Next Sunday we will look at Mark’s first actions of Jesus after calling disciples. Jesus goes to Capernaum, a small town on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, and teaches in the synagogue, the local church. A man with a demon confronts him. Tune in Sunday to hear about it. This passage of scripture, though, will be preceded by the Old Testament reading of Deuteronomy 18:15-20: “15The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” Moses, before turning over leadership to Joshua, promises the people that God will send prophets to lead them. A prophet was considered someone who spoke for God. We often think it has to do with predicting the future but not necessarily. Prophets were considered to be in communication with God and speaking for him. If what was said did not come true then the person could be killed. Serious stuff!
News broadcasts today take on a similar tone. If we don’t change our lifestyle we are going to use up the world resources – global warming. While not claiming divine inspiration, they do claim scientific authority and weave possibilities about what is to come. We have also seen this in the reports about the pandemic, when it will peak, what is needed “to achieve herd immunity” and just how this disease is going to unfold in the near future. Some keep close track of the stock market for financial predictions and those trends are broadcast daily. Perhaps the horoscope is your thing, daily checking its predictions. Fortune cookies are fun. All these avenues seem to imply our desire to peek into the future and be assured we are on the right track, or at least prepared.
Moses assures us that God will and does raise up people to speak for him. God speaking today is foundational to many religions and key to Christianity. Perhaps it is time to open our Bible and listen. The text for Sunday is Mark 1:21-28. Perhaps it is time to pray thanksgiving that we have God’s word in our language and readily accessible. Perhaps you are feeling the challenge to memorize a piece of scripture to focus your thinking during these days of challenge.
As we listen to all the voices speaking into our lives today about our future, may we never forget that the future lies in God’s hands and God walks with us. May we agreed with King David in Psalm 119, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Blessings as you listen.
On the Way to Wonder 