April 17

Psalm 86
Vs. 15 "But you O Lord are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."
That verse sounded so familiar. Turns out it is in Jonah, Joshua, and also in Psalm 103. Which led me to search out other authors who may have commented on those verses. Here is a blog post by a New Zealander about it that was intriguing. I was especially struck by her statement that we live in a time of Grace. Not sure that I agree with her but I will give that some thought.
Click here to go to her blog post.
http://verses10.blogspot.com/2012/02/compassionate-and-gracious-god.html

NT -- Luke 18:18-43
At vs. 35, the blind man asks what is happening as he could not see but heard the hubbub. He was told "Jesus of Nazareth", to which he replied, "Jesus, son of David!" Earlier in our study, I listed out the various names that Jesus is called. Somewhere along the line, I found a site that said 'son of David' was a special tag -- it meant the Messiah. Now, 1st century Jews thought of the Messiah like a liberator. David liberated much of Israel. We read in Joshua today that the clan of Judah was unable to 'dislodge' the Jebusites from Jerusalem. Well, David did and moved himself right in and built the capitol! That is what 1st century Jews expected only they wanted the Romans 'dislodged'.
But back to the blind man. How did he KNOW that Jesus was the Messiah? Maybe someone told him. Maybe his 'demon' knew. But so often, these 'less thans' recognize Jesus right away while the 'religious' don't get it. Even the disciples (vs. 34, just before!!!!) don't get it. Makes me think that we should be hanging out with the 'less thans' a little more often and then we might really 'see' Jesus.
Yesterday, I went to the Session meeting with my confirmand, Sarah N to present her project and be examined in order to join the church. I was absolutely floored by the faith statements of these 8 13 year olds. Okay, some of it I disagreed with, but heck, I disagree with my doctoral candidate pastor almost every Sunday on something! And the way these kids stood up for themselves was remarkable. Now, I have 2 boys -- one is 18 and he went through the confirmation process. I went to the Session examination. I do not remember his group being this sure and this verbal about wanting the church to relax and use media more effectively and to be more open to all people. These were clear calls to action. It will be interesting to see if anything comes out of this. If Mt Vernon knows what is good for them, they will pull these kids in small groups and mine their incredible brains for ideas, thoughts and criticisms. And not all their statements were critical. Some were very positive and quite poignant. But in order to keep this generation, things are going to have to change. These teens are the 'less thans' of our church. I am hanging out with them more often.
By the way, my Sarah kicked butt!! Her project was hymnal markers made from recycled milk cartons. She is amazing!!!!!

Live in the abounding love of God.