Deus Misereatur

It was rather inevitable. This morning as I was reading Scripture and praying, I was thinking about Thanksgiving Day. I pondered how my family and I could have gratitude with a richer seriousness and deeper joy. How we could have a thankfulness that was not market-driven or consumer-compelled. My reading this morning brought me across Matthew 6.25-34 and Luke 17.11-19 . In Matthew Jesus addresses the deep fears of a people who lived just above subsistence. Food was not stored in rows and rows of a grocery market, and clothes were not lining racks upon racks at an apparel shop. Instead, these people lived, like most of our world today, with the daily recognition that money could fail and crops might not survive blight, bugs or drought. Jesus speaks into this environment, and says three times to his followers, “Don’t be anxious”.  First, don’t be anxious for your life. Second, don’t be anxious about food, drink or clothing. Finally, don’t be anxious for tomorrow. To be anxiou...

In my previous post , I dealt with Jesus’ own desire that we are to bring the brephos (infants, little ones) to him, and that Jesus establishes the pattern of New Testament discipleship: the Mommas and the Papas come to Jesus and they bring their little ones to Jesus. I then asserted that this New Testament pattern of Discipleship was, surprisingly, the Old Testament pattern. In this post I will unpack this last concept a bit. To do it right, you’re going to need to lay open a Bible in front of you and follow along. The first thing to do is read through Genesis 17.1-14. Read it out loud (yep, even if you’re sitting at Starbucks sipping your Latte). I’ll wait while you read….Nice job. Anyone ever told you that you read well? Now listen while I read Colossians 2.11-15 and see if you hear the connection. “In him [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands , by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried...