When the Plot Thickens

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices.  He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”  After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him.  But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.  

Luke 19:45-48

Those of us who were brought up in western culture, where a settled and revered (almost hallowed) fact of governance is the separation of not only powers, but of religion from government, may find it a bit cumbersome to wrap our thinking around government as a working arm of religion.  This was the conglomeration of Scribes, Pharisees, Levites, and other (lesser) rulers.  It was difficult to see where a secular decision left off from the Scriptural interpretation.  Yet, this is what Jesus faced in Jerusalem.  The Word of God was their law; the religious leaders were charged with governing the people theocratically, with benevolence, and strict adherence to God’s message of fairness and kindness to all neighbors.

In centuries of men getting accustomed to power, and lusting for even more control, obedience to the Word of God faded, and the will of corrupt men became law.  Godlessness infiltrated Israel – to the point of placing the system ahead of everything God had commanded.  Even worship at the temple became a business to line the pockets of the strong rulers.

Fast-forward (or rewind) to any point in history, and the story is the same; if you have a system, those without a conscience, or fear of God, will tweak the system to favor what pleases them.  Religious or secular, the story is the same.

We are all somewhat bewildered by what happens in Washington.  Whatever party is in power persecutes the last administration to some degree.  Elections are dirty business.  Those of us in the Methodist tribe are watching another political tug-of-war between traditional and progressive factions on the religious scene.   Race, gender, age, socio-economic strata, sexual identification, and many other sociologically-labed causes are plotted battle lines drawn with blood.  To quote Dorothy:  Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

The point, more succinctly, is:  We were never in Kansas, or Mayberry, or Eden.  We live in the sin-sick stew of humanity, populated by beings created with the image of God stamped on our souls, but that image incredibly darkened by our own lust for control and self-determination.

It was to this world Jesus came, to bring holy light on that image of God we’d lost to our spiritual blindness.  And darkness refused; the plot thickened, and Jesus died for us anyway.  And now we are offered the gift of eternal life with the light we crucified.

For You Today

When the plot thickens in Washington, or some bomb blast in another country, or your denomination, or your local city council meeting, and you sense that something terrible is in the works…be of good courage; Jesus overcame the darkness with His blood; there is nothing to fear!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:  What Made Them So Angry? and Offended Pharisees      

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When Evil Plans Backfire

 

Monday, July 11, 2022

The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.  They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.  The trouble they make for others backfires on them.  The violence they plan falls on their own heads.  I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.  Psalm 7:14-17

Conception, pregnancy, birth…a perfectly logical sequence, but when conception is the product of evil plans, the backfiring of such a pregnancy is justice.  In recent years we’ve seen a Ponzi scheme take down a greedy monster, Bernie Madhof, and sexual predators in the entertainment industry, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, wind up in prison.  The wheels of justice are still slowly grinding on the January 6^th investigation.  Those who plan for violence always succeed; they just don’t know it’s accumulating above their heads in a bubble that’s getting ready to burst!

Long before Bernie Madhof, Epstein and Maxwell, or the attack on our Capitol, Joseph’s brothers were unaware of that balloon.  They couldn’t stand their little brother, so they tossed him in a pit, eventually selling him to a band of nomadic human traffickers.  Joseph wound up a slave in Egypt, the result of his brothers’ evil plans. 

Fast forward 20 years and that same boy-dreamer, Joseph, is second in charge of Egypt’s empire, holding the keys to the food vault during a major famine.  And just whose brothers are sent to buy food from Joseph?  In the end, all the brothers could do was humble themselves at their brother Joseph’s feet, and plead for mercy. 

The payback of a malfunctioning trap stings!  But, in this case, God gave Joseph the spirit to take the high road.  He saw God’s purpose in his suffering and his brothers’ evil plans.  As the (now) helpless brothers bowed before their brother, Joseph, sitting on the throne, with the power to decide their fate, he forgives and blesses what was unforgiveable and cursed:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.  He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

For You Today

If you’ve lived for five or ten minutes in this world you’ve run into someone who gave you some trouble (and you’ve probably caused a little trouble too).  The account of Joseph and his brothers is the account of the human race.  For each of us the question always begs an answer:  Whether you are the one doing the evil to another, or the one who has been wronged, what are you going to do about your brother? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  Ambushed Again

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©