URC Daily Devotion 24 January 2025

St Luke 10: 13 – 16

Jesus said ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.  But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,

will you be exalted to heaven?
    No, you will be brought down to Hades.

‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’

Reflection

Yesterday Jesus sent his disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom. Today, he seems to advocate a churlish response to those towns who do not respond. Not only should the disciples shake the dust off their feet, Jesus calls down woe upon them.

So what is annoying Jesus? Firstly, ingratitude. Remarkable things happen in Chorazin and Bethsaida. If the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon had witnessed them, they would have responded with thanksgiving and penance. But the supposedly godly people of these Israelite towns cannot be bothered. Why be grateful for a few healings? Why respond in penitence when we are getting no more than we deserve?

It is Jesus’s prerogative to call down woe, but I admit I have been tempted. Those times when I have put my heart and soul into crafting worship, and the only response is a complaint about the hymns. Or that powerful call to repentance for our planetary greed, which produces the response “Nice sermon!” when it was not supposed to be nice at all. Even more when someone else’s efforts are dismissed – the person who bravely gives a testimony about a life-changing moment and is told “Oh, that kind of thing happens all the time. It’s no big deal.”

Or when I am in the congregation, and I catch myself thinking “that was rather pedestrian”, “not very well constructed”, “that did go on”. It is then that I need to read these verses again. Woe to me when I mentally trash someone else’s sincere efforts to bring people closer to God. Woe to me when I am superior about the books I have read or the experiences I have had. Woe to me when I think “I’ve heard this one before” and drift off. 

It is then that I need to be chastened with the thought that in being supercilious about the leadership that day, I am rejecting Jesus. So may I – and you – learn the eternal value of gratitude.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
thank you for those who make the effort to lead worship, prayer, Bible study;
those who care about being an EcoChurch, an Inclusive Church, a community,
and work at it caringly and lovingly.

Help me to overlook what I think are the imperfections of their style and approach
and hear You in their words and see You in their actions,
so that I may never reject You again. Amen.