Sunday Reflection (March 29, 2020)
We may spiritually stumble because we do not pay attention, or we may stumble because we gladly enjoy that into which we are stumbling. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit guides us to the light of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ (John 11:9-10). When we neglect the Holy Spirit, we trip and walk in darkness, and poison our relationship with God and others.
The Good News is that being guided by the Holy Spirit in the way of Christ, we experience life and peace, healing, and wholeness (Romans 8:5-11). In turn, we bring about peace, healing, and wholeness in our strife-filled, broken world. We do not have to wait until the afterlife for life and peace. It is within our reach today. May we set our minds and attitudes on the things of the Spirit and be weary of fleshly things that poison our relationships.
Pothole Traps / Stumbling / John 11:9-10; Romans 8:6-11
When I was growing up on Jesse Street, Tim and Jeff Burns lived on a parallel street, Banner Street. T get to their large back yard you walked through our front yard, turned right, went a few yards, turned left and followed the path into and through their back yard. Their back yard was a great hang out for the neighborhood 9-12-year-old boys.
Occasionally we would form gangs, and not violent ones, just a gang of boys which was not at all uncommon in those days. One would be at the Burns house and the other at Richard Wilson’s who lived further out two parallel streets away on Main Street but within walking distance. I was part of the Burns gang and Jeff came up with the grand ideal of building potholes in his big back yard. We would cover them with grass to disguise the pothole. We hoped to trick the Wilson gang into chasing us through the back yard and then watch the Wilson gang step into them at full gallop. They never bit the bait and I think they had a spy who happened to be my older brother.
One night I forgot about those pot-hole traps. Darting across the Burns back yard to go home I stepped in one of them and went flying through the air. I skidded across the grass and dirt skinning my knees, elbow, and arms. I lay there a few minutes, got up and went home, because being about 11, I recovered quickly, but the other person to land in one of our pot-hole traps was not running, he was carrying a few groceries. It was Mr. Burns. Although his wife and adults called him Hap for Happy, he was not happy that day. He firmly told his son Jeff: “Son, you’re gonna have to fill those pot-holes!” We filled the potholes that very evening.
Our Gospel Reading is about stumbling and all of us have stumbled at one time or another. I want us to think about spiritual pothole traps that cause us to stumble and draw us away from God and others. We may spiritually stumble because we do not pay attention, or we may stumble because we gladly enjoy that into which we are stumbling. Yet, through the Holy Spirit, God guides us to the light of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ (John 11:9-10).
Although the Apostle Paul does not contrast light and darkness in our specific Scripture Reading, e does contrast the flesh with the spirit. By “fleshly things” Paul is not degrading human biological functions such as food and sex in their proper bounds; rather, he means fleshly actions rooted in bitterness, hatred, competition, and jealously. I am sure that all of us have felt the heartache and despair that such actions bring. We also probably know more about participating in such actions that we may like to admit. Nevertheless, think of spiritual pot-hole traps as actions and attitudes arising from malice and hatred that poison our relationships with God and others. It is counter to the spiritual things that bring life, healing, and wholeness which Paul means by the one word: Peace (Romans 8:5-11).
When we neglect the Holy Spirit, we trip and walk in darkness, and poison our relationship with God and others. Yet, the Good News is that being guided by the Holy Spirit in the way of Christ, we experience life and peace, healing and wholeness. In turn, we bring about peace, healing, and wholeness. We do not have to wait until the afterlife for life and peace. It is within our reach today. May we set our minds and attitudes on the things of the Spirit and be weary of fleshly things that poison our relationships.
