Today's Scripture Reading (December 20, 2023): Matthew 11
In the late 1970s, I made a quick
visit to a Mexican border town. We left our cars on the American side of the
border, crossed on foot, and then hired a cab to take us into town. It was most
definitely a unique experience. The drive was wild, confirming that we made the
right decision not to drive into Mexico. We arrived, and then we proceeded to wander
the town. At one point, we walked by an alley where it appeared a murder was
taking place; at least, that was what my young eyes reported was going on. The
adults of the group just pushed us quickly by the alley. But ever since that
day, almost fifty years ago, I have wondered what it was we saw taking place in
that Mexican alley.
We know how fallible eyewitness
reports can be, yet nothing feels more accurate than what we see taking place.
Did something happen? If we saw it go down, we know that it happened. So, Jesus tells John's disciples to return to their
teacher and tell him what they saw. Go and tell him the miracles that you have
witnessed.
Sometimes, I
wonder if we see so little because we are pessimistic. We celebrated a Picnic
instead of our usual end-of-summer party a couple of years ago. It was near the
end of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we decided to do something a little less than
we would typically do. One of the factors that led to the picnic was that we
didn't have the volunteers we needed to pull off the usual "end-of-summer
party." But we wanted to do something, and so we threw a picnic. It was
rainy, misty really, and miserable. The covering over the instruments leaked,
and our sound people and band had to solve the problem while playing one of their
sets. And no, there were not as many people who attended the picnic as there were
at our usual party.
But we did
it. I was talking with a friend who wasn't here, and he said that he had heard
only eight people showed up. And I was mystified. Did we have the hundreds who
usually would attend the event? No, but we had a lot more than eight. And more
importantly, God showed up and moved through the event. It was a day of
miracles. One of them might seem weird, but it was the weather. Yes, it was
cool and misty, but the next day was even colder, and the rain fell harder. We
couldn't have put on the event if the weather had been like it was the very
next day. We got to share Jesus with our neighbors. I heard the story of one
Muslim child who came to the event while her parents cautiously looked on from
across the street. We got to welcome our neighbors onto the lot. We had more
than eight workers at the event, and I am so thankful for every one of them.
And I had a blast, even if someone didn't see it.
Jesus sent
John's disciples back to John with an eyewitness report. But Jesus also made
sure that he told them what was happening. "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good
news is proclaimed to the poor" (Matthew 11:5). You have seen these
things, now go tell John what it is that you saw.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Luke 7
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