Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Hebrews 10:23-25 – Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. (NRSV)

These verses are the inspiration for this weekend’s Regional Assembly theme, “Defiant Hope.”  I will be interested to hear how our Assembly preachers and teachers interpret them.  Perhaps a Bible passage can’t help but be provocative if it contains the phrase “provoke one another.”  That struck me as somewhat aggressive, so I looked it up in some alternate translations.  Sure enough, the NIV and others soften the language to “spur one another on” or even “motivate one another.”

What does it take to get you to practice love and do good deeds?  Have you ever been provoked into it?  I can think of one story where a man got more involved in someone else’s life than he originally intended, precisely because he was provoked by the injustices that person was experiencing.  But I’m pretty sure that’s not the kind of provocation this passage is referring to.

The Assembly planners seem more interested in what these verses say about hope than in provocation.  But naming that hope as “defiant” has a bit of the same flavor.  What does it mean for hope to be defiant?  What would it mean for hope to be provocative?  There are some who would say that continuing to gather together as a church that practices wide-open welcome and seeks justice – in a society that sees church as either dying or distorted into a power-seeking cult – is a defiant, provocative thing to do.

We are, I’m guessing, more willing to encourage one another to deepen our engagement with our shared church life than to provoke one another into it.  But whatever we call it, it’s important.  This thing we are doing – ministry in the name of Christ, aimed at fulfilling God’s vision for the flourishing of creation – it’s important.  And it despite how unlikely it looks, it is our calling.  So whether your hope is grounded in compassion for others or rage at the state of the world or both, hold onto it, defiantly!