Devotion for the Nineteenth Day of Lent, Year A (ELCA Daily Lectionary)

Above:  The Pool, by Palma Giovane

Image in the Public Domain

Idolatry Versus Wholeness

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

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The Collect:

Merciful God, the fountain of living water,

you quench our thirst and wash away our sin.

Give us this water always.

Bring us to drink from the well that flows with the beauty of your truth

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 27

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The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 2:4-14

Psalm 81

John 7:14-31, 37-39

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But my people would not hear my voice:

and Israel would not obey me.

–Psalm 81:11, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

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The living water theme from the previous post exists also in Jeremiah 2:

Be aghast at this, you heavens,

shudder in horror,

says the LORD.

My people have committed two sins:

they have rejected me,

a source of living water,

and they have hewn out for themselves cisterns,

cracked cisterns which hold no water.

–Verses 12 and 13, The Revised English Bible (1989)

God had done much for the people who had chased instead after false gods

who were powerless to help.

–Jeremiah 2:8e, The Revised English Bible (1989)

Idolatry is a frequent human reality.  Lest one lull oneself into complacency, one can commit idolatry while trying to pursue holiness.  Consider, O reader, the scene in John 7.  Our Lord and Savior stood accused of having violated Sabbath laws by having healed a paralyzed man (Chapter 5).  These forbade many activities allowed on the other six days.  One who worked on the Sabbath was even supposed to be put to death, except in certain circumstances.  If the Sabbath was the eighth day of a boy’s life, circumcision remained mandatory on that date.  And actions which saved life were permissible.  The former removed part of a person.  The latter prevented death.  Thus what could be wrong with restoring someone to wholeness on the Sabbath?

Picking legal nits without compassion is as idolatrous as is worshiping an imaginary deity.  May none of us be guilty of either of these deeds.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 26, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, ROMAN CATHOLIC SEMINARIAN

THE FEAST OF ISAAC WATTS, HYMN WRITER

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/idolatry-versus-wholeness/

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