“Where Have You Been, Gehazi?”--Sept. 21, 2021

[From Sept. 20, 2005 archive]

 

“Where have you been, Gehazi?”

The unleavened bread of sincerity and truth

is difficult to come by when we are confronted

with an uncomfortable question.

 

To protect our guilt shall we by your name

swear our innocence?

 

Shall we expect you by your might

to vindicate us in our wrong-doing?

 

No, we may call upon your name

as we confess our sin,

but not to insulate us from it.

 

We ask for your vindication,

but as sinners forgiven in Christ.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 54; 146; 28; 99
2 Kings 5:19-27
1 Cor. 5:1-8
Matt. 5:27-37

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 54:1
Save me, O God, by your name,
            and vindicate me by your might.

 

2 Kings 5:25a
[Gehazi] went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?"  He answered, "Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.”

 

1 Cor. 5:8
Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

Matt. 5:34-35
“…But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  …”  [Jesus, seated on the mountain]