May 20: Deuteronomy 34; Psalm 64; Luke 10

Deuteronomy 34  This passage gives the facts about the death of Moses.  There's a reason so many African American Churches are called "Mount Nebo" or "Mount Pisgah."  For so many, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., these places symbolize the hope that while we're not yet at the Promised Land with respect to equality of opportunity and civil rights for all, regardless of color or creed.
I forget where I read that Jews believe that it is a blessing that nobody knows exactly where Moses is buried, because there is then no temptation to make a shrine to Moses rather than allowing him to be who he is: a servant of the LORD God.

Psalm 64  Powerful language in this psalm about the power of the tongue to do terrible damage: "...evildoers,
who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
shooting from ambush at the blameless;
they shoot suddenly and without fear" (64:2-4)

We live in a time when a person's reputation can be destroyed online, when that reputation can be very difficult to be repaired.  Perhaps it might be helpful to share this psalm with someone going through that sort of experience.

Luke 10  This time Jesus sends out 70 followers.  (It's sometimes important to remember that while there were 12 apostles, there were quite a few others who also followed Jesus.  And they, too, were called to keep pointing out that the Kingdom of God has come near (10:11).  When the 70 return, we overhear Jesus praying in gratitude in a voice that sounds uncannily like Jesus does in the Gospel of John:  "All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (10:22).

And then we get the parable of "The Man who Helped,"  one of the most marvelous stories in the whole New Testament.  What is absolutely arresting is how Jesus turns the question of the lawyer (as he's called in Luke), who, like many lawyers, seeks to limit his liability, on its head.  The question is not: what is the smallest subset of the human race to whom I have a responsibility?  It is, rather: to whom may I myself be a neighbor?  It's not neighbor as liability; it is rather neighborliness as faithfulness to God.  Brilliant!!!!  And somewhat scary...

Then comes the little vignette of Mary and Martha.  Martha "welcomes" Jesus but then is too busy to pay attention to his teachings.   Mary somehow realizes that there will be time enough to take care of Jesus, after she listens to him.  It's the problem of "many things" vs. "one thing."  I think it's Stephen Covey who uses the example of filling a jar with the big stones first and pouring the many tiny stones in afterwards.