Voices from the Past

Scripture

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. …. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.  (Mark 7:29-20,32 NIVUK) 

Voices from the Past 

G.K. Chesterton once said that if we truly believed in democratic decision making, we should let generations before us also vote. I’m not sure exactly how he wanted to make that happen, but I think he was suggesting that only believing the “new” or “recent” is most true or helpful may need cautious exploration. 

I’ve learned from my mistakes and from the stories of others who found a way out of destructive or self-destructive places and moved to a healthier place of living. In his frustration with his unresponsive audience Jesus suggested that when life is up, and our lives are under scrutiny, people from the past will wag their fingers and say “You should have changed your way of living.  

The reluctant prophet Jonah got his audience to move their whole city from an evil and self-destructive place into a place of justice, mercy and restoration – as much as it ticked him off.  Jesus pointed to their ability to change direction and said they would have an opinion about his current audience.   

Somehow, we need to live freely, exploring new and refreshing ways of living while learning from the lessons of past generations. Learning to trust our own eyes and ears from spiritual direction while learning from wise figures from the past is a wonderful opportunity.  

A Prayer for Today

Loving God, whose patience is beyond my imagination, help me to live with the wisdom of the ages and the freshness of the new wine of the Spirit you send from times to time. Keep me from chasing after every new shiny cause or solution but ground me in the sort of relationship with you that hears past wisdom that shapes current actions …. For Jesus’ sake