Ordinary Time

January 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ –Luke 3:15-17

One of the advantages of having grown up on a farm is understanding what things like chaff are. Chaff is all the stuff that engulfs seeds or the fruits of harvesting grain that must be removed to take full advantage of those fruits. In ancient times, crops harvested from the fields were processed to remove all that clutter no longer used. Often that meant tossing the seeds into the air where the winds blew the lighter chaff away. Threshing machines and combines eventually were invented to clear it out. It was considered waste and was often burned where it was collected.

The above scripture leaves the impression that this activity is a one-time venture, and it is regarding wheat seeds at each harvest. However, we humans tend to gather the trash of life like dust being removed one day and reappearing the next. Therefore, we must be very intentional about removing the distractions from our lives that keep us from fulfilling our calling and purpose.

Distraction has become a mainstay of modern politics. I recently posted some information about poverty on a social media site, starting with quoting the low unemployment rate that had just been announced for Oklahoma. The remainder of the piece described how full employment would not end poverty in our world today. Though superfluous, the arguments discredited my knowledge, even though what I had written was correct and probably stopped readers from seeing the data on poverty. I heard political analyst John Dickerson on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (1-6-2022) saying that this distraction process was an intentional assault of those who want us to question everything while driving home unsubstantiated information.

Jesus cautioned us in Matthew 10:16, ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Wise words for the world we live in today.

Prayer: Lord, give us the courage and strength to be your Body in the world today. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.