Reading the red

This week as I prepare for my sermon on Jesus and poverty, I’m reading though all the red text in my red-letter edition of the Gospels. If you’ve never tried reading only the actual words of Jesus, I recommend it as an occasional discipline.

I’m tempted to say that if I had to choose a small portion of Scripture to sustain me for the rest of my life, I’d choose the red letters, the words of Jesus.  What could be better than constantly re-reading the things Jesus actually said?  But today’s reading through Matthew and Mark reveals a problem with that.

Today I was looking for the things Jesus said about the poor.  While he did SAY some profound things (Matthew 25:31-46, the Sheep and the Goats is hard to miss), the lessons from his actions are at least as important.  If I didn’t already know what the black letters say about who Jesus spent his time with and who he ministered to, the red letters would be disembodied truth, sayings divorced from real life.  Like me, his words are made meaningful by his actions.

So if I had to choose only a small portion?  I’d choose Luke.  What about you?

June 19, 2007 · Filed Under Christ, Discipleship

Comments

One Response to “Reading the red”

  1. jess on July 2nd, 2007 3:16 am

    i’d pick luke to. i think i should hear your sermon on poverty. maybe you could fly out to Malawi and preach it live.

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