Based on Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, 2Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19
We have previously reflected on the fact that one-third of all of the Psalms in the Bible are lamentation songs. Songs which reflect the angst of a people who have seemingly been forgotten by God. These lament songs speak of the pain, anxiety, grief, abandonment and other strong emotions that are felt when God appears to be absent from our lives and our world. Yet, in almost all of these songs of lament, the writer comes around to words of hope that God will do as God has always done. That God is almighty and just needs to pay attention to the situation for it to be resolved in a way that honors the covenant with the people of God.
Lament works as a spiritual discipline because the person raising their protest to God actually believes that God exists. Otherwise, railing and wailing about being treated unfairly by God would make no sense. One has to have a relationship with God, a deep and abiding relationship which is characterized by having seen God at work in the life of the person and in their world in order to be able to lament.
Currently, this is one of the major problems in our individual and communal faith lives. There are fewer and fewer people in the world who have a deep and abiding relationship to God, because there are fewer and fewer people around the world who seek first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness – to paraphrase the hymn. It is all too common these days to attribute all the blessings in our lives to luck, chance, hard work, karma or to just living life in the “right way”. Outside of athletes in a post-game interview, how many times have you heard someone actually acknowledge that God is always at work in our lives and our world?
Our scripture passages for today point us to how God has been at work in the world. From this we can learn to see God at work bringing the kingdom of God to earth with us or in spite of us. Case-in-point is the reading from Jeremiah. The prophet has been left behind in the first wave of forced deportations from Jerusalem to Babylon. God instructs the prophet to write a letter to those in exile to remind them of God’s presence with them and to help them cope with their new reality. Surprisingly, God instructs the exiles to make the best of the situation. They are to “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.” They are to marry and have children and to give their children in marriage. They are to do all that they can to live in ways that help Babylon prosper – including praying for and recognizing God’s blessings upon them in their exile.
The writer of 2Timothy is reflecting on his suffering from being “chained like a criminal”. The writer notes that though he is restricted, “God’s word is unchained” and thus always at work and available to all believers. No matter what is going wrong in the church in Ephesus, Timothy is to remind the believers of the truth that God in Jesus is always faithful – even when we are not, and that we live with him through our baptisms in his name. He is also not to quarrel with the words of those who are misleading the believers, rather he is to point all persons back to the word of truth which is the teachings of Jesus the Christ.
Jesus is traveling in the border lands between Galilee and Samaria. On the way his group encounters 10 people who have been cast out of society due to skin lesions (some of which might be the contagious infection we know as leprosy). The afflicted hope that today God might be at work among them and so they cry out in lament to Jesus as he passes by – “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests who must clear them to return to their villages and families. We’re told that on the way to see the priests that all of them have their disease cured. One of the 10, a Samaritan, realizes that he has been made clean – that his chains have been removed, and he returns “praising God in a loud voice”. He throws himself at the feet of Jesus in thanksgiving for giving him his health and life back. Jesus notes that while all 10 were cleansed, only this one man recognized that God was powerfully at work that day.
Which of the men’s reactions reflect your view of God at work? Are you like the one who actively looks for God at work in your life and gives praise when you see it? Perhaps you are more like the other nine who all called out in loud voices for God to work a miracle, who I’m sure were grateful but were possibly more focused on getting cleared than giving thanks to God for healing?
Professor and spiritual writer Paul Stroble has an interesting take on how we can find God at work in our lives and world stating, “…We affirm God's unpredictable blessings throughout the Christian year, especially during certain seasons when, for instance, we point out the commonness of John the Baptist among the world's mighty, the unostentatious circumstances of Jesus' birth and the strangeness of a crucified Messiah. Yet we often go about our own obedient discipleship with the assumption that God works within parameters we've set and expectations we impose. Ironically, being obedient to God's direction may increase our sense of entitlement: I'm a church leader, I've spent time praying and doing God's will, thus God will do a great thing exactly as I expect.
What a terrible self-imposed burden to assume that God's work is based on our expectations and efforts, and what an opening for disappointment! Humility is a way that we gain new eyes, so to speak, about God's work among us. Humility not only characterizes our attitude toward God and others but also provides a fresh sense of discernment about what God is doing and through whom (perhaps a complete surprise) God is working.
Reading these lessons helped me see something in the epistle lesson with new eyes. One would assume that when a person is locked up, he would be downcast because he cannot do the work he wants to do. But Paul has confidence that God's power can carry on quite well without him. ‘The word of God is not chained,’ he declares with a freedom and confidence that many overstressed church workers have yet to experience.
We maintain a tricky balance. God often calls us to do certain things in order that God’s [his] will may be accomplished. Yet God's power, mercies and lessons are far more unexpected and all-encompassing than we'd ever dream, which keeps us from thinking that God acts according to our expectations. Discerning God's will while growing in both humility and gratitude become two sides of the same coin: growing in the faith that heals….”
Over and over again, the Bible and Jesus tell unexpected people that their humble faith in a God at work in the world has blessed them - has made them well. Over and over again in my life I have seen God at work in ways that often astound me and bring me to the point of tears in gratefulness for all that God has done, is doing, and I’m convinced will continue to do in our lives and world. I am daily humbled by God at work in the smiles and joy of young children simply being alive, of the gifts and calls that God has given me to work with God in this world, for our wonderfully designed bodies which have the innate ability to heal and grow, for a world that has been created to have changing seasons, for the miracle of birth and the peace that often accompanies death, the sustaining power of fellow believers and the beauty of a rainbow.
These are a few of the things that help me see God at work every day. These are a few of the things that keep my hope alive in the face of evil, division, inertia, decreasing numbers of believers and increasing numbers of church closings. I know for a fact that God is at work and that keeps me working for God. I know for a fact that God’s power and love are unchained and able to do far more than I can ever imagine. Today and for the rest of this week, I’d like you to note all the ways that God is at work in your lives. Then, I’d like you to share with someone else what you find. May God grant you the vision to see all the ways that God is at work! Amen and amen!