22.01 Unknown
17:17 It happened, son of a widow in Zarephath that entertained Elijah fell ill. The pain is severe, until the boy was not breathing anymore. 17:18 And the woman said to Elijah, "What do you mean coming here, so I'm God? Are
you calling me to remind me of my mistakes and to make my child die?
"17:19 Elijah said to him," Give me your son! "Elijah took the boy from
his mother's arms, and carried him to the upper room, and laid him in his bed. 17:20 Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, "My God, my God! The widow received me as a passenger in his house. Have
you brought tragedy upon her by killing her son? "17:21 Elijah stretch
himself out on the child three times, and cried out to God," Lord, my
God! Let
this child's life return to him! "17:22 God heard the voice of Elijah,
and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. 17:23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room and gave it to her mother. Elijah told her, "This is your son is alive!" 17:24 And the woman said
to Elijah, "Now I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the
Lord in thy mouth is true."
Psalm 30: 2.4.5-6.11.12a.13b
Chorus: I will praise thy name, O God, for ever and ever.
* I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. Lord, You lifted me out of Sheol, You turn me among those who go down to the pit.
* Sing unto the Lord, O ye who are loved by Him, and give thanks to his holy name! For just a moment his anger, but a lifetime generous; sorrow during the night, in the morning there is joy.
* Hear, Lord, and have mercy on me. Lord, be my helper! I mourn Kauubah be dancing. God, my God, forever I will praise thee.
Reading II: Gal 1: 11-19
"He was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles."
1:11 Brethren, I certify you, that the gospel I preached is not human Gospel. 1:12 I receive is not from man; not a man who taught it, but I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ. 1:13
For you have heard of my life formerly in Judaism: Without measure I
persecuted the church of God and trying to destroy it. 1:14
In the Jewish religion that I was far more advanced than many
contemporaries in my nation, as I was very zealous for the traditions of
my fathers. 1:15 But God chose me aware of my mother's womb and called me by his grace. 1:16 He was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles. At that time I did not ask for a moment of consideration to humans. 1:17 I do not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 1:18 Just three years later, I went to Jerusalem to meet Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days at his home. 1:19 But other of the apostles, I saw none, save James the Lord's brother.
Gospel reading: Luke 7: 11-17
"O Youth, I say to you, get up!"
7:11 It happened, Jesus went to a town called Nain. The disciples and many people went with him. 7:12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the son of a single mother who was a widow. Many of the town was with her. 7:13 Seeing her, he had compassion for God's compassion. Then the Lord said to him, "Do not cry!" 7:14 He approached the bier and touched him. Then the bearers stopped. God said, "Young man, I say to you, Arise!" 7:15 So the young man got up, sat down, and began to speak. Then he handed it to her mother. 7:16
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet
has arisen among us!" Others said, "God has visited His people!" 7:17 So
the news about Jesus in all Judea and all the surrounding country.
reflection
"God listened to Elijah's prayer, and the boy's life returned to him, and he revived." 1 Kings 17:22
After
experiencing God's help and maintenance miraculously, the widow of
Zarephath back face increasingly severe test that is her only child got
sick, "... illness was so severe until no breath again." (1 Kings
17:17). He must have lost a child at the center of love and hope. The turmoil in his soul so that he blames Elijah and said, "What do you mean come hither, O man of God? Did you come to sin and kill my son? "(1 Kings 17:18). Elijah really in a very difficult situation at that time. On the other hand he was grateful to the Lord brought me to a
wonderful experience at the edge of the brook Cherith, but we are in the
middle of the widow of Zarephath it is touted as the cause of the
tragedy in the family, for children only die when Elijah to live with
it.
But Elijah did not retreat or flee from families who are disappointed and blame it. It
leads to the question of the weight of the Lord and said, " 'Give me
your son.' Then he called out to the Lord, he said: 'O Lord, my God! Do you also bringing disaster on this widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? ' "(1 Kings 17: 19a, 20). Finally, God answers prayer Elijah said, the boy was alive. Extraordinary! The experience of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath faith grew. The
widow of Zarephath was not only felt the hand of God, it is also
increasingly recognize the power and truth of the Lord God of Israel,
and Elijah as his servant. "Now I know that thou art a man of God, and
the Lord thy mouth is truth." (1 Kings 17 : 24).
Through
the experience of faith of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, we can
see that God's ways are always surprising and magical! Sometimes He allows masaah and tests happening in our lives in order to train the muscles of our faith so strong! Although sometimes His ways incomprehensible by us, all of it good for us.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways higher than your ways, and my plans." (Isaiah 55: 9)
Psalms, Joy also suffered.
In
the Jewish tradition, psalm is used in the feast of the Dedication of
the Temple (1 bdk.Yoh 10:22) where that day Jews commemorate the
dedication of the temple after it was destroyed by their enemies in the
2nd century B.C. This psalm important means for pushing Christian community. But
to note is that even though the psalms of thanksgiving was sung jointly
by the people of God, the psalm of David comes from personal
experience. Therefore, to get the deep meaning of this psalm for Christian living in a community, we need to ponder.
This
psalm was written by David in his old age, when he finished counting
all of its troops and then Allah punish him (2 Sam 24). In
this psalm there is an indication that David had suffered a heavy both
personally and with all his people (2-6) after just enjoy the peace and
pleasure in life (7). Thanks to that it offers a sense of peace and confidence that is too large. It begins arrogant Allah punish him wake up. This
event is said that when a person has an abundance of God's blessings in
the field of life, usually it is tested in other fields. Rejoicing in hope should be coupled with experience will not cause suffering to sin in one's life. When
he realized his mistake (8b), David immediately repented, then God's
forgiveness, and restoration of immediately experienced (6, 12). True repentance that followed the recovery will bring praise to God (5-6, 13).
Ponder:
Life Church of God in Indonesia on the one hand was experiencing the
abundant blessings of the unusual, but at the same time the church also
suffered some destruction and suffering such as the bombing of churches
lately. We need to ponder and reflect on the events in the light of the psalm we are today. This should be done so that we can take appropriate action, so that in
the end we can still praise and glorify God, even to invite everyone to
praise him.
The second reading, a true evangelist
There are people who love to wear fashionable costume jewelry. There are also other people who love to imitate famous figures. Such
people are usually familiar figure seeming merely imitated, it means he
does not know the motivation and the fact that he played the character
of behavior. Paul was not such a person. He became an evangelist, not by imitating the apostles predecessor.
Paul knew his hard word in this passage should be supported with apostolic authority. And
it has been confirmed since the beginning that he was a prophet and an
evangelist, not because of the will of man, but by the will of God
(verse 1). Now
it is confirmed that the source of his Gospel not from men, but from
God himself through the revelation of Jesus Christ (verses 11-12). Life history proves two things. First, it used to be a devout Jew who once persecuted the church of God. However, God chose him from the beginning, directly assigned him to preach the gospel to the Gentile nations (verses 13-16). Second,
Paul learned to live the gospel of God in Arabic, before he met with
the Apostles Peter and church leaders in Jerusalem, James (verses
17-19). Third, Paul's ministry in all regions of Syria and Cilicia echoed up
to the church in Judea, so that they glorify God (verses 21-24).
Personal meeting with God that changed Paul from a persecutor of the church to be true evangelists. We also have to be. Do not rely on and emulate the leaders of the church or the evangelist alone. We can emulate the good things from them, but these things can not
replace our personal relationship with God in prayer and the Word.
Meditation: The effectiveness of preaching does not rely on the power
of words, but on the authority of God in the gospel and in his life that
has changed.
Gospel today, Concern for the Small and Poor.
How far do we heed the accident? Are we aware ignoring the plight of others? There are so many people who really need help now. Not just about the material, not necessarily about hunger, but also
the so-called Mother Teresa a "real poverty" are people who
unconsciously, unloved, even tidakdiinginkan.
Lesson from Luke 17: 11-7; Jesus did not underestimate the suffering of anyone. He
performed miracles to every person of a different background, whether
that person is Jewish or not, friend or not, know it or not, and so on. Jesus moved by compassion and care.
Regardless,
through the Word of God we are often given the understanding that
self-aware of our limitations as human beings and we need people around
us. But the Word of God less frequently or not at all "scraping away" and lead us to change. But we are more difficult when faced with death ?? dealing with people we love. We often can not, do not accept, even hysterical when family members die so suddenly.
In Lk. 7: 11-17, we can see about a widow in the city of Nain who faced the death of his son. The widow continued to cry over her son. The cries of the widow's essentially want to express unwillingness to lose her only son owned subsidiary. The meaning of death refers to the inability of a person to part with those that they love. They are aware have lost their loved ones forever, but if there might be a spirit and beyond what they think? In Lk. 7:13 says that when Jesus saw the sadness and tears of the widows, it is stated: moved with compassion Jesus by ??. Then Jesus approached and touched the bier coffin corpse and said: Young man, I say unto thee, Arise! ?? (Lk. 7:14). The word of the Lord Jesus, the young boy who was dead is alive again.
Miracles that occurred in the city of Nain in essence based on compassion and concern the Lord Jesus to her. We must understand that Christ works miracles in essence a form of a sense of caring and compassion to his suffering people. In principle, the actions of Jesus is sympathy for the suffering of others, expressed the desire to help. That's why every time you mention "moved" the heart of Jesus by compassion ?? then there is a real action of the Lord Jesus as a response.
In Lk. 7:16 the crowd saw that Jesus works miracles God can awaken the youth Nain provide a response. Soon they glorified God, saying: A great prophet has appeared among us, and God has visited His people ??.
This
brings an important impact in the life of our faith, that every
believer who has known the love of God should be marked by a sense of
love and caring attitude, so that every believer is willing to take part
in the work of salvation God to help others. Is not it time we are surrounded by people who care and love us, then
we will be strengthened in the face of grief since abandoned by those we
love.
Attitudes
to love and care in fact born from the heart to love others
unconditionally., Created by private jets that have been able to get out
of ego. When our lives are based on the defense-sense Christ, then surely we have celebrated life with glorify the name of God.
Jesus was willing to be persecuted and died on the cross to redeem all people. Confers
a security, a rapprochement with God to all people, regardless of
whether the person is a good person or not, whoever they are. Christ died for everyone, including them, you and me. (2 Corinthians 5:15). That form of the love of Christ that is truly extraordinary. As
believers in Christ, is not strange if we did not reflect the love of
Christ, at least a little of the love of Christ if we have not been able
to fully reflect? Jesus gave important examples of how we should behave towards others in distress.
We asked to be able to achieve a level to not only love others as we love ourselves, but much more like how Jesus loved us. And one of you will be seen from our desire to help others. A
loving heart will be restless when he saw someone who needed help, and
will be filled with joy when they can do something to help them. Not for a nominal amount or percentage of time we devote to help, but
the seriousness and sincerity of the love of Jesus living in us.
"A kind loving heart will still empathize when I saw people who needed help. A little help from us can mean big for them, and it is valuable in the eyes of God. "
PRAYER: God's Holy Spirit, help me to always be open to your work in the world today as well. Give me the faith to be able to see the miracles you did. Help me to be able to respond with pure amazement that comes from my heart. Amen.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord!" Jeremiah 17: 7
