No. 47 No Offense

And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. Matthew 11:6; Luke 7:23

Throughout Christendom there exist soft angels who coo and spread warm fuzzies. They sing poetry in soprano voices and are beloved. Their poetry exudes honey-sweetness.

Many years ago a friend of mine was in extreme pain, dying of colon cancer. To comfort her I sat by her bedside and read the Bible. It was a horrible thing to do. I looked for the warm fuzzies, but they were nowhere to be found. Every passage I went to spoke only of God’s judgment. I tried the psalms...nope, went over to the Gospels...yikes! Back to Isaiah and other prophets! Double yikes! Where are the warm fuzzies when you need them? This woman was suffering enough without having to listen to this! After two or three hour-long sessions I wrote my sick friend a letter of apology because I wanted her to know that I really wanted to comfort her, and I was sorry for all the harsh things I was reading. She forgave me, and then she died. She took no offense, and was blessed.

I was reminded of that occasion l when reading a few of my Marks aloud to another friend. Her son is ill with demon-addictions and I hoped to give her words of strength to share with him. I was looking for the warm fuzzies. Again, I found critical words instead. I was sorely troubled.

Later that day, I set out to write the next Mark blog. it was this one, about ‘offense’! What a holy coincidence!

When we are offended by Scripture, is it because we have missed the Mark in the same way as when we are spiritually dead ? Is that’s what it feels like to be out of God’s will for us?

Probably. Yikes!