Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, January 23, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The family of Jesus is, in fact, Jesus’ own body in the world. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, carrying out Jesus’ work. Membership in Jesus’ family is not contingent upon us doing the will of God, as this passage implies, but knowing that we are Jesus’ siblings, Jesus’ family, Jesus’ body, we are called to respond with gratitude to Jesus’ call to action. We are to happily do “the will of God.” But what is God’s will? Many people just look at the world as it is, at random happenings, at freak accidents or injustices or illnesses or oppression, and throw up their hands and say, “It’s God’s will.” I disagree vehemently. Life is random. Bad things happen to good people. People do evil to one another. God’s will is not about accepting the unacceptable, but about responding in love and service to our neighbors. Jesus never looked at a blind man or a leper or a sick woman and said, “Eh. It’s just God’s will. You just need to suck it up.” No. Jesus responded to their need. He saw them, healed them, restored them to membership in society. This is the “will of God.”
Life is generally more nuanced than the encountering of lepers and blind men. None of us can know for certain what the will of God is in any given situation. So often we act as if we know, but if we’re honest, we see our own ulterior motives—we do “good” to benefit ourselves in some way. Other times we are dealing with highly complex issues—for example, what is “God’s will” in dealing with a child who is an addict? What is helping and what is enabling? It isn’t always so clear.
As Jesus’ siblings, Jesus’ body, we are always invited into conversation with him in prayer, in conversations with others, in seeking resources. Discernment is a process. But however we discern it, we need always seek to know and do God’s will on behalf of all creation.
How do I discern whether a given action is in alignment with God’s will for me?