Today Is the Day to Live Free

“GOOD MORNING!”, chirps the breezy radio guy.  “IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY!”  Don’t shout at me, especially before Eleven.  Besides, what’s there to be happy about in the morning?  My Dad was one of those who could sing in the bathroom while getting ready for work…  I  guess there’re those who can greet each new day with optimism, which has always been my short-suit.  So, for me and my fellow grouches, this weekend’s readings from scripture challenge us to sit up and take notice:  is this the first day of the rest of our lives?  Yawn…

Nehemiah’s passage (8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10) calls for a bit of back-story.  The reader needs to explain that those exiled to Babylon have finally come home, due to the munificence of Cyrus the Persian ruler.  But nothing was the same:  cities were ruined; and worse, the Temple of Solomon was a shambles.  Nehemiah, the new governor, and Ezra, the chief priest instigated a program of renovation and renewal.  Could the Jewish state and People reclaim their identity?  When they had gathered into the largest place available, Ezra read to them from the previously lost book of Deuteronomy.  Many were ashamed of their ignorance:  they realized that the Commandments and footnotes had been passed over in the daily turmoil.  But Ezra & Nehemiah called them beyond their grief to see this occasion as a New Start:  “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”  Reclaim the Community, the heart of the deuteronomic message!  Take responsibility for “those for whom nothing is prepared”.

Paul is desperately trying to unite the fragmented Corinthians into a community.  Their diversity is legend, a more cosmopolitan group didn’t exist in the Roman Empire.  Ethnic background, philosophical difference and moral/ethical customs worked against these new Christians as they struggled with a bottom-line of belief.  In his Letter (I, 12:-12-31), Paul uses the image of a human body–one unit with many parts and functions.  This is not a Vision of Heaven, or Pie In the Sky; “NOW you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”  Freedom TODAY?

O Lord, did you get yourself in hot water when you jolted the homefolks out of the past and into God’s immediacy!  First you read about the  Believers’ duty to bring good news, recovery of sight and freedom for the prisoners (Isaiah 61, as remembered by Luke’s Gospel, chapter 4:14-21).  Then you told ’em, “TODAY this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!”  Next week we’ll talk more about their sourpuss reaction to this challenge–for today, let’s just say that most didn’t take kindly to the urgency of the Holy Call…

I suppose many, no, most of us have an altruistic component which intellectually affirms that doing God’s Work is to nurture the poor and reconcile those who’ve been excluded from the community.  The church I attend is a Reconciling Congregation, which means that we welcome LGBTQ persons and treat them as equals.  But Lord, it’s hard to live Today being present to your embrace…  What?  Morning already?

God Bless Us, Every One                  Horace Brown King

My encounter with scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com