7 February 2019 — Fifth Thursday after Epiphany

7 February 2019 — Fifth Thursday after Epiphany

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It is easy to get lost in despair. It is easy to let the troubles of this world get you down. When the world especially tries to drag you down with, “if there really was a God…” The psalmist feels overwhelmed and opposed. There is even some feeling of being abandoned by God. Yet, the psalmist does not lose hope, and trust God, even when questioning. It’s okay to question what’s going on. God’s big enough to handle the question. It’s not that we question. It can be how we question. Really, it is who we look at when we question. Are we looking at ourselves? Are we looking at others? Or, are we looking, really looking at God?

Isaiah has questions. The people of Israel have questions. They have lots of questions, and heartache, and loss, and pain, and anger, and despair, and…a whole of issues. The words shared by Isaiah are really the question…who/what are you looking at? When we look at God, we can receive life-giving water and life. When we look elsewhere, it goes out of us. That can be good, as long as we keep looking to God to receive. However, the longer we are open to receiving, we end up leaving ourselves open to being changed. Some people take a touch. Others take tap. Others require a spiritual 2x4. It is what happens afterwards that is the difference: our response and how we look at God.

Paul got the 2x4 (or something bigger). He had an experience that was so powerful that he changed. He went from a man successfully penalizing the church (including being an accomplice to murder), to being an obvious and outspoken support of Jesus Christ and his church. So much so, that it is not an unreasonable question to ponder, if he was so quickly able to successfully defend Jesus as the Messiah, why couldn’t have figured it out earlier? What if…a powerful question, that has no real answer.

1) Being a vessel of God’s living water (spirit) can change us deeply. Why can that be scary to people?

2) What do you think of the Christian life in the light of Isaiah’s words? Should your Christian life be changed?

3) We often think of Paul being alone. Yet, he was never alone. What does that tell us about Paul, ourselves, and how we view important people?

FD) Sometimes we don’t understand God. Is that okay? Is it okay to not understand, and still love and trust God?