From asimpledesire.owrdpress.com, thirdway.com, emu.edu, biblegateway.com:
A Sip of Scripture
Daily Scripture:
Endure
And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.”
Reference: Luke 4: 24-26
Luke 4:24-26 (New King James Version)
24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath,[a]in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
Footnotes:
a.Luke 4:26 Greek Sarepta
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Related Blog
A Simple Desire
The weblog "a simple desire" provides brief commentaries on "A Sip of Scripture" from a Mennonite perspective, The commentaries are written by Carole Boshart, of Oregon; Will Fitzgerald, of Michigan; and others on occasion.
Short commentary on “A Sip of Scripture” from Third Way Cafe
Enduring until relief comes
leave a comment »
“And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.” ( Luke 4: 24-26 )
When a person is dying, and nothing more can be done to cure them or extend their life past the “quality of life” stage, they are placed on what is call hospice care. The purpose is to make them comfortable and alleviate pain and suffering. Their life is not ended by euthanasia, or continued with mechanical or artificial means. Rather, they pass away naturally when the body can no longer sustain itself. It is endurance, but made bearable.
Three years and six months is a long time without rain. I know there have been droughts of that length in the world and in history. But it is a long to endure a parched land. But if you think that is bad, consider that it has been over 2000 years since Christ returned to heaven. Two thousand years since Christ’s physical presence graced the earth.
I know, I know; we have the Holy Spirit and those people who seem to embody Christ/God. But scriptures say creation aches and groans until God’s return, and we groan with it. We are, from one perspective, enduring until the day of God’s return to the earth. And it will be a raining/reigning down of such blessings as many, many generations have never seen.
Missions are like Elijah sent out to the widow; her provisions were extended until the drought ended. So too missionaries, ordinary people, are sent out to minister to the world helping it along until God returns. And the Holy Spirit plays a vital part in inspiring and sustaining that mission work.
We are, missional reader, in the midst of a tremendous drought, and we are sustained through it by the action of the Spirit. Scattered showers that keep the world moving forward toward that glorious day of God’s return. That is not to say there is no blooming and growth under the shower of the Spirit. But consider, if this is what happens under the transcendent Spirit that is like the wind, felt but not seen, what will it be like when our Lord God returns?
May you missional reader spread the life-sustaining moisture that keeps God’s creation green and fertile. Selah!
Written by Carole
March 6, 2011 at 12:39 am
**************************************************************
Related Website
Soul Space
You are invited to take some time each day for "Soul Space," written by Wendy Miller and posted on the Eastern Mennonite University website. Each day's guidance centers around a theme for reflection and prayer drawn from the lectionary readings for the week.
Morning- Week Four
Opening the day with prayer.
As darkness fades and dawn awakens
Lord, give me the joy of your saving help
And sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
In the tender light of morning
Help me as I pray.
In the name of Jesus, bright and morning star. Amen.
Morning by morning God wakens–
wakens my ear
to listen
as those who are taught. Isaiah 50:5
Coming
Loving God,
Help me to hear your call
To be with you –
In the solitude of the desert.
Awaken my mind and soul to your work
And your guidance;
help me not to run into busy avoidance,
Open my eyes to see Jesus.
Amen
Silence
Be still.
Open your awareness to God’s presence
Within and all around.
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Being With- Lent Week One
Prayer before reading:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You call us to come
To be with you.
By your Spirit help me
To see you,
To hear you,
To receive your Spirit,
To be led by your Spirit.
Amen
Read slowly. Listen deeply. Indwell the scripture.
Season of Lent: Week One
The Lenten journey draws us into the desert and in many ways leaves us there for a season. Why the desert? “The desert has nothing to offer. It affords no hiding place, no refuge. It is a place of desolation and liberation. But the desert is not merely a place. It is a symbol of Christian experience. The desert as both place and experience becomes associated with journeying; with testing (to discern and sift); with seeking another country, a promised land – the reality of the kingdom of God.” (from John Moses, The Desert: An Anthology for Lent. Morehouse, 1997. 15)
Being in the desert is no escape from the realities of the world’s system, rather it is a place where God frees us from our captivity to what the world offers. This season in the wilderness releases us gradually from our attachments and from the myriad of distractions that keep us occupied and unable to see God’s presence and work within and around us. This season in the desert prepares us to be in the world, but not of the world. Jesus is here, in this desert place – facing into the lure of how to be successful, how to attract people’s attention, how to prove God is present. But he chooses to trust, to rest in Abba. He sees the temptation for what it is. Rather than turning stones into bread, he trusts God to offer manna in the wilderness.
As the lectionary guides us into the gospel narratives which in turn lead us to Jerusalem, we will become aware of the tension this journey to Golgotha sets up for Jesus’ followers. This journey to Jerusalem is a desert for them – for the structures and attachments to which they cling are being exposed and challenged. And they are not yet ready to receive the map Jesus offers them in this wilderness of life and soul.
The invitation here is to enter into the silence and solitude of this desert journey, and to learn to be with Jesus – who in turn dwells in the presence of Abba God, and receives help and sustenance. Here we are brought face to face with our own interior world, and God. This is the Lenten journey.
Prayer before reading:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You come to us.
Help me to see as you see,
To recognize your presence
In the desert,
And to learn God’s way.
Amen
Evening- Week Four
Closing the day with gratefulness.
It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
And of your faithfulness in the night season.
Psalm 92:1,2
As I come to the end of this day,
For what am I thankful?
How have I known God’s faithfulness this day?
What do bring to God . . .?
For confession . . .
For forgiveness . . .
For help . . .
For God’s holding.
Reading
The psalm for this week’s lectionary readings.
Silence
Closing Prayer
Living God,
In you there is no darkness;
Shed upon us through this night the light of your forgiveness,
Your healing and your peace.
Cover us with the blanket of your protection.
When we wake from sleep
May we know once more the light of your presence,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
A Sip of Scripture
Daily Scripture:
Endure
And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.”
Reference: Luke 4: 24-26
Luke 4:24-26 (New King James Version)
24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath,[a]in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
Footnotes:
a.Luke 4:26 Greek Sarepta
**************************************************************
Related Blog
A Simple Desire
The weblog "a simple desire" provides brief commentaries on "A Sip of Scripture" from a Mennonite perspective, The commentaries are written by Carole Boshart, of Oregon; Will Fitzgerald, of Michigan; and others on occasion.
Short commentary on “A Sip of Scripture” from Third Way Cafe
Enduring until relief comes
leave a comment »
“And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.” ( Luke 4: 24-26 )
When a person is dying, and nothing more can be done to cure them or extend their life past the “quality of life” stage, they are placed on what is call hospice care. The purpose is to make them comfortable and alleviate pain and suffering. Their life is not ended by euthanasia, or continued with mechanical or artificial means. Rather, they pass away naturally when the body can no longer sustain itself. It is endurance, but made bearable.
Three years and six months is a long time without rain. I know there have been droughts of that length in the world and in history. But it is a long to endure a parched land. But if you think that is bad, consider that it has been over 2000 years since Christ returned to heaven. Two thousand years since Christ’s physical presence graced the earth.
I know, I know; we have the Holy Spirit and those people who seem to embody Christ/God. But scriptures say creation aches and groans until God’s return, and we groan with it. We are, from one perspective, enduring until the day of God’s return to the earth. And it will be a raining/reigning down of such blessings as many, many generations have never seen.
Missions are like Elijah sent out to the widow; her provisions were extended until the drought ended. So too missionaries, ordinary people, are sent out to minister to the world helping it along until God returns. And the Holy Spirit plays a vital part in inspiring and sustaining that mission work.
We are, missional reader, in the midst of a tremendous drought, and we are sustained through it by the action of the Spirit. Scattered showers that keep the world moving forward toward that glorious day of God’s return. That is not to say there is no blooming and growth under the shower of the Spirit. But consider, if this is what happens under the transcendent Spirit that is like the wind, felt but not seen, what will it be like when our Lord God returns?
May you missional reader spread the life-sustaining moisture that keeps God’s creation green and fertile. Selah!
Written by Carole
March 6, 2011 at 12:39 am
**************************************************************
Related Website
Soul Space
You are invited to take some time each day for "Soul Space," written by Wendy Miller and posted on the Eastern Mennonite University website. Each day's guidance centers around a theme for reflection and prayer drawn from the lectionary readings for the week.
Morning- Week Four
Opening the day with prayer.
As darkness fades and dawn awakens
Lord, give me the joy of your saving help
And sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
In the tender light of morning
Help me as I pray.
In the name of Jesus, bright and morning star. Amen.
Morning by morning God wakens–
wakens my ear
to listen
as those who are taught. Isaiah 50:5
Coming
Loving God,
Help me to hear your call
To be with you –
In the solitude of the desert.
Awaken my mind and soul to your work
And your guidance;
help me not to run into busy avoidance,
Open my eyes to see Jesus.
Amen
Silence
Be still.
Open your awareness to God’s presence
Within and all around.
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Being With- Lent Week One
Prayer before reading:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You call us to come
To be with you.
By your Spirit help me
To see you,
To hear you,
To receive your Spirit,
To be led by your Spirit.
Amen
Read slowly. Listen deeply. Indwell the scripture.
Season of Lent: Week One
The Lenten journey draws us into the desert and in many ways leaves us there for a season. Why the desert? “The desert has nothing to offer. It affords no hiding place, no refuge. It is a place of desolation and liberation. But the desert is not merely a place. It is a symbol of Christian experience. The desert as both place and experience becomes associated with journeying; with testing (to discern and sift); with seeking another country, a promised land – the reality of the kingdom of God.” (from John Moses, The Desert: An Anthology for Lent. Morehouse, 1997. 15)
Being in the desert is no escape from the realities of the world’s system, rather it is a place where God frees us from our captivity to what the world offers. This season in the wilderness releases us gradually from our attachments and from the myriad of distractions that keep us occupied and unable to see God’s presence and work within and around us. This season in the desert prepares us to be in the world, but not of the world. Jesus is here, in this desert place – facing into the lure of how to be successful, how to attract people’s attention, how to prove God is present. But he chooses to trust, to rest in Abba. He sees the temptation for what it is. Rather than turning stones into bread, he trusts God to offer manna in the wilderness.
As the lectionary guides us into the gospel narratives which in turn lead us to Jerusalem, we will become aware of the tension this journey to Golgotha sets up for Jesus’ followers. This journey to Jerusalem is a desert for them – for the structures and attachments to which they cling are being exposed and challenged. And they are not yet ready to receive the map Jesus offers them in this wilderness of life and soul.
The invitation here is to enter into the silence and solitude of this desert journey, and to learn to be with Jesus – who in turn dwells in the presence of Abba God, and receives help and sustenance. Here we are brought face to face with our own interior world, and God. This is the Lenten journey.
Prayer before reading:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You come to us.
Help me to see as you see,
To recognize your presence
In the desert,
And to learn God’s way.
Amen
Evening- Week Four
Closing the day with gratefulness.
It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD,
And to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
And of your faithfulness in the night season.
Psalm 92:1,2
As I come to the end of this day,
For what am I thankful?
How have I known God’s faithfulness this day?
What do bring to God . . .?
For confession . . .
For forgiveness . . .
For help . . .
For God’s holding.
Reading
The psalm for this week’s lectionary readings.
Silence
Closing Prayer
Living God,
In you there is no darkness;
Shed upon us through this night the light of your forgiveness,
Your healing and your peace.
Cover us with the blanket of your protection.
When we wake from sleep
May we know once more the light of your presence,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
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