The 4th Epiphany Sunday: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
Key verse: “We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Podcast Message: Stagnating
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Hello, This is Jade.
Welcome to Yi.kigai
A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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Happy Epiphany. It is the 4th Sunday of Epiphany.
There was an air stagnation advisory in western Washington last week. Due to a high pressure system located off the coast, low clouds without much air circulation gave us extremely dense fog. State air quality agencies even issued an urgent recommendation to avoid burning anything outdoors since this would make the situation worse. Such weather and air quality certainly have an impact on people who have respiratory illnesses and can cause hazardous driving conditions for people on the road.
Have you ever had joyless moments in life? It is like looking at your life through a foggy windshield, a sense of stagnation or languishing. During those moments, we may have known what was making us feel this way. Other times, we may not have been aware of the cause but could only assume or suspect that it might have to do with someone or something or, in the worst case, ourselves.
As I read the passage from Luke 4:21-30, I tried to put myself in the shoes of those who were filled with rage. Were they raging at who Jesus was, or at what Jesus said about the incompetence of Israel towards vulnerable communities due to social injustice, or at how God reveals God’s glory and mercy to foreigners? For them, the words, the mission,and the ministries of Jesus were like an extremely dense fog that appeared in their lives, unwelcomed and uninvited.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how Jesus felt toward their rages and their intentions to get rid of him. What we know is that Jesus impressed them with what he said and did but also upset them terribly by addressing the elephant in the room. Jesus responded to their rages by passing through and going on his way. He didn’t impose on them or dispute their unreasonableness. Is that also a way of how God reveals God-Self in our lives when we do not have courage to look into ourselves and our surroundings? Or is it when we are rushing through life without considering our impact on others and having no time to listen to God? Or is it when we feel threatened that God might take away something from us, whether it’s our blessings, power, status, reputation or the ownership of ministries and missions.
If God’s salvation is for all including you, me, and them, the people we know of and the people we call strangers, feeling threatened seems foolish. If rushing through life is what we have been doing, God is signaling us to slow down, be present to ourselves and to others. If asking ourselves to look into ourselves and our surroundings is too much to handle, why don’t we trust God’s grace and let it carry us through each day without feeling stagnating?
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May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace
As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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