Thursday 30 July 2015

Psalm: Psalm 53

Background

Jesus seems to have really enjoyed telling stories to helppeople understand, or to challenge their thinking. Near thebeginning of this collection of teaching, the writer has made itclear that this is addressed to his followers more than to thecrowd. Here there is the additional emphasis of verse 46 that thesestories are to challenge disciples about their way of life.

To be part of the faith community, to be one of the followers,means living out the teaching, not just talking about it. Learningdiscipleship means entering fully into the relationship, not simplylearning a set of rules.

The first comparison (verses 39-42) was probably intended tomake folk laugh, which is often a good way of persuading people tothink. The group was being invited to live openly rather thancritically, and to notice their own complex motivations.

The familiar story of the building of houses (verses 46-49) goesa little deeper. Here the listeners - and later, the readers - areinvited to look even more closely at hypocrisy. The buildingrecommendations do, of course, depend on the conditions in thatcountry - and at that time. It might be fun to try and update thestory, both for our time and place, but also for ourtechnology.

The issue, however, remains the same, and Jesus had otherstories about doing or not doing what he said (see for instance, Matthew 21:28-45). The disciples are beingasked if they are prepared to learn and obey, or if they are onlygoing to appear to obey with disastrous results. Jesus appears tosuggest that pretence will always lead to failure in the end.

To Ponder

• Consider the challenges and difficulties in your life. How easywould it be to pretend?

• Reflect on how hard it is sometimes to look for the good, andhow much easier it is to criticise, or even judge harshly.