A Trustworthy Prophet

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

1 Samuel 3:15-4:1

The Message

 ¹⁵ Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then rose early and went about his duties, opening the doors of the sanctuary, but he dreaded having to tell the vision to Eli.
 ¹⁶ But then Eli summoned Samuel: "Samuel, my son!"
    Samuel came running: "Yes? What can I do for you?"
 ¹⁷ "What did he say? Tell it to me, all of it. Don't suppress or soften one word, as God is your judge! I want it all, word for word as he said it to you."
 ¹⁸ So Samuel told him, word for word. He held back nothing.
    Eli said, "He is God. Let him do whatever he thinks best."
 ^19-21 Samuel grew up. God was with him, and Samuel's prophetic record was flawless. Everyone in Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, recognized that Samuel was the real thing—a true prophet of God. God continued to show up at Shiloh, revealed through his word to Samuel at Shiloh.

1 Samuel 4

The Chest of God Is Taken

 ^1-3Whatever Samuel said was broadcast all through Israel. Israel went to war against the Philistines. Israel set up camp at Ebenezer, the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines marched out to meet Israel, the fighting spread, and Israel was badly beaten—about four thousand soldiers left dead on the field. When the troops returned to camp, Israel's elders said, "Why has God given us such a beating today by the Philistines? Let's go to Shiloh and get the Chest of God's Covenant. It will accompany us and save us from the grip of our enemies."

For Reflection

If only they had repented.  But no!  Contaminated by their own pride and unwillingness to look to their own actions, they accused God of being unjust.  They were going to show God just how wrong He was.  If they brought the ark to the battle God would see the error of His ways.  How arrogant!  How pitiful! How over confident in their own abilities.  They were the powerless, lost in a delusion of their own greatness.

 

Pray

Pray that you confess that all things are from God.  Pray that you realize that with out God you are nothing. Gain strength and power from your humility and obedience to God.

A Voice in the Night

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Respecting Community Standards

1 Samuel 3:1-14

The Message

"Speak, God. I'm Ready to Listen"

 ^1-3The boy Samuel was serving God under Eli's direction. This was at a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen. One night Eli was sound asleep (his eyesight was very bad—he could hardly see). It was well before dawn; the sanctuary lamp was still burning. Samuel was still in bed in the Temple of God, where the Chest of God rested. ^4-5 Then God called out, "Samuel, Samuel!"
    Samuel answered, "Yes? I'm here." Then he ran to Eli saying, "I heard you call. Here I am."
    Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to bed." And so he did.
 ^6-7 God called again, "Samuel, Samuel!"
    Samuel got up and went to Eli, "I heard you call. Here I am."
    Again Eli said, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to bed." (This all happened before Samuel knew God for himself. It was before the revelation of God had been given to him personally.)
 ^8-9 God called again, "Samuel!"—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, "Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am."
    That's when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, "Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, 'Speak, God. I'm your servant, ready to listen.'" Samuel returned to his bed.
 ¹⁰ Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, "Samuel! Samuel!"
    Samuel answered, "Speak. I'm your servant, ready to listen."
 ^11-14 God said to Samuel, "Listen carefully. I'm getting ready to do something in Israel that is going to shake everyone up and get their attention. The time has come for me to bring down on Eli's family everything I warned him of, every last word of it. I'm letting him know that the time's up. I'm bringing judgment on his family for good. He knew what was going on, that his sons were desecrating God's name and God's place, and he did nothing to stop them. This is my sentence on the family of Eli: The evil of Eli's family can never be wiped out by sacrifice or offering."

 
For Reflection
Samuel was ready to listen to God.  But was he ready for the message?  Samuel, an obedient prophet, carried God's message.  How difficult was it to sacrifice his relationship with Eli to bring the worst news?  God's justice was announced.  How often have you heard Gods warning?  How often have you ignored it?

Pray
that you will heed God's warning.  Pray that you will confess your sin to God and sacrifice your self for the kingdom of God.  Pray that you will repent and become obedient to God's will.  Pray often.

A Gift to the Lord

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

1 Samuel 2:11-21

The Message

 ¹¹ Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest.

Samuel Serves God

^12-17 Eli's own sons were a bad lot. They didn't know God and could not have cared less about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling, stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli's sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God. Before they had even burned the fat to God, the priest's servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, "Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn't like boiled meat; he likes his rare." If the man objected, "First let the fat be burned—God's portion!—then take all you want," the servant would demand, "No, I want it now. If you won't give it, I'll take it." It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing—and right in the presence of God!—desecrating the holy offerings to God. ^18-20 In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God. Additionally, every year his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God." Then they would go home.
 ²¹ God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God.

For Reflection

It must have been difficult to give up Samuel to God's service.  Hanna's sacrifice was gigantic in comparison to the minor requests for meat from the Priests.  And yet, Hanna obeyed.  Worshipers were unwilling to respond to the Priest's request for sacrifice, even when the request was lessened  How unwilling are we to give God His due?

 

Pray

that you find justice in the sacrifices you make for God.  Pray that you will not withhold anything from God.  Pray that you are always willing and able to sacrifice for the Glory of God.

An Ernest Petition

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

1 Samuel 1:12-20

The Message

 ^12-14 It so happened that as she continued in prayer before God, Eli was watching her closely. Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, "You're drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up, woman!"
 ^15-16 Hannah said, "Oh no, sir—please! I'm a woman hard used. I haven't been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I've been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God. Don't for a minute think I'm a bad woman. It's because I'm so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I've stayed here so long."
 ¹⁷ Eli answered her, "Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him."
 ¹⁸ "Think well of me—and pray for me!" she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant.
 ¹⁹ Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked.

Dedicating the Child to God

²⁰ Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him."

For Reflection

God answers prayers earnestly prayed.  In her desperation, Hanna prayed.  Hanna received more blessing than perhaps even she realized.  She became the mother of Samuel.  more importantly, she gave God the credit.  How often do you give God the credit for your blessings?

 

Pray

prayers of confession.  Confide your weaknesses.  Confess that you can no longer go it on your own.  Pray for the confidence that God will help.  Pray that you always give God the credit for your blessings.

Repent and Turn

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

Ezekiel 18:25-32

The Message

 ^25-28 "Do I hear you saying, 'That's not fair! God's not fair!'?
    "Listen, Israel. I'm not fair? You're the ones who aren't fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he'll die for it. He'll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he's committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won't die.
 ²⁹ "And yet Israel keeps on whining, 'That's not fair! God's not fair.'
    "I'm not fair, Israel? You're the ones who aren't fair.
 ^30-32 "The upshot is this, Israel: I'll judge each of you according to the way you live. So turn around! Turn your backs on your rebellious living so that sin won't drag you down. Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel? I take no pleasure in anyone's death. Decree of God, the Master.
    "Make a clean break! Live!"

For Reflection

Every child learns the, "Its not fair!" argument.  Almost as though it was passed genetically from generation to generation.  That each of us accrues the consequences of our actions is ultimately fair and just.  Sin results in a life lived poorly.   Godliness results in a life lived well.  Too often God becomes the original loser as human kind blames Him for the consequence of their own action.

God takes no pleasure in lives lived poorly, in sin.  God offers over and over again the means to enjoy the good life lived well. Each one is gifted to live a life uniquely his or hers exactly like no other person.  God judges each individual on how one lives his or her lives, on how well he or she uses his or her unique gifts.  He measures a person not by a group standard but rather and individual standard.   Why would anyone reject His offer? 

Pray

that you will have confidence in God's unique gifts to you.  Pray that you will not measure your success at living based on cultural standards or on some standard derived by observing admired individuals.  Pray that you will recognize your uniqueness and fulfill God's unique plan for your life.

Just and True Are Your Ways

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

Revelation 15:1-4

The Message

The Song of Moses, the Song of the Lamb

 1 I saw another Sign in Heaven, huge and breathtaking: seven Angels with seven disasters. These are the final disasters, the wrap-up of God's wrath. 2-4I saw something like a sea made of glass, the glass all shot through with fire. Carrying harps of God, triumphant over the Beast, its image, and the number of its name, the saved ones stood on the sea of glass. They sang the Song of Moses, servant of God; they sang the Song of the Lamb:

   Mighty your acts and marvelous,
      O God, the Sovereign-Strong!
   Righteous your ways and true,
      King of the nations!
   Who can fail to fear you, God,
      give glory to your Name?
   Because you and you only are holy,
      all nations will come and worship you,
      because they see your judgments are right. 

 

For Reflection 

God requires justice because it is at the heart of his being.  The most important rule is to love God with all your heart, your mind and your body.  To be immersed in God is to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that one can not escape righteousness.  We who are engrossed in God are obligated to work willingly for peace and justice in the name of God. 

 

Pray 

that you walk in awe of God.  Pray that you love God with your entire being.  Pray that you serve the Lord in humility and grace.

What the Lord Requires

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

Micah 6:1-8

The Message

What God Is Looking For

 ^1-2 Listen now, listen to God: "Take your stand in court.
   If you have a complaint, tell the mountains;
   make your case to the hills.
And now, Mountains, hear God's case;
   listen, Jury Earth—
For I am bringing charges against my people.
   I am building a case against Israel.

 ^3-5"Dear people, how have I done you wrong?
   Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer!
I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt;
   I paid a good price to get you out of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you—
   and Aaron and Miriam to boot!
Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull,
   and how Balaam son of Beor turned the tables on him.
Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal.
   Keep all God's salvation stories fresh and present."

 ^6-7How can I stand up before God
   and show proper respect to the high God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings
   topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
   with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
   my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

 ⁸But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
   what God is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
   be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously—
   take God seriously. 

For Reflection 

Have you ever noticed that people with vastly differing philosophies can successfully collaborate on a project but if discussing their philosophical differences end in impasse?  What does that say about the people of God?  God "has made it plain how to live, what to do..."  In comparison to right theology,  how important is right living? 

Pray
 that you will live the life God wills for you.  Pray that Justice, Love and Obedience to God takes precedence over philosophical differences.  Pray that you love and attend to the Christian and the non-Christian equally.  Pray that you become a conduit for God's grace.

Hold Fast to Tradition

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

The Message

 ^13-14Meanwhile, we've got our hands full continually thanking God for you, our good friends—so loved by God! God picked you out as his from the very start. Think of it: included in God's original plan of salvation by the bond of faith in the living truth. This is the life of the Spirit he invited you to through the Message we delivered, in which you get in on the glory of our Master, Jesus Christ.
 ^15-17So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. 

For Reflection 

What we have been talking about is the relationship between the letter of the law and the intent of the law.  It seems to me that the intent of God's law is reconciliation through a strong loving relationship with God and with human kind.  God has invited each person to join Him in His Kingdom. 

Pray
that you will be open to God's persistent call.  Pray that you will join Him in confidence.  Pray that you will accept God's help and put your mind and heart into His work.

Spiritual Matters of the Heart

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

Romans 2:25-29

The Message

 ^25-29Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics. 

For Reflection 

It is not your birth-right that makes you one of God's children.  It is not your declaration of Christianity that makes you a child of God.  What makes you a child of God is obedience to His will.  It is the fact that you have opened your heart to the Holy Spirit.  Don't be concerned about the critics who use God's name to demean your participation in the Kingdom of God.  Just pray and listen to God's direction.  God recognizes your obedient good work.

 Pray

that you will be obedient to God's will for you.  Pray that you will listen to the words of the world with God's ear. Pray that you will listen to the words of scripture and  to God's whispered wisdom.

God of Gods, Lord of Lords

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
The Heart of the Law

Psalm 136:1-9

The Message

    Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits.
   Thank the God of all gods,
      His love never quits.
   Thank the Lord of all lords.
      His love never quits.

 ^4-22 Thank the miracle-working God,
      His love never quits.
   The God whose skill formed the cosmos,
      His love never quits.
   The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations,
      His love never quits.
   The God who filled the skies with light,
      His love never quits.
   The sun to watch over the day,
      His love never quits.
   Moon and stars as guardians of the night,
      His love never quits.
   The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,
      His love never quits.
   And rescued Israel from Egypt's oppression,
      His love never quits.
   Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand,
      His love never quits.
   Split the Red Sea right in half,
      His love never quits.
   Led Israel right through the middle,
      His love never quits.
   Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea,
      His love never quits.
   The God who marched his people through the desert,
      His love never quits.
   Smashed huge kingdoms right and left,
      His love never quits.
   Struck down the famous kings,
      His love never quits.
   Struck Sihon the Amorite king,
      His love never quits.
   Struck Og the Bashanite king,
      His love never quits.
   Then distributed their land as booty,
      His love never quits.
   Handed the land over to Israel.
      His love never quits. 

For Reflection 

There is a lot of talk these days about the reduction in numbers of Christian churches and their inability to attract new believers.  Perhaps it is time to remember that God is not the church. It is time to remember that He is alive in the world in spite of the church.  His hand is always active.  His love never quits.  The attraction to God is not tied up in the latest multi-media flash or the most inspirational preacher.  God calls us all to be obedient to his word.  He call all of us to engage the world in humility, to offer God's hospitality, to work for justice and to work toward the reconciliation of human kind to God and to each other.

Mark Hinds wrote recently, "Ministry is not about saving the church; ministry is about serving the Gospel and God's people to the point of institutional death trusting that God will resurrect the body in some new way, which is beyond anything we can imagine." 

Pray

earnestly for the church.  Pray that each believer will be obedient to God's will.  Pray that all believers will match their belief with the courage to act toward reconciliation in love and justice.

The Perfect Law of Liberty

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Celebrate Jubilee

James 1:19-27

The Message

Act on What You Hear

 ^19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. ^22-24Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
 ²⁵But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
 ^26-27Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

For Reflection

Being angry is a sure sign that one should step back and study one's response. One can not be God-centered and respond only in anger.  Ask," How can I re-frame this angry response and learn from It?"  It is difficult to act justly when motivated by anger.  It is difficult to listen to God when anger engrosses 

you.

Pray.

that your anger will not control you responses.  Pray for peaceful reflection and to hear God's will for that moment.

When Liberty Becomes a Stumbling Block

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Celebrate Jubilee

1 Corinthians 8

The Message

Freedom with Responsibility

 ^1-3The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all. ^4-6Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there's nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don't add up to anything but a tall story. They say—again, quite rightly—that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master—Jesus the Messiah—and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It's true.
 ⁷In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered up to an idol. It's just like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn't everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn't that insensitive.
   We need to be sensitive to the fact that we're not all at the same level of understanding in this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating "idol meat," and are sure that there's something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. An imagination and conscience shaped under those conditions isn't going to change overnight.
 ^8-9But fortunately God doesn't grade us on our diet. We're neither commended when we clean our plate nor reprimanded when we just can't stomach it. But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a fellow believer still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track.
 ¹⁰For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn't there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused—maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.
 ^11-13Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn't you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him—because, as you say, it doesn't really make any difference? But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn't worth it at the cost of even one of these "weak ones." So, never go to these idol-tainted meals if there's any chance it will trip up one of your brothers or sisters.

For Reflection

Old practices are hard to give up.  Especially when they have been institutionalized old practices are targets of spiritual conflict.  Under God one is free to choose to change old practices.  However, (and here is the source of conflict) one's freedom to act in ways contrary to former common practice may confuse others of faith.  With such freedom comes a responsibility to nurture people to God rather than shock them into believers. 

Pray

that you handle God's gift of freedom with wisdom.

The Spirit and Freedom

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Celebrate Jubilee

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

The Message

 ^12-15With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn't notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn't notice. They didn't notice it then and they don't notice it now, don't notice that there's nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can't see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there's nothing there.
 ^16-18Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

For Reflection

Matthew Henry wrote, "They have liberty: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, and where he worketh, as he does under the gospel-dispensation, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17), freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, and from the servitude of corruption; liberty of access to God, and freedom of speech in prayer. The heart is set at liberty, and enlarged, to run the ways of God’s commandments."  When we let Him influence our lives, we can do nothing but work for God's justice.  We become more and more like Him 

Pray

that you will embrace the unveiled the brightness that is God.  Pray that you will be transfigured by that glorious light. Go with God.

Walking at Liberty

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Celebrate Jubilee

Psalm 119:41-48

The Message

 ^41-48 Let your love, God, shape my life
      with salvation, exactly as you promised;
   Then I'll be able to stand up to mockery
      because I trusted your Word.
   Don't ever deprive me of truth, not ever—
      your commandments are what I depend on.
   Oh, I'll guard with my life what you've revealed to me,
      guard it now, guard it ever;
   And I'll stride freely through wide open spaces
      as I look for your truth and your wisdom;
   Then I'll tell the world what I find,
      speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.
   I cherish your commandments—oh, how I love them!—
      relishing every fragment of your counsel.

For Reflection

Why this prayer?  One reason might be that the psalmist after taking an unpopular stand on which he thought was consistant with his obedience to God's will experienced the fear sparked hatred with which many expressed and perhaps violently.  Following God's will for justice is sometimes quite risky.  The decision requires courage embedded in the promise of comfort and abiding support.  God reveals truth, God emboldens human kind to speak and act in truth.  Praise Him! 

Pray

What could be a better prayer than this scripture?  Read it often.

Turning Back from Repentance

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Celebrate Jubilee

Jeremiah 34:8-17

The Message

 ^8-10God delivered a Message to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to decree freedom to the slaves who were Hebrews, both men and women. The covenant stipulated that no one in Judah would own a fellow Jew as a slave. All the leaders and people who had signed the covenant set free the slaves, men and women alike.
 ¹¹But a little while later, they reneged on the covenant, broke their promise and forced their former slaves to become slaves again.
 ^12-14Then Jeremiah received this Message from God: "God, the God of Israel, says, 'I made a covenant with your ancestors when I delivered them out of their slavery in Egypt. At the time I made it clear: "At the end of seven years, each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has had to sell himself to you. After he has served six years, set him free." But your ancestors totally ignored me.
 ^15-16"'And now, you—what have you done? First you turned back to the right way and did the right thing, decreeing freedom for your brothers and sisters—and you made it official in a solemn covenant in my Temple. And then you turned right around and broke your word, making a mockery of both me and the covenant, and made them all slaves again, these men and women you'd just set free. You forced them back into slavery.
 ^17-20"'So here is what I, God, have to say: You have not obeyed me and set your brothers and sisters free. Here is what I'm going to do: I'm going to set you free—God's Decree—free to get killed in war or by disease or by starvation. I'll make you a spectacle of horror. People all over the world will take one look at you and shudder. Everyone who violated my covenant, who didn't do what was solemnly promised in the covenant ceremony when they split the young bull into two halves and walked between them, all those people that day who walked between the two halves of the bull—leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, palace officials, priests, and all the rest of the people—I'm handing the lot of them over to their enemies who are out to kill them. Their dead bodies will be carrion food for vultures and stray dogs.

For Reflection

How seriously does God take justice?  How seriously does God take his covenants? Have you read these passages? Do you still wonder?  When is offering repentance not repentance at all?  No one seems to be privileged to warrant special treatment -- no officials, no priests, no one who has justified turning their backs on the holy covenant.  Only those who were obedient to the covenant were favored. 

Pray

that you will have the faith and the courage to stick to your God-centered sense of justice.  Pray that you will mirror God's transformational love and extend it to all -- ALL!

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Living as God's Just People

Luke 10:25-37

The Message

Defining "Neighbor"

 ²⁵Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"  ²⁶He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
 ²⁷He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
 ²⁸"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
 ²⁹Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?"
 ^30-32Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
 ^33-35"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'
 ³⁶"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
 ³⁷"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
   Jesus said, "Go and do the same."

For Reflection

It is easy.  Treat all people as neighbors.  In God's kingdom there are no strangers.  Outside God's kingdom there are no strangers.  Treat each one you meet kindly.  Give them your most valuable possession -- your time and your hospitality.

Pray

for those who feel unworthy of a place in the Kingdom of God.  Pray that others will see in you the justice and grace that characterizes God's kingdom.  Pray that others will see in you an invitation into the community of believers.

If You Truly Amend Your Ways

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Living as God's Just People

Jeremiah 7:1-7

The Message

The Nation That Wouldn't Obey God

 ^1-2 The Message from God to Jeremiah: "Stand in the gate of God's Temple and preach this Message. ^2-3"Say, 'Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship God. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's God, has this to say to you: ^3-7"'Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don't for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—"This is God's Temple, God's Temple, God's Temple!" Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple.

For Reflection

Beware of false prophets.  Beware of those who promise to cure the world's ills by unjust means.  Learn to judge that which is just and not merely justifiable.  Use God's standards of love, compassion and grace.  Invite all people into a clean neighborhood of inclusion.  Reject intolerance and fear. 

Pray

that you will recognize the illusionary things which separate us from each other and from God.  Pray that you will continue to work for the inclusion of all people into the circle of God.

Occasions for Stumbling

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Living as God's Just People

Matthew 18:1-8

The Message

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

 ¹ At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?" ^2-5For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. ^6-7"But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse—and it's doomsday to you if you do.
 ^8-9"If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

For Reflection

I know. I know. The Devil makes you do it!  Simplify!  Look toward the elementary.  Life does not have to be that complicated.  It becomes so when one assumes he is in control, that he is responsible alone.  The truth is that one does not have to go it alone.  Who have you helped lately?  In whose way have you gotten?  Acting out of love for each other is acting on God's behalf.

Pray

that you chop off and throw away those things which inhibit you from acting out of the love of God.  Pray for those who are suffering because of their commitment to God.  Pray for the courage and wisdom to approach life simple and with confidence in God's promise.

No Safety from Sinners

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Living as God's Just People

Jeremiah 7:8-15

The Message

 ^8-11"'Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you're swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighborhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market—and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, "We're safe!" thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I've got eyes in my head. I can see what's going on.'" God's Decree!
 ¹²"'Take a trip down to the place that was once in Shiloh, where I met my people in the early days. Take a look at those ruins, what I did to it because of the evil ways of my people Israel.
 ^13-15"'So now, because of the way you have lived and failed to listen, even though time and again I took you aside and talked seriously with you, and because you refused to change when I called you to repent, I'm going to do to this Temple, set aside for my worship, this place you think is going to keep you safe no matter what, this place I gave as a gift to your ancestors and you, the same as I did to Shiloh. And as for you, I'm going to get rid of you, the same as I got rid of those old relatives of yours around Shiloh, your fellow Israelites in that former kingdom to the north.'

For Reflection

All of us who turn to unjust solutions to our national problems are guilty of neglecting the God-centered response to stressful times.   Therefore, all who have contributed actively or passively by not speaking out have contributed to our national guilt.  Since few appear as God-centered intercessors, all must share in the unjust consequences.  God-centered judgments are needed to refine appropriate justice.  In this season of political choice, ask yourself, "to what extent are the proposals for action (as hypothetical as they may be) contribute to God-centered just ends?"

 Pray

for our world leaders.  Pray that they turn to justice as a guiding principle. Pray for all those who suffer injustices, that they may be comforted and emboldened to work for justice.

God's Indignation over Injustice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Defined
Living as God's Just People

Ezekiel 22:23-31

The Message

 ^23-25 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, tell her, 'You're a land that during the time I was angry with you got no rain, not so much as a spring shower. The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
 ^26-29 "'Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong. They're contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what God, the Master, says..." when God hasn't said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.'
 ^30-31 "I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one. So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God, the Master."

For Reflection 

When the going gets tough one's depth of hope and trust begins to predominate.  The less hope and confidence in God (or for that matter, from a humanistic point of view, a good outcome.)  one' predominate style prevails.  if that style is injustice, it is, I suppose, motivated by fear of untoward outcomes.  If at those times one allows hopeless to take over, injustice abounds.  Just consider our treatment of the Japanese Americans during the second world war or the attitude toward and the treatment of Muslims in today's circumstances.  When times get tough, how do you respond?  To what extent do you allow your fears to undermine your God-centered responses? 

Pray

that when the going gets tough you take your stand for God.  Pray that you understand the difference between secular and sacred responses. Pray that you avoid common cultural responses and turn to toward the hope found in a life lived in the hollow of God's hand.