Lifestyle Passages - November 22, 2010

Daily Lectionary Readings for November 22, 2010
Psalm 37
Zechariah 10:1-12
Galatians 6:1-10
Luke 18:15-30

Psalm 37
"Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
Do not fret - it leads only to evil."(v.8)
Lots in this Psalm about the consequences of wickedness and a long-term perspective on what faithfulness brings as opposed to what wickedness brings.  The above verse is one that encourages the avoidance of anger, wrath and fretting.  Anger and wrath I think are pretty clear in our minds in terms of their potential for connection with evil.  Fretting is one where it may not be so obvious, yet it surely is there.  When we fret, when we are anxious we respond increasingly out of fear and fear clouds are judgment and can lead us to bad choices which have a way of piling one on top of the other. 

Galatians 6:1-10
"So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.  so then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for th good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith."(vs.9-10)
Like the Psalm above this is a long-haul, lifestyle passage.  Doing what is right is not a glib instruction, it's hard work.  We pray that we can stay with it and not grow weary of it - if it were easy and required little we would not need to worry that we might grow weary.  The need for doing what is right is constant - the call is to work for good in all things with special attention to the way that begins within the family of faith.  I don't find tha to be an "if you get nothing else right, get the family of faith right" type instruction as much as I hear it as an "if we are unable to get the family of faith right, how will we ever reach beyond that family" kind of question.

Luke 18:15-30
The story of the rich young ruler which fits with the above as a lifestyle question that the young ruler asks of Jesus.  Jesus speaks of how hard it is to do the right thing, especially when we have great resources (because rather than share our tendency is to hang on), but he offers hope when the people who are listening start to question whether faithfulness is even possible.  ""'What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.'"(v.27)  Aim to do what is right and good and lean not on ourselves, but on God for the strenght needed for the endeavor.