RENEWsletter for January 31, 2010 - 4th Ordinary

Dear Renewed Friends--
This week, as is the case every week, we have promises from God we can claim in order to make it a peaceful and triumphant week. The readings for next Sunday remind us that when enemies abound, God with his angelic host abounds also to keep us from being crushed.

This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the readings can be found on the web at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/013110.shtml, and in your Bible in:

Jeremiah 1.4-5, 17-19
Psalm 71.1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17
1 Corinthians 12.31 - 13.13
Luke 4.21-30

The First Reading has four points to make. 1) God knows us from before we were born (Jer. 1.5). 2) We must stand up and speak out all that he commands us (v. 17). 3) Our hearers won't like it and will try to crush us (v. 17 still). And, 4) they won't succeed (v. 19). God knew what he was doing when he called Jeremiah to be a prophet. If you read the verses in between the given selection, you'll see that Jeremiah had a good argument for not obeying God's call... he was young and wasn't eloquent. But God insisted on obedience... "Quit whining, get busy, and do what I tell you!" he says in verse 7.

The Responsorial Psalm makes the same four points, from the viewpoint of the singer of the psalm. 1) God knows us from before we were born (Ps. 71.5, 6). 2) We must stand up and speak out all that he commands us (vs. 15, 16). 3) Our hearers won't like it and will try to crush us (v. 4). And, 4) they won't succeed (vs. 1-3).

The Second Reading shows what makes all this spiritual opposition worth the hassle: Love (1 Cor. 12.31). While we know that God is with us, and while we testify to his love, even when the message isn't received, and then when success is on our side... throughout all this, if we aren't doing everything out of love, it accomplishes nothing (ch 13. vs. 1-3). We can't gloat in the victory that God hands us. Part of what God gives us to proclaim to our enemies is his love for them. And the way they can get the message is to see that love in us. Someday it will all make perfect sense, and now we can see the results of love, even if it is still a mystery how it all works (v. 12). If fear is the progenitor of all the negative emotions and behaviors, then love is the source of all the positive ones (v. 13).

The Gospel Reading makes these points also. We have no doubt that God was with his Son and knew him from before his birth (see Luke 1.26-56). We see that he stood up in the synagogue and proclaimed the love of God (Luke 4.22). But as he spoke, he mentioned some things his hearers didn't like (v. 28). They tried to kill him by throwing him off a cliff (v. 29). But they didn't succeed... they lost track of him and he got away (v. 30)!

Personally, I really needed this message this week, especially that fourth point... my enemies won't succeed. So when there are some around us who don't like what we are and what we say, and when they try to discredit us or falsely accuse us, let's remember this. God won't let us be crushed. They will lose track of us and we'll get away. So we can be free to love them and continue to proclaim the love and salvation of God.

May the blessings this week fill you, overflow, and bless your enemies as well.

Randy Jones
"Those who have no love say the battle is going bad"