Ordinary Time

January 22, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Luke 4:14-21

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. –Luke 4:14-15

This scripture describes how Jesus came back from wandering in the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil. He, applying the teachings of his faith and taking advantage of the gifts of the Spirit, was able to withstand the willy creature and returned to begin his ministry. That did not mean Jesus was never tempted again. However, he learned from experience where help was when he needed it. Those same sources of help are available to us today as we commune with God.

When I was in grade school my dad was committed to a popular radio minister who offered a correspondence course that dad received in the mail. We spent evenings, where I read the lessons aloud at his behest.  Each lesson was carefully written with what the author discerned as important presented in bold print. Even at the age of ten, I was cynical of these teachings and my greatest act of defiance was never to read the bolded sections with emphasis. Two good outcomes resulted. I developed skills at reading allowed and the drive to test everything I read or heard for its veracity– devotion to the truth. The older I get the more I understand the Spirit guides me toward finding and understanding truth.  For me, the most profound measure of truth is whether the situation being assessed passes the test of love.

We find ourselves in a world where truth is evasive and lying is treated like truth if one can get away with it. At times my mind flashes back to the scene in John 18 where Jesus says ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  and Pilate says, ‘What is truth?’

Make no mistake truth is stronger than all the evil in the world and truth does exist.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Spirit and turning awkward situations into positive lessons learned. 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.