Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, March 25, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
There were lots of potential messiahs in Jesus’ day. In fact, in Acts 5, the authorities meet about what to do about the growing number of people following in “The Way” of Jesus, and they basically conclude that if they just ignore them, they’ll go away just like all the followers of all the other messiahs. And so it is today, when religious leaders pop up left and right via all kinds of media outlets proclaiming gospel messages that leave a lot of us scratching our heads. For so many people who are overwhelmed and lost in the cacophony of modern society’s messages, and trying to find meaning and purpose anywhere they can, these leaders’ messages can be particularly enticing. Who doesn’t want to hear that God wants them to be rich? How many people crave the message that it’s God’s will that straight white men should run the world?
So how do we know what’s really from God? It comes down to the passage from our devotion on Wednesday: the greatest commandment. Does the message demonstrate love for God? Does it call us to love our neighbors as ourselves in the deepest sense of the idea, i.e. to see every single human being as our equal and as beloved in God’s eyes, and to work to uphold the dignity, freedom, and flourishing of each person? If not, I think I would find it, as the kids say, “deeply sus.”
Have I ever been left feeling uncomfortable by something preached in my own faith community?
