Today's Scripture Reading (February 3, 2023): Joel 3
I have to
admit that I love Curt Cloninger's mosaic monologue, "Witnesses." I
love the way that Cloninger imagines the lives of the people who were around
Jesus at the time. And one of my favorites is "The Man Who Used to Be."
In his monologue, this character explains who he and others used to be.
Ha! As a matter of fact, just about everybody who shows up at this
party was a used to be, you know what I'm sayin'? We got Simon, he shows up, he
used to be a leper. We got this other guy, he used to a crippled dude. Oh, we
got this other guy, man, boy he used to be blind as a bat. This other dude…I
mean, this other guy, he shows up; this guy used to be totally wacko crazy, you
know what I'm sayin'? Like, keep him away from the dip. And, uh, who else we
got? And then we got Mary; she used to be a hooker. And then we got Lazarus; he
used to be dead as a doornail. Whoa, stinkin' dead, man. Lazarus, his two old maid
sisters, what's their names, Martha and the other one. They're real drags, them
two, I tell you. Oh, we let them come cause they make great pasta. And, um, who
else we got? Then we got this other dude; he came; he used to be this uptight
religious dude, he was different. And then we got Jesus, then we got his twelve
buddies, and then we got me right. I used to not be able to talk, (chuckle). As
you can tell, I can do it now.
I can't even read the passage
without hearing the inflection that Cloninger puts into the character. But on a
very basic level, I can understand "The Man Who Used to Be." And he
is right; we all used to be something. And now we are something different, all
because God has done something in us.
Maybe, for some of us, God's
work is so long ago that the people around us don't even remember who we used
to be. But then something hits us, and who we used to be comes rushing back. My
wife and I went to the theatre a few years ago to see the Elton John biopic "Rocketman."
And for me, it was the party scene as Elton walked through the party singing "Tiny
Dancer," not really finding a place where he fits in that hit me. I still
get melancholy every time I watch the scene. It is part of my "used to be."
I remember the feeling of not fitting in wherever I seemed to go. No matter
where I went and how many people wanted me there, I still felt that I didn't
quite fit in. It was something that I had to turn over to God, and if I am
honest, it continues to be a place where God continues to work with me.
Joel talks about "those
days." It is an extension of the "And afterward" in Joel 2:28. He
speaks about the "end times." Unfortunately, the phrase "end times"
confuses us. We think of the end times as that period that precedes the
glorious second coming of Jesus. But the reality is we have been living in the
end times ever since Jesus's birth in a manger. It was a time of restoration for
all who used to be. And it is part of our essential identity. We are the people
who believe in restoring people, regardless of who they are or what they have
done. God knows who we used to be, and because of his work, we no longer have
to be that person.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
2 Kings 13
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