Grace Among the Ashes

Richard Rohr, one of my heroes, writes that “there must be a happy middle”. He’s talking here about the Great Question, “Why does this stuff happen to me? (I’ve been good…)” There well may be disconsolate persons in the pew who need to know that a Loving God doesn’t guarantee them a safe passage through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Scriptures to be heard on the upcoming weekend remind us that there may be rough roads on our journey to Life.

Some of us have been looking at JOB for several weeks. This old story is about an honest man who’s been assailed by the Tempter to see how much he can take. He’s lost everything, and has railed against God: “How can you let this happen?” But today’s passage, 42:1-17, describes Job’s now-broader understanding about how God works. “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.” Job has moved from being rewarded for being good to receiving God’s grace just because God loves him. The restoration (?) of Job’s lands and the prosperity of his new family will not take away the grief and suffering of before, but it reflects the honor of beginning anew.

The author of HEBREWS continues to assail us with the comparison of Jesus, the eternal High Priest, to earthly counterparts who’re blessed/hampered by their foibles of imperfection. Here in 7:23-28, those who “priest” others come and go, but Jesus is immutable. “Forgiveness is Jesus’ amazing discovery that we do not need to be bound by our past trespasses; through repentance and forgiveness we can be transformed; we can find release from past pain and learn how to forgive ourselves and others.” (Ginger Grab in FEASTING on the WORD, B 4:211)

The Gospel continues us in MARK 10:46-52, where Jesus responds to blind Bartimaeus who has been begging near the roadside. We don’t know the backstory of Bartimaeus, but we DO know that Jesus has been trying to impress upon his followers the necessity of not conforming to the world’s systems but GOD’s authority. Friends and onlookers tried to stop the beggar from meeting Jesus–it just wasn’t done–yet Jesus asked for the man’s presence and healed him because he believed that Jesus could and would. The last verse is the kicker: “Immediately he regained his sight…” Isn’t that what we all want??

Our liturgies are full of restoration. Even in the ashpits of life God joins us. God’s acquainted with suffering and knows well our human frailties. The Good News is that “earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Bring your friends to join with us each Tuesday at horacebrownking.com as we explore Scripture texts to be heard on the upcoming weekend.