September 23, 2009
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
“And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God, who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place; thus our God has brightened our eyes and given us relief in our servitude. For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather, he has turned the good will of the kings of Persia toward us. Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins, and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.” Ezra 9:8-9
He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Luke 9:3-5
Piety
My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven. From the time of our fathers even to this day great has been our guilt, and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered over, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of foreign lands, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace, as is the case today. Ezra 9:6-7
Study
“Get your gear.” (Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS)
“Take nothing for the journey.” (Jesus of Nazareth)
Two opposites. If we are to fully rely on God (f.r.o.G.), then Jesus asks us to completely detach ourselves from our gear – our material possessions.
If we go away for a long weekend, the packing is intense. Two nights and we need to pack clean clothes and toiletries of course. Traveler’s checks or cash? Snacks on the road? Then, what will we read in the car? Is there a pool at the hotel? Then we need bathing suits and towels and sun block and goggles. Do we have internet access? Then the computer gets packed along with the power cord and Ethernet cable. Don’t forget the I-pod, mobile phone and digital camera. Each has a USB cord and power supply so the batteries don’t die. What have I left off?
You get the picture…what we do today is so far removed from what Jesus commissioned his disciples to do. Take nothing for the journey!
Like Ezra, we are slaves. Slaves to our jobs. Slaves to our possessions. Slaves to our diversions.
So Jesus came and “gave us a stake in his holy place.” Some Bible translations use the term “nail” or “peg” in this reference implying that God provides a space for us to hang up our possessions and free ourselves to open a space for Him in our lives. Ezra’s confession allows him to open a space in his heart for God who will free him from his servitude. Check your bags at heaven’s gate.
Action
What is anchoring you to your way of life? God is offering us a space free us from what ties us down. He offers us a peg in his cloak room to put away those things that occupy our hands, our minds and our hearts. Thus freed, we can then consider how to reuse that time in our lives better so God’s will “will be done.”
