A Reading from the Gospel of Luke 6:39-49
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”
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Meditation
This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, “Hey you. Can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, “Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, “Hey, Joe, it's me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.” The friend says, “Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out.” (From “Noel,” The West Wing, Leo to Josh)
When we begin in humility, openly acknowledging our own brokenness and deep need for grace, we can begin to walk with another and offer some perspective in the midst of their trials. Well-meaning as we may be, we may be drawn to quick fixes. Beginning with someone else’s sins is almost always a non-starter that goes double when our own sins are manifold, and ignorance or apathy lead us to a false comfort in our unrepentant state.
To show others the way out, we first learn of and live by the mercy of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Only then may we meet people where they are, jumping down in the hole with them that we may walk together according to the Lord who calls us “out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life” (1979 BCP, p. 368).
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The Rev. Benjamin Hankinson is the Director of Admissions for Nashotah House Theological Seminary and Priest in Charge of St. James in West Bend, Wisconsin. Originally from South Carolina, he has also served parishes in the Diocese of Springfield.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Southwark – The Church of England
Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York
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