SCRIPTURE: Matthew 10:34a (TM) – larger reading Matthew 10:34-42
"Don't think I've come
to make life cozy."
STORY:
Governor Jay S. Hammond of
Alaska declared May 23, 1982, as Rosa Parks Day, in honor of this courageous
woman who dared to sit in the front of the bus during the Montgomery, Alabama,
bus sit-in. With only nine thousand blacks scattered throughout this vast state
(including military personnel), about seven hundred of them came to see and
hear the sixty-nine-year-old lady speak. Observing her deep cold, her friend of
many years, an attorney in Anchorage, Ashley Dickerson, said, “Rosa, you don’t
have to say anything. Your life has spoken.”
OBSERVATION:
We like cozy. We settle into
comfortable. There are adjustments to our lifestyle. We compromise explaining
away any conflict there might be with our Christian beliefs and the choices we
make in life. We like cozy.
A life speaks volumes. A life
is more powerful than mere words. Words once taught become bare over against a
life sadly lived to the cozy side.
We each desire a cozy life… a
life of comfort and peace. A life filled with love, acceptance and
companionship. No one can blame an individual for seeking such a life – except
when it is sought outside the biblical principles. Grace, God’s grace, still
applies – freely and generously, but the joy of the Lord escapes ones grasp.
In John’s gospel a woman was
brought to Jesus who was caught in the act of adultery. Jesus’ final words to
her apply: “I neither condemn you go and sin no more” or “leave your life of
sin.” (7:53f). She was comfortable with her cozy life with many husbands and
the relationship she was having, but Jesus wasn’t. He longed for a better life
for her, a happier life, a more fulfilling life… a life that speaks and
witnesses to a deeper relationship with God.
Spiritual journeys can be
difficult and challenging. The journey pulls us out of our cozy situations,
disturbs our spirit, raises concerns, troubles the soul. As the church roadside
stated: “Faith makes it possible not easy.” There is nothing easy about
breaking out from our cozy situation. We really cannot have it both ways now
can we.
PRAYER:
God you know us better than
we know ourselves. You know where we are cozy and comfortable. Continue to
disturb us until we come back to you.
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