Woulda Coulda Shoulda
Commentary
There’s no use having vain regrets because we didn’t. How about instead we do instead of don’t instead of listening to nay sayers who want us all to won’t.
In Genesis, Abraham’s servant coulda given up. The task he was given was impossible. Find a bride for his master’s son. Instead, he prayed and then did his best to follow the leading of the Spirit. In this passage, he is retelling what just occurred, even improving on the story as he retold it, and it’s all an opportunity to thank God.
Paul laments that he is still falling into the same traps, doing the things he woulda instead of the things he shoulda. But thanks be to God, he’s still in the game.
Jesus uses a child’s chant to challenge the authorities to get out of the rut they are in, instead of constantly criticizing others, then thanks God that children are open to a new way of thinking if we don’t hem them in.
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
The servant has an impossible task. How do you pick the perfect spouse for your master’s son when the requirements are so strict and they’re too old and tired to go themselves and the most likely outcome is that you’ll fail. The servant coulda given up, but instead he prayed the first prayer recorded in scripture, and then did his best to follow the leading of the Spirit. These particular passages are taken from our second go-around in the story, when the servant retells what just happened, and what’s interesting to me is that the servant elaborates what Abraham has told him and changes the order of events in order to make a better narrative for Laban and the rest of Rebekah’s family. He says he asked about Rebekah’s family first before giving her the nose ring, but it was the other way around. He knows this is the wife for Isaac, but he wants the family to think he has asked about her family first, to make sure they are suitable for each other. I think the biggest learning is that despite the difficulty of the task he plunged in, and let things happen. Sometimes all we can do is our best, and the rest is up to God, and the choices of other human beings.
There are some oddities to this story. Rebekah is fatherless and living in her mother’s tent. Isaac is motherless, and he takes Rebekah into his mother’s tent. And though we’ll learn later what Laban is really like, knowing what we know of him one can see why Rebekah did not hesitate about leaving with this strange man. What did she have to lose?
Romans 7:15-25a
I have to admit sometimes Paul gets a little too technical — I’m not a fan of stringing a bunch of verses from the Hebrew scriptures together, sometimes out of context, clapping my hands together, and announcing “Case closed!”
But in this passage, he is fully human and seems to know my story better than I know myself! I don’t know about you, but despite my best intentions, I sometimes find myself at war with myself. I do things I don’t want to do. “Wretched man that I am!”
It is God’s living presence, part of God’s living promise, that makes it possible to ignore all the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s that I have ignored and failed at. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Be a little careful in this one. When Paul talks about the flesh, he is not suggesting we are two beings, body and spirit, and the body is evil, and our true destiny is becoming all spirit. That’s a dualism Judaism knew nothing of. We are body/spirit, dust brought to life through the breath of God. Our destiny is resurrection. Paul’s use of the word ‘flesh’ is about intention, not the physical body.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
There are many ways to worship God. If we worship God with vigorous motion, we’re accused of being too emotional and not authentic. If our fervor is expressed with outward calmness, with order and peace, we’re accused of lacking the Spirit, of being empty, of being spiritually dead.
Jesus uses a child’s chant to demonstrate how ridiculous it was to criticize John the Baptist for his ascetic ways, and the disciples of Jesus for being down-to-earth homebodies. He challenged the authorities to get out of the rut they are in of constantly criticizing, then thanks God that children are open to a new way of thinking if we don’t hem them in. Rather than criticize other Christians for being who they are instead of being us, we ought to be us. Becoming and living as a follower of Jesus takes many forms. Our unity as one body of Christ lies not in what we wear, what we sing, our styles of worship, the type of music we play and sing, but in the way we emulate Jesus and live out our lives of faithfulness.
Kids know this. That’s why they make fun of us, because they can’t please us, and eventually let’s hope they stop trying. But we can all please Jesus by being who we are.
In Genesis, Abraham’s servant coulda given up. The task he was given was impossible. Find a bride for his master’s son. Instead, he prayed and then did his best to follow the leading of the Spirit. In this passage, he is retelling what just occurred, even improving on the story as he retold it, and it’s all an opportunity to thank God.
Paul laments that he is still falling into the same traps, doing the things he woulda instead of the things he shoulda. But thanks be to God, he’s still in the game.
Jesus uses a child’s chant to challenge the authorities to get out of the rut they are in, instead of constantly criticizing others, then thanks God that children are open to a new way of thinking if we don’t hem them in.
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
The servant has an impossible task. How do you pick the perfect spouse for your master’s son when the requirements are so strict and they’re too old and tired to go themselves and the most likely outcome is that you’ll fail. The servant coulda given up, but instead he prayed the first prayer recorded in scripture, and then did his best to follow the leading of the Spirit. These particular passages are taken from our second go-around in the story, when the servant retells what just happened, and what’s interesting to me is that the servant elaborates what Abraham has told him and changes the order of events in order to make a better narrative for Laban and the rest of Rebekah’s family. He says he asked about Rebekah’s family first before giving her the nose ring, but it was the other way around. He knows this is the wife for Isaac, but he wants the family to think he has asked about her family first, to make sure they are suitable for each other. I think the biggest learning is that despite the difficulty of the task he plunged in, and let things happen. Sometimes all we can do is our best, and the rest is up to God, and the choices of other human beings.
There are some oddities to this story. Rebekah is fatherless and living in her mother’s tent. Isaac is motherless, and he takes Rebekah into his mother’s tent. And though we’ll learn later what Laban is really like, knowing what we know of him one can see why Rebekah did not hesitate about leaving with this strange man. What did she have to lose?
Romans 7:15-25a
I have to admit sometimes Paul gets a little too technical — I’m not a fan of stringing a bunch of verses from the Hebrew scriptures together, sometimes out of context, clapping my hands together, and announcing “Case closed!”
But in this passage, he is fully human and seems to know my story better than I know myself! I don’t know about you, but despite my best intentions, I sometimes find myself at war with myself. I do things I don’t want to do. “Wretched man that I am!”
It is God’s living presence, part of God’s living promise, that makes it possible to ignore all the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s that I have ignored and failed at. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Be a little careful in this one. When Paul talks about the flesh, he is not suggesting we are two beings, body and spirit, and the body is evil, and our true destiny is becoming all spirit. That’s a dualism Judaism knew nothing of. We are body/spirit, dust brought to life through the breath of God. Our destiny is resurrection. Paul’s use of the word ‘flesh’ is about intention, not the physical body.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
There are many ways to worship God. If we worship God with vigorous motion, we’re accused of being too emotional and not authentic. If our fervor is expressed with outward calmness, with order and peace, we’re accused of lacking the Spirit, of being empty, of being spiritually dead.
Jesus uses a child’s chant to demonstrate how ridiculous it was to criticize John the Baptist for his ascetic ways, and the disciples of Jesus for being down-to-earth homebodies. He challenged the authorities to get out of the rut they are in of constantly criticizing, then thanks God that children are open to a new way of thinking if we don’t hem them in. Rather than criticize other Christians for being who they are instead of being us, we ought to be us. Becoming and living as a follower of Jesus takes many forms. Our unity as one body of Christ lies not in what we wear, what we sing, our styles of worship, the type of music we play and sing, but in the way we emulate Jesus and live out our lives of faithfulness.
Kids know this. That’s why they make fun of us, because they can’t please us, and eventually let’s hope they stop trying. But we can all please Jesus by being who we are.
