Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
““I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, February 27, 2021
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
This is a hard text to swallow. I don't like thinking of Jesus as one who comes to divide. I'm all about unity and collaboration and getting along. But there are times when divisions become necessary. In the US, we are living in a heated time when divisions are bubbling to the surface with passion and fire. People are voicing and expressing their opinions, and the volume is rising. And I think it's good.
Without the conflicts, the disagreements, the heated debates, nothing will ever change. And we are most certainly not living in a perfect world. Things have to change. People on opposing sides from me my have different ideas of what needs to change and how to change it, but we all agree the status quo is no longer working. I believe we will come out the other side of this in a better place. We will all have a better understanding of one another. We will be more tolerant and accepting of people unlike us. We will have policy changes that are good for everyone. But until then, we experience the pain of division. We can take it. Growing pains.
God, send me a sign for the pain I’m going through, that I might know my purpose for your mission here on earth. Amen.
