03162022 – Luke
The Season of Lent “woo’s,” “persuades,” “challenges,” “lures,” and “entices us” to reflect on OUR priorities.
You know, WHAT IS IT, that WE hold dear. WHAT is IMPORTANT for us? This season of the church year says, I double-dog dare you. What is “YOUR highest good?” Be honest.
What is “MOST IMPORTANT in YOUR life?” Right now? TODAY? IN THIS MOMENT OF TIME?
Realizing that “THINGS” do change over time…(of course, they do)…and they ALSO change with AGE…PRIORITIES at the age of 20…Are NOT THE SAME as priorities when we find ourselves in our 40’s…
And priorities will CONTINUE TO CHANGE as we age…all of our days. You can count on it…like DEATH and TAXES. Our priorities will SHIFT and CHANGE…as well.
And OUR priorities may indeed change tomorrow…when we awaken…or the day after that, or perhaps next year.
WE ARE NOT locked in…WE CAN change our MINDS. Indeed, our priorities DO CHANGE over time. And that IS OK.
What do I want TO DO, with whatever time I am alotted?
IF someone were to look at HOW I am “PRESENTLY LIVING,” would my ACTIONS support the PRIORITIES that I deem MOST IMPORTANT?
Is there a DISCONNECT? Disconnects DO HAPPEN. We are human, very human. All of us. It is NOT the end of the world.
Am I making whatever time is necessary to CLARIFY, then FOCUS, on MY priorities?
Am I ENSURING (as best as I am able) that “my ACTIONS” follow suit?
Or do I SABOTAGE myself from time-to-time and SHOOT my priorities in the PROVERBIAL FOOT?
For me, THIS IS “the stuff of Lent.”
Looking within, INWARDLY, looking AROUND, and looking OUTSIDE of myself.
I read about a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi. He is REPORTED TO HAVE SAID, “Action expresses priorities…” I am NOT SURE what “the original context” of the quote WAS…
But JUST THE PHRASE is “haunting enough.” ACTION EXPRESSES PRIORITIES…
So immediately I quandered do MY ACTIONS express. SHOW, INDICATE, or DENOTE my priorities…? Am I walking THE WALK or just talking THE TALK? Just WHAT am I doing here?
And then, as is often the case IN MY LIFE…I was confronted with THE GOSPEL TEXT for this weekend.
Jesus was SO COOL. So FAR AHEAD of his time. So SELF-AWARE. So “OTHER-aware. The DUDE had it GOING ON… He was doing HIS THING…preaching, teaching, healing and performing miracles.
He was IN Galilee. Galilee WAS HOME. He was there with his HOMIES. Galilee was SAFE and SECURE. These were HIS people. He KNEW them. He was COMFORTABLE. He was SAFE.
The people of GALILEE were NEEDY, very needy. And he COULD respond to those needs. But Jesus also knew that people are IN NEED everywhere you go. People in need are NOT LIMITED or CONFINED to Galilee.
He HAD to go to Jerusalem. He knew that! It was ALWAYS on the HORIZON. There was a DRAW-there, that could not be explained. Judea and Jerusalem compelled, enticed, pulled, and attracted him. It tugged at the heart strings…
Jerusalem WAS the heart and the center of the Hebraic faith…the heart and the center of the nation…the heart and the center of the CHOSEN PEOPLE, Israel.
Jerusalem, home of the Temple. Home to the Holy of Holies.
He would GET THERE EVENTUALLY. But it would be on GOD’S SCHEDULE. God DICTATED. God RULED his life. It was God FIRST. THEN, it was THE PEOPLE of God. These were his priorities.
He LIVED, WORKED, and BREATHED for God. And yet, he was there for OTHERS.
And just as he was reflecting on his priorities along come some unnamed Pharisees…seemingly out of nowhere.
They come with a foreboding message, Herod wants TO KILL YOU. Run. Leave. Disappear. Go to JUDEA, right now. TODAY! Get out of Dodge. Exit stage left. But Jesus refuses. Herod is NOT part of the equation.
It is THE PEOPLE that are important. The people AND THEIR NEEDS. There is so much TO DO and time for all of us, is always of the essence and too short.
But LEAVE Galilee, because of HEROD? Not TODAY. Not NOW. There is TOO MUCH work yet to be done. He will get to Jerusalem. IT WILL HAPPEN. But it will happen, when it is supposed to happen…and NOT a moment BEFORE.
Your Actions, express your priorities.
WHAT ARE YOUR actions, saying ABOUT YOU? WHAT are YOUR PRIORITIES in this life, at this time?
It’s Lent, you know! And the clock is ticking.
Amen.