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Thursday, January 28, 2010

So, Which is It?


Yesterday I read the story of Jesus going to the home of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. This is a very familiar story, and that always carries with it a risk of giving in to the temptation to simply autopilot through the text.

But a couple things struck me today. One in particular is something that may seem very elementary - and it is really - but it grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

Jesus has just finished telling the story of the “good Samaritan.” As he moved on in his journey he comes to a small village where we find the home of Mary and Martha. We know that hospitality is important to Jesus - both giving and receiving. In fact, when Jesus sent out the twelve in chapter 9, the disciples were taught how to receive hospitality and were to depend on the willingness of others to offer it. In chapter 7, when Jesus was anointed by the “sinful woman,” the pharisee’s unwillingness to offer simple courtesies of hospitality is counted against him.

We also know from the story of the Samaritan (the story IMMEDIATELY before this one), that Jesus has little patience for people who engage in religion and ignore the needs of their neighbor.

So why is it that while Martha is busy offering hospitality and Mary is ignoring those duties in order to hear some religious teaching, Jesus says it is Mary that has chosen the better thing? Doesn’t that directly contradict the point of the previous parable...and several other teachings in Luke?

Let me encourage you to slow down and allow this to roll around before immediately jumping to one of the canned answers about this passage. It was a temptation that I had to resist as well. We need to take a page from our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters and soak in the mystery and paradox for a moment, rather than instantly clamoring for logical defenses.

Perhaps this would make a good passage - and maybe right now is a good time - to slow down and pray through these words.

God, what is there here for us? Why are these two stories next to each other in this way? Teach us, Holy Spirit.

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What do you hear? How do you read it? I have 2 responses that struck me, but I’d like to see if anyone else might want to weigh in first...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Where I've Been...

A couple people have asked when I was going to post again...many many other people have not asked.

Recently I've been loaded down with extra work to pay the bills, reading books, writing papers that aren't very bloggy (translation: too long) and trying to learn how to live missionally in my community with the new overly full schedule.

But I have plans to post some stuff soon - several things that have had plenty of time to incubate, a few papers that can be whittled down to manageable lengths and some new stuff that is just starting to simmer. For those who are interested, I'd like to provide a list of books I've read over the past few months and a few that I'll be reading over the next couple. Some of these have already had an enormous impact on my thinking. I plan to write a short blurb about each of them (some very short, some more lengthy) The titles on this page will become links to those posts as they become available.

Longing For Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community by Elaine Heath

The Mystic Way of Evangelism by Elaine Heath

Organic Church by Neil Cole (I was supposed to read this one a long time ago...)

Introducing the Missional Church by Alan Roxburgh

New Monasticism by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Becoming an Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism edited by Rutba House

The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder

The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay

The Shaping of Things to Come by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost

ReJesus by Hirsch and Frost

The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch (another one I've had for a while but hadn't gotten around to)

How (Not) To Speak of God by Peter Rollins

TO BE READ VERY SOON:

With Justice for All: A Strategy for Community Development by John Perkins

God's Economy: Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics and the Future by Joerg Rieger

The New Friars by Scott Bessenecker

Inhabiting the Church: Biblical Wisdom for a New Monasticism by Jon Stock, Tim Otto and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Evangelism After Christendom by Bryan Stone

Organic Leadership by Neil Cole