2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Epiphany 7 - Year B
"I try to be as true to my word as God is to his." [The Message]
Is this where you are? Oh, my, this is tricky business that is going to get us in all sorts of trouble. I suspect that this is what got Jesus in trouble and why some saw him teaching with a new authority and others saw him simply blaspheming.
Now, as with Paul, plans don't always work out. Rascally humans do foul up. Tornadoes and blizzards do happen along. This doesn't mean that we were lying or waffling when we promised to be present somewhere along the way and we were prevented or something else to precedence.
But rather than look at all the exceptions that are possible, let us remind one another, again and again, of our intention to be true to our word. We don't have to build in every contingent or leave room for an unknown event. Such takes away from our simple integrity to say what we mean. If what we say needs to change because of changed circumstances, we can then say what we mean at that time.
This is a call to stray off message - to be truthful about what we cannot do instead of trying to craft some promise pleasing to our hearer's desires.
This work of being true to our word is "a sure beginning of what GOD is destined to complete." Without the beginning we don't get to the completion. Practice truth, even to power, and find its joy.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/february2003.html
"In Christ all the promises of GOD have come to be a Yes...."
Reflect for a moment on the promises of GOD. Are they equally balanced between constraints and releases? Do they move toward one of those poles, or the other? Is the Yes to a "no" or is it a Yes to a "yes"?
As you sense Jesus holding our feet to the fire or holding our hand on a journey, consider whether or not your living is in the same relationship with those around you. Is "...God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident...."?
"God strengthens us, and you, to aim at Christ." Aim well! Yes well!
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/february2003.html
"Yes!"
"Let there be!"
"Yes!"
"It is good!"
"Yes!"
"G-D is faithful!"
"Yes!"
"Promises to be!"
"Yes!"
"First, Spirit is in our hearts!"
"Yes!"
"G-D establishes us in Christ!"
"Yes!"
"Bring a Friend!"
"Yes!"
"Amen! Yes! Amen!"
Even if you see a glass as half-empty, it is still possible to say, "Yes!" Even if you see the world realistically and note all the ways in which it has gone awry and the ways in which it might yet be redeemed, it is still possible to say, "Yes!" Especially if you see a glass half-full, it is important to say, "Yes!" In each case we are called to actually beyond saying, "Yes!" to living "Yes!" in each situation in which we find ourselves.
We have been affirmed. Let us affirm.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/february2006.html
"For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes." [Dag Hammarskjold]
The "yes" of promises made and implied still needs the "amen" of implementation.
The "yes" of promises re-evaluated and then set aside could use the "whew" of relief.
The "yes" of promises re-evaluated and reconfirmed anticipates an "amen and amen" of getting on the stick of implementation.
Promises don't just sit around waiting. As messages they are massaged along the way. This might let us off the hook of acting as we wait to see whether the promise was a flash-in-the-pan or persistent. If we use it in this fashion we will lose the joy of partnering with the future. So, even though the "yes" of promises is yet a bit indefinite, jump in with as many feet as you have available. Even a tip-toeing toward tomorrow is better than being firmly planted in what all too quickly turns to the cement of deeds that follow us into eternity.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/february2006.html
To stay in the realm of "Yes and No" is to veil ourselves – not veiling Moses, Jesus, or G*D, but ourselves.
There is the reality that there is always more information coming and our very decision to say either "Yes" or "No" changes the situation. And so we have plenty of excuses of which we might avail ourselves.
Our call is to let the "Yes" and "No" living within us loose. In this a clear "Yes" will brighten the darkness of a veiled "Yes/No" and a clear "No" will shine on nearby paths to identify the darkest down which we need not go. For generations we have tasted the knowledge of "Good" and "Evil". It is time to take that knowledge and put it to work with good energy.
Of course we will need to be gentle with those who get their "Yes" mixed up with their "No" and stick their head where the sun shines not. Likewise our compassion will be with those yet unable to leave the comfort of confusion and who enjoy the speculative play of forever pitting a "Yes" against a "No." Sometimes that gentle compassion will need to be directed toward our own self.
Through whatever fits and starts you need yet to come, let your light shine out of darkness. For my sake, please, shine. I'll do my best to return the favor.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html