Called to Be Strong
Deborah and Barak
Hebrews 11:29-40. The Message
29 By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.30 By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.
31 By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.
32-38 I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
39-40 Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
For Reflection
And yet, The Way has been proven effective. Because it runs counter to conventional wisdom, some people have little faith or trust in the principles. They prefer vengeance instead of forgiveness. What would have happened if we would have occupied and ruled Japan after WWII? Would we be at war in Afghanistan, If we would have collaborated with the Afghans to enact widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms instead of abandoning them after the defeat of Russian aggression?
What if we would redistribute the wealth in the United States in such a way that the capital is used to elevate disadvantaged peoples. Military might and defense are important. But they are no more important than reducing the widening gap between the upper middle class and the working poor. Society is not rightly measured by the wealth it creates but rather by how it uses the wealth to ensure its people have satisfied their basic needs for safety, food, housing, and medical services.
Pray
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