Date: 2/18/2003
Time: 9:20:02 AM
I'm planning on coupling this with the Gospel - God's promises being a "yes" when most of our response is "no! don't do that!"
A first installment - hmmm.... is discipleship on an installment plan?
here's hoping someone else is doing the same thing; would love the insight
Sally in GA
Date: 2/18/2003
Time: 9:41:20 AM
Yes Sally, I'm going with this text too, although my thoughts aren't very far yet. I like the "Yes" of God's promises--for healing, life, etc., when we are confronted with so many "no's" in life which can lead to despair. Even Paul focused on the "yes" of what God can do, instead of becoming sidetracked by the Corinthians for his fickleness. He doesn't let the little controversies get him down, when there is a bigger message to proclaim--God's unqualified yes to us and the world in Christ. We hear a lot of "Yes, but...." in our world. Think of pre-nuptial agreements before people will wholeheartedly say "yes" to their partner in marriage. God's total unconditional "Yes!" to us is such good news. The first installment I think is the power of the Holy Spirit with us now, giving us a glimpse of the Yes to come. GB in MI
Date: 2/18/2003
Time: 12:14:13 PM
Enjoying an extra day home because of the snow! What a blessing.
I see the yes/no as a question of being ambiguous versus definite. I wish the President of the United States would consider the yes/no balance a little more. But there are times when we just have to push forward in faith. In the gospel lesson, the friends of the man who was paralyzied were not hindered by questions of yes/no. They just acted in faith. And they were persistent, even in the face of the obstacles (the crowd, the roof...) I'll probably just mention this passage, but it's a good one.
DGinNYC
Date: 2/19/2003
Time: 9:42:40 AM
I'm going with the notion of faith as a Yes--which means that our lives are to be consistent (not wishy-washy, yes and no); that faith is essentially positive (Christian faith is about what we believe, how we live, and how we relate to God and others -- not about all of those "no's" that we can get bogged dwon with; we are called to a clear witness - meaning what we say, speaking with clarity; and I like the idea of Jesus as God's Yes. "Yes" has become quite the expression, pronounced "Yesssss!!!!," and that may be my title.
Dave in Iowa
Date: 2/20/2003
Time: 9:23:29 AM
I ran across an illustration that has some connections with this passage. It has to do with the origins of the "heads or tails" coin-flipping. In much of the ancient world, there was the belief that human affairs were controlled by a rather unpredictable and mostly impersonal "pantheon" of gods--upon whom humans could exert limited influence. So the question was, "How can we manipulate the gods to act in our favor?" The Roman emperors developed the practice of making of themselves graven images--putting their likenesses on one side of coins. Thus began the practice of "flipping a coin": "heads" for "Yes" and "tails" for "No." The belief was that this forced the gods to make a choice, playing games of chance with the gods who played games with humans.
Paul makes the case that the "one, true God"--the God of Israel, the God revealed in Jesus Christ who works through the Spirit's power--is quite different.
One could go on from here to examine the ways we make choices in life, and why we need not fear the choice when it is not clear-cut. As theologian Fozzy Bear put it so well, "When you come to the fork in the road, TAKE IT!" It's not that there will no longer be tough choices; it's just that we do not have to flip coin.
TK in OK
Date: 2/21/2003
Time: 3:53:06 PM
YES Lord YES Lord YES!!! Pastor Mary