these texts say otherwise. These texts say to ancient Jews, to the followers of Jesus, and to us, don't quit thinking, don't quit hoping, don't just go along. Rather, claim your peculiar identity as the people who trust God's promises and who know that God's good purpose will prevail in the world:

So watch for the way in which God comforts and turns places into the Garden of Eden;

Watch for the ways in which a teaching of peace and justice grabs the nations and all parts of God's world;

Listen for the word of rescue that persists in the world.

We are authorized to be in the world differently because we are chips off the old block. We do not need to be aggressive or quarrelsome or anxious or despairing, because God has not quit. We are God's people. We have been so since that ancient day with Sarah and Abraham. The world still revolves around impossibilities that are given by God. We know who we are because we know the story and the God of the story and the Messiah who is among us."

Amen and amen!


5 comments:

Carol Varsalona said...

Ruth, Great thought => God's good purpose will prevail in the world: I believe in this so thank you for your thoughts before I go to sleep. I am on the road presenting at a statewide conference and have a 6 hour drive home with a colleague tomorrow. Keeping myself balanced has been a challenge lately,especially when I am away from my yoga classes that keep me in check.

Karen Eastlund said...

Wonderful quote. Amen and amen... I second that.

Fran Haley said...

"Self-aware people who will live in the world differently" and "authorized" to live differently - it's the echo of God through the ages to His people, "be ye separate." Meaning other, and holy, as He is holy. You could write a book of daily devotionals, Ruth (have you?). Beautiful illustration of balance in the daily walk of faith. It is a shot of strength.

Ruth said...

Thanks, Fran, but it's not mine - I'm quoting Walter Brueggemann. He is so wonderful, isn't he? And I love how he always points me away from my anxieties and towards God's sufficiency.

Ramona said...

Thanks for sharing this very timely text with us today. Written twelve years ago "off balance with demand and the frantic pace of economic uncertainty and political instability," could just as easily have been written today. My favorite line? "Listen for the word of rescue that persists in the world."