{"id":22026,"date":"2024-05-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-20th-may-2024"},"modified":"2024-05-20T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-20th-may-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-20th-may-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 20th May 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
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inspiration in your inbox<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Monday 20th May 2024<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
Matthew 11: 1-6 and 16-19<\/strong>
Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.  When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, \u2018Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?\u2019  Jesus answered them, \u2018Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.  And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.\u2019…. \u2018But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, \u201cWe played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.\u201d  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, \u201cHe has a demon\u201d;  the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, \u201cLook, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!\u201d Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.\u2019<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong>
In Matthew 11: 1-6, John\u2019s disciples check whether Jesus is the one they\u2019ve been anticipating \u2013 and he doesn\u2019t teach them doctrine, or tell them how to organise religion, but instead, draws their attention to what\u2019s happening: people on the margins of society are given a new beginning and even the poor are encountering good news. When the world pushes people to the side, God invites them to the centre. In fact, \u2018the last shall be the first and the first shall be last\u2019 is seen to be Jesus\u2019 doctrine \u2013 a reordering of the world. It\u2019s a kind of \u2018anarchy\u2019, turning the world on its head \u2013 and this becomes the basis of how to organise religion: committing to a restructuring of the world.<\/p>\n

But it seems too absurd to imagine that the world we know can be turned upside-down! And certainly, religion falls short of this vision. We lose sight of this very different horizon and struggle to work for it. We even put our energy into preserving the status quo. After all, we\u2019re colonised by systems and habits much stronger than us, and the wilderness of a new world is not as seductive as the security of the Egypt we inhabit.<\/p>\n

But in verses 16-19, Jesus compares things to children: some playing tunes while others refuse to join in. Churches may think that it\u2019s others who don\u2019t join with us \u2013 but I wonder: are we attentive to the tunes of lament and joy in the world around us or are we staying safe? Jesus dared to be seen as impure, by being in amongst people\u2019s lives. So to build communities of the gospel is not only to aim for \u2018a new world\u2019, but to demonstrate it in risky solidarity with the struggles and dreams of others; learning and growing together.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong> 
God of the new horizon,
may the story of children
teach us to play well with one another \u2013
to join in people\u2019s tunes of lament
and rise with their songs of joy,
as we hunger together for abundant life for all.
Humble us if we assume we are the goal;
forgive us if we belittle others\u2019 struggles and gifts;
help us to breach our boundaries
and be in the margins
with you.<\/p>\n

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Today’s writer<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Revd Dr Graham Adams is a minister of the Congregational Federation and tutor at Northern College in Manchester.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright \u00a9 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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inspiration in your inbox Monday 20th May 2024 Matthew 11: 1-6 and 16-19Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.  When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “URC Daily Devotion 20th May 2024”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}