Hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

The reading is understandable.

I use the Message version relatable.

Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.

We pray and are done in less than 10 minutes.

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Here's today's reading and we are reading.

Today from the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 12 through 30.

You're missing God in all this.

We're reading from the Message version.

You're missing God in all this.

Jesus once again addressed them, I am the world's light.

No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness.

I provide plenty of light to live in.

The Pharisees objective all we have is your word on this.

We need more than this to go on.

Jesus replied, you're right, you only have my word, but you can depend on it being true.

I know where I've come from and where I go next.

You don't know where I'm from or where I'm headed.

You decide according to what you can see and touch.

I don't make judgments like that.

But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn't make it out of the narrowness of my experience, but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father that fulfills the conditions set down in God's law that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses.

And that is what you have.

You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me.

They said, where is this so called Father of yours?

Jesus said, you're looking right at me and you don't see me.

How do you expect to see the Father?

If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father.

He gave this speech in the treasury while teaching in the temple and no one arrested him because his time wasn't up.

Then he went over to the same ground again.

I'm leaving and you're going to look for me.

But you're missing God in This and you're heading for a dead end.

There is no way you can come with me.

The Jews said so is he going to kill himself?

Is that what he means by you can't come with me?

Jesus said, you're tied down to the mundane.

I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons.

You live in terms of what you see and touch.

I'm living on the other terms.

I told you that you were missing God in all this and you're at a dead end if you don't believe I am who I say I am.

You're the dead end of sins.

You're missing God in your lives.

They said to him, just who are you anyway?

Jesus said, what I've said from the start.

I have so many things to say that concern you, judgments to make that affect you.

But if you don't accept the trustworthiness of the One who commanded my words and acts, none of it matters.

That is who you are questioning.

Not me, but the One who sent me.

They still didn't get it.

Then realized that he was referring to the Father.

So Jesus tried again.

When you raise up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am, that I'm not making this up, but speaking only what the Father taught me.

The One who sent me stays with me.

He doesn't abandon me.

He sees how much joy I take in pleasing Him.

When he put it in these terms, the people decided to believe.

Wow, we're really incredible passage of of scripture here friends.

And we're talking here about what does it means to be the light of real life and it's really good to be with you.

So let's have a little conversation about this passage of scripture here.

And Jesus says, I am the light of the world and I provide plenty of light to live in.

So the conversation though turns a bit tense with the Jewish leaders when it comes to matters of authority and trust.

Who Jesus is, where he comes from, and whether people can see what's right in front of them.

So let's take a few moments to ponder this passage from a progressive point of view and keep close to the text and far from harmful readings.

Point number one, light exposes for healing, not for shaming.

Jesus isn't offering a flashlight to hunt sinners, he's offering daylight to keep us from stumbling.

Progressive faith treats light as liberation, bringing hidden harm into the open so it can be healed and illuminating paths towards justice for those pushed into the margins.

This means transparency in our communities.

Survivor centered practices, true telling.

It aims at restoration in my Working with cancer and impacted people.

People don't need spiritual spotlights that glare.

They need light that guides gentle, steady, honest.

Point number two, read John without anti Judaism humility over hostility.

When this passage mentions Pharisees or quote the Jews, we must refuse any anti Jewish or supersessionist lens.

Jesus is a Jew.

He is a Jewish teacher in a Jewish debate.

The conflict is intra Jewish if you will.

It's not a license for Christian folk to have arrogance about the matter.

A faithful, progressive read of this honors Judaism and rejects antisemitism.

The question isn't us versus them, it's can any of us recognize God's light when it challenges our certainties?

This question lands in every tradition.

Judeo Christian, Judeo Christian, any other thought pattern or faith expression, including yours and mine.

Third point to ponder trusting testimony, centering voices that reveal the light.

Jesus speaks of testimony, his and the one who sent him.

Today, the Spirit's light often comes through those we ignore.

The poor, the sick, the immigrant, the LGBTQ community, people of color, survivors.

A left to center posture here listens to lived experience as a vital theological source.

If our faith only confirms what we already see and touch.

Missing God beyond our horizons when my wife and I take hikes in the woods, we often will come to a place where you kind of turn in a trail and then it opens up to a whole new view or a vista.

Just amazing things, but doesn't happen until you take a walk through the woods First.

I invite you to listen to marginalized voices in the turns that you have in life and suddenly God's landscape will come into sight.

Here's your action step.

Light listening practice, that is Seek out one voice you've not really heard and sit around it.

Read a piece or attend the talk or have a respectful conversation with someone who's on the margins.

Go to a synagogue, go to a mosque.

Go to some place of some faith tradition that you're unfamiliar with.

Go to a faith group, go to a gathering of LGBTQ advocates or a group of people that advocate for immigrants and ask where do you see the light breaking in there?

Take some notes.

Expose yourself to healing.

Choose.

You can also choose one hidden but harmful pattern in your life, your personal life, church, family, and bring it out in the open with grace.

Name the truth, Apologize where needed, maybe budget it.

Set your boundaries or establish a safe space policy.

I just invite you to commit to one action to draw you closer in all these matters.

We'll have a prayer here in just a minute.

I just want to remind you that we have a great resource for you called the ABC1, 23 Bible study method.

You can pick it up at our website, voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray.

Light of the World.

Meet us in our very real lives, our tired bodies, anxious thoughts, the laughter of children.

Give us light that heals, not glares or shames.

Help us honor our Jewish neighbors and reject every form of anti Semitism.

Teach us to trust the testimonies we've avoided, to listen where we prefer to talk and a step toward repair where we stumbled.

Be close to those walking through adversities like cancer and those who love them.

Brighten days with courage, relief and joy.

Bless marriages, bless quiet walks in the woods.

Bless all these things when we're unsure, keep us steady when we're afraid, stay near when we're cracked, shine through.

Amen.

My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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Thanks much.

My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your Daily Bible Refresh.

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Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.