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 lesson 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're reading from the gospel of Mark 9, 9:13 from the Message coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy.

Don't tell a soul what you saw.

After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you're free to talk.

They puzzled over that wondering what on earth rising from the dead meant.

Meanwhile, they were asking, why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?

Jesus replied, elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man.

They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man who will, according to scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.

Well, that ends this reading.

Friends, thank you for spending some time with me here as we contemplate this passage of scripture.

It's this comes right after a mountaintop experience when Jesus tell the disciples to keep quiet until the Son of Man raises or rises from the dead.

And they're kind of puzzled like honestly, I am too, a little bit.

And that's kind of the kind of the point about this.

And see, they have a wonder, they have a curiosity to have a kind of awe factor about what this even means.

And they ask about Elijah coming.

And Jesus said, eliza, Elijah, this comes and prepared and was treated like dirt just like the Son of Man would be treated.

Lots of interesting things here.

So let's get into some points to ponder some teaching points from the progressive point of view.

The first is this.

Don't rush the mystery.

Let truth ripen.

The disciples want some instant clarity and many times I do too as well.

But Jesus is not going there.

Jesus is not yet in a culture addicted to hot takes and easy answers.

A progressive reading of this scripture honors development, maturing, ripening as it were, as a process, especially for those whose faith has been harmed by quick certainties.

Rising from the dead, it says, isn't just a future headline.

It's a mystery that only makes sense after you have to go through the walkthrough of suffering, solidarity and love in action.

Sometimes when I hang out with my granddaughters, they remind me of this, that growth happens when you pay attention and when you grow, when you have laughter and you have tears and you have stumbling and you have issues that come with growth and you don't want to hurry growth.

You don't want to stunt growth either.

And sometimes when we ask why and keep trying again, faith works like that.

It's kind of a two steps forward, one step back type of thing.

It's slow, relational and embodied.

A second point to ponder.

God shows up with those who are treated like dirt.

Jesus connects himself with Elijah, the prophet who confronts power.

It names how both Elijah and Jesus as the son of man are mistreated.

Resurrection hope is inseparable from God's preferential presence with people pushed to the margins.

A progressive understanding of this says watch where contempt is flowing.

God is already there.

If our mountaintop spirituality doesn't lead us down into the valley to listen to those who've been silenced, we've missed Jesus's root.

In my cancer coping community that I work with, I've learned that hope isn't always a positive spin.

It's fierce companionship.

That's the soil where resurrection takes root.

A third point to ponder.

Preparation is different than spectacle.

Its repair.

Preparation does not equal spectacle.

It's repair.

Elijah comes first and gets everything ready is what it says.

That's the preparation piece.

And Jesus framing it isn't hype.

It's repair, truth telling, lament, reweaving of community for the church today.

Sometimes it looks like decentering or making amends and redistributing attention and resources toward justice.

Sometimes I think about when my wife and I go hiking on the wooded trail and the trail looks different.

And when you pay attention to the markers and to the trees and to the small details and you take care of the path.

Faith and trail maintenance means quiet, consistent, restorative attention.

Same thing we do in our in our walk of faith.

That's what makes resurrection credible, not just imaginable.

Let's talk about an actions tip.

Practice resurrection by amplifying a silenced voice.

Choose one person or a community that's treated like dirt.

I bet you got somebody in mind, either in your family or locally in your community.

Or online.

It could be survivors, it could be immigrants, it could be disabled people, it could be queer folk, immigrants, the unhoused people facing medical problems.

There's any number of people you know what I'm talking about and do some concrete thing, show up in their life.

Be helpful.

Maybe it's at a community meeting, maybe it's donating money, maybe it's sharing a volunteer time.

Maybe subscribe to their newsletters or share work together or write in your representative or extend a practical gift like a ride or a meal or childcare.

Then tell a trusted friend about it and what you did and why.

Not about bragging, but about accountability and make this a habit in your life.

We'll come back and have a prayer in just a minute.

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Let's pray.

God of valleys and mountaintops, you know that I don't have all the answers and that's okay.

Teach me to trust truth that ripens in your time.

Turn my eyes toward those the world ignores and my feet toward the path of repair where contempt has bruised your children.

Make me a companion and a witness.

Let resurrection look like laughter and courage for the hurting and patience for myself and others rise in me today so I can rise for someone else on another day.

Amen.

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

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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.