Sunday 15 December 2019

Psalm: Psalm 146

Background

It's amazing how offensive the gospel can be, how offensive Jesus was to those around and about. Good news, wasn’t it? The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and some. Who'd take offence at that? Look around you, in this world today. In Jesus' day, such people were seen as sinners, beyond the pale, outside the faith.

Today it's not so different.

 ‘Really?’

People reading this could come from any strata of society. To simply admit that we allow society to be stratified is to give offence to Christ. It means that some have and others have not. Some can gain access to health care and home care, even food or housing more readily than others as a consequence of wealth, birth, education or ability. And we enable political structures in ways that sometimes benefit the rich and denigrate the poor. Attempts to reverse this are labelled ‘socialist’ or ‘Marxist'.

Would that we would stand up and own such equalisation as Christian. But then we don't like to cause offence, do we? I suppose it depends who we're willing to offend. As Jesus said, "Blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me."

To Ponder:

•  Is it ever right for us to offend other people?
• What actions might we take to show that we are seeking to emulate Jesus?