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Advent devotions 2007

December 14 - A wounded human community
By Christine Guth, adjunct professor of Bible

Scripture: Matthew 11: 2-11 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete scripture.

Devotional:
Jesus invites John's disciples to recognize the reign of God in the miraculous undoing of intractable problems: People once oppressed by various limitations are now seeing, walking, hearing, finding life and receiving good news.

We long for such signs in our day. Bodily limitations and poverty oppress as much as ever in our culture that values independence and self-sufficiency above all else. Jesus' proclamation of good news for those on the margins calls the church to be a community that does not discriminate against people based on what they can or cannot do. When the body of Christ welcomes people of all levels of ability, those of us with no obvious disability discover that we - with all our hidden imperfections and wounds - have a secure place to belong and contribute.

Through Jesus, God entered our world, taking on human vulnerability to death, and with it, all the ways bodies and human communities may fail. Through Jesus, God shouldered responsibility for a fragile creation, choosing to suffer alongside vulnerable human beings. The church, as a wounded human community redeemed by Christ, is a means of his continuing, imperfect embodiment on earth while humanity awaits the fulfillment yet to come. Here, transformed by the shared love of Jesus, we encounter God with us. Though human limitations are still a reality, they need not incapacitate us in the interdependent body of Christ. In this body, those once oppressed by various limitations truly are seeing, walking, hearing, finding life and receiving good news.

Scripture: Matthew 11: 2-11 (NRSV)
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

Posted at 01:12 #