Daily Lectionary Readings for November 25, 2010 - Thanksgiving Day
Psalm 12
Zecheriah 13:1-9
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 19:11-27
Zecheriah 13:1-9
Couple of fairly random observations from this passage.
Random observation #1 - V.4 mentions the prophets "will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive." Which makes me wonder about whether there was some expectation that someone in the prophetic office was expected to don a "hairy mantle" which puts me in the mind of John the Baptist. My study Bible offers cross references with passages in 1 Kings 19:13, 19 and 2 Kings 2:8, 13.
Random observation #2 - V.5 mentions prophets who will self-identify as something other than prophets, in this instance, "tillers of the soil". This brings to mind Amos and his assertion that he's not a prophet, but a vindedresser. See, I said random.
Ephesians 1:15-23
Paul speaks here about having the "eyes of your heart enlightened". When the eyes of our hearts are enlightened we see things as they are. We see our need. We see what God has done that only God has done. We see the futility of the worlds solutions and the brilliance of God's bold plan. We see that scarcity is a plot and abundance - God's abundance - is what we are made for. Good passage for Thanksgiving Day. When we see with the eyes of our hearts we see how thankful we should be for all that God has done, is doing and has promised to do.
Luke 19:11-27
Jesus parable of the ten pounds. One slave is given ten pounds, one five and one is given one. The ten and the five pound recipients double their gift and return it to their master. The one, in fear, hides the one and is glad to return it to get it out of his hands. Going backto the observations from the Ephesians passage the fearful slave saw with the eyes of fear rather than the eyes of his heart. He embraced scarcity rather than the abundance of God's gift. It is not about socking it away (our gifts, talents and abilities) in order to presever them - it is about seeing what God wants us to do with these gifts.
Thanksgiving 2010
An odd Thanksgiving for us, but a good one. Our natural rhythym is to go to Julie's parents home for Thanksgiving and to share a big meal on Thankgiving Day with her family including her brother. Christmas is usually at our house and we without fail assemble again at that time. You come to take this for granted. Utnil this year when Julie's mom has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Went through an eight hour surgery two weeks and one day ago and, after being home from the hospital over the weekend, went back in on Tuesday. We scrambled a bit. Ordered a Thanksgiving dinner takeout from Cracker Barrel which we'll use as the basis for the big meal on Friday (into Saturday). And just the four of us had Thanksgiving Dinner at Cracker Barrel in Berea. Her mom was released from the hospital in the early evening and is home now. Following our Cracker Barrel meal our family went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. So I'm thankful for J.K. Rowling and for Cracker Barrel and for a Dr. with communication gifts and good commons sense. I'm thankful for Julie and Cameron and Eliza. I'm thankful that I get to put up with children who argue with each other as I know I'll miss it when they don't anymore. I'm thankful for days when things are not as they should be, for odd Thanksgivings if you will, because they point out how magnificent so many family gatherings have been and how richly God has blessed us.
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