Sharing Equally

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Empowering the Needy

1 Samuel 30:21-25

The Message

 ²¹ Then David came to the two hundred who had been too tired to continue with him and had dropped out at the Brook Besor. They came out to welcome David and his band. As he came near he called out, "Success!"
 ²² But all the mean-spirited men who had marched with David, the rabble element, objected: "They didn't help in the rescue, they don't get any of the plunder we recovered. Each man can have his wife and children, but that's it. Take them and go!"
 ^23-25 "Families don't do this sort of thing! Oh no, my brothers!" said David as he broke up the argument. "You can't act this way with what God gave us! God kept us safe. He handed over the raiders who attacked us. Who would ever listen to this kind of talk? The share of the one who stays with the gear is the share of the one who fights—equal shares. Share and share alike!" From that day on, David made that the rule in Israel—and it still is.
 
For Reflection 

"Mean-spirited men...the rabble element..."
Who are they? 
Have you seen them? 
The rational ones. 
The legalistic ones. 
The fairness fighters; filled with righteous indignation. 
The epitome of cultural bias--the selfish. 

All share equally the spoils in the Kingdom of God.

Pray
that you are not caught up in the culture of the present kingdom.  Pray that you follow Christ in the Kingdom of God.  Pray for supreme selflessness.

Generosity in God's Kingdom

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Empowering the Needy

Matthew 20:1-15

The Message

A Story About Workers

 ^1-2 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. ^3-5"Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.  ^5-6"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'
 ⁷"They said, 'Because no one hired us.'
   "He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
 ⁸"When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'
 ^9-12"Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'
 ^13-15"He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?

For Reflection
Did the estate manager hire just to get work done?  I'm sure that is what the first workers thought.  Surely the manager did not expect the second and third hires to get as much work done.  Why did he hire them?  What was his objective?  How is one's need different from one's want.  How is God's sense of fairness different?


Pray
that we hesitate to make God into our own image.  Pray that in God's kingdom all are acceptable at equal value.  Pray that you see all people as equal in the sight of God.

Provision for the Poor

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Empowering the Needy

Leviticus 19:1-10

The Message

 ^1-2 God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy. ³ "Every one of you must respect his mother and father. "Keep my Sabbaths. I am God, your God.
 ⁴ "Don't take up with no-god idols. Don't make gods of cast metal. I am God, your God.
 ^5-8 "When you sacrifice a Peace-Offering to God, do it as you've been taught so it is acceptable. Eat it on the day you sacrifice it and the day following. Whatever is left until the third day is to be burned up. If it is eaten on the third day it is polluted meat and not acceptable. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has violated what is holy to God. That person will be cut off from his people.
 ^9-10 "When you harvest your land, don't harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don't strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am God, your God.
 

For Reflection
How do we provide for the provision for the poor? Many churches have special funds to help those in need.  Many of us give money in response to special fund raising efforts to help those in need.  How can we see the pictures of those in Africa suffering famine and not be moved?

How would your life change if you had no appreciable assets and you lived alone on a government provided stipend of $800 a month?  Where would you live? How would you eat and cloth yourself?  In what kind of culture would you be immersed?  What tole would poverty take on your faith?

Through federal and state taxes we fund programs intended to provide food, housing, clothing and medical care to the needy.  Today all of those programs are in jeopardy.  As our national wealth erodes, law makers are looking for places to cut spending.  Nearly sixty percent of the national budget is dedicated to medical, social security and other essential care.  Think about what you would advocate in these economic times.  Where would you cut?  Would you be willing to give more in taxes?  Try to establish a God-centered response. What would you leave for gleaning?

Pray
that the poor of our nation are not sacrificed for a "balanced budget."  Pray that our lawmakers find solutions to our current economic problem that are not at the expense of those who can least afford them.  Pray for all people that suffer famine and the evils of tyrannies all over the world.  Pray that we find compassion for those whose needs are great.

Sharing Bread with the Poor

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Empowering the Needy

Proverbs 22:1-9

The Message

The Cure Comes Through Discipline

 ¹ A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.

 ² The rich and the poor shake hands as equals—
   God made them both!

 ³ A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
   a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

 ⁴ The payoff for meekness and Fear-of-God
   is plenty and honor and a satisfying life.

 ⁵ The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick;
   if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.

 ⁶ Point your kids in the right direction—
   when they're old they won't be lost.

 ⁷ The poor are always ruled over by the rich,
   so don't borrow and put yourself under their power.

 ⁸ Whoever sows sin reaps weeds,
   and bullying anger sputters into nothing.

 ⁹ Generous hands are blessed hands
   because they give bread to the poor.

For Reflection
No, Ben Franklin didn't write these!  There are a lot of ways to be poor.  My mother's folks came to this country around 1900 from Germany.  They had no money.  I have pictures of the house in Bower Hill which looked typically European -- picket fenced and a cow and chickens in the back yard.  They may lacked wealth, but they were not poor in spirit.  And neither were the other Central Europeans that settled in the same steel mill town. There was work and they took advantage of it. They were rich in their strong Lutheran heritage.

The poor will always be with us.  Being poor is bad enough, but being also poor in spirit is worse.  The fact that people are poor in wealth and spirit for whatever reason should not alter the fact that they need help.  We who have wealth need to share it.   We who are rich in spirit should invite others to share in the Spirit.

Pray
that we learn to respond in humility to the needs of the poor.  Help us to find ways to enable the poor in spirit to find meaning in their lives.  Pray for generous hands.

Seeking Comfort in Community

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Choosing a Community

Ruth 1:1-7

The Message

 ^1-2Once upon a time—it was back in the days when judges led Israel— there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah left home to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The man's name was Elimelech; his wife's name was Naomi; his sons were named Mahlon and Kilion—all Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They all went to the country of Moab and settled there. ^3-5 Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. The sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband.

^6-7 One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that God had been pleased to visit his people and give them food. And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah.

For Reflection
In those days to live without a husband was to live as a non-person. With no family to support them, Naomi sought the only comfort that was available to her. 

Where do you find comfort?  How did you select the Christian community in which you now enjoy the fellowship in the Holy Spirit?  Why did you not select other Christian fellowships?  Have you left one Christian community for another?  What did you find there that you could not find in the former community?

People change.   Life circumstances change.  The character of Christian communities change.  Discomfort and change is inevitable.  God calls each believer to different purposes.  God will resolve the conflict.  Pray and listen quietly to his gentle guidance.

Pray
for all people who can not find comfort in community.  Pray for all Christians, that they may find comfort in the fellowship of believers.  Pray that you will listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit to guide you in selecting communities to which you can practice faithfulness to your call.

Restoring Community

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Choosing a Community

Genesis 50:15-21

The Message

^14-15 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph's brothers talked among themselves: "What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?"
 ^16-17 So they sent Joseph a message, "Before his death, your father gave this command: Tell Joseph, 'Forgive your brothers' sin—all that wrongdoing. They did treat you very badly.' Will you do it? Will you forgive the sins of the servants of your father's God?"
   When Joseph received their message, he wept.
 ¹⁸ Then the brothers went in person to him, threw themselves on the ground before him and said, "We'll be your slaves."
 ^19-21 Joseph replied, "Don't be afraid. Do I act for God? Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I'll take care of you and your children." He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.

For Reflection
OK; here's the rub with all this accept differences stuff.  The differences in worship styles among Christian demonations (and for that matter individuals) is that each sees differences in worship style arising out of differences in substantial theology (seen most dramatically in the reformation).  Each group is rooted in their "rightness" and, therefore, is offended by the other.

God, our father, like Joesph's father, commanded us to forgive each other.  Can we, like Joseph, forgive each other for the offenses derived from our differences in worship?  Can we see beyond the differences into the Holy Spirit working His mysteries through all Christians?

Pray
that you will recognize the Holy Spirit working in all Christian communities.  Pray that the diversity of Christian believers extends the call to God's Kingdom so all may practice Godly ways.  Pray for the Church universal to be consistent with God's call to love and service.

Seeking Unity in Community

God Instructs the People of God

Listening for God in Changing Times:

Choosing a Community

Romans 14:1-9

The Message

Cultivating Good Relationships

 ¹ Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. ^2-4For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
 ⁵Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
 ^6-9What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

For Reflection
Living in the hollow of God's hand is living for the glory of God.  Each of us worships God in his/her own way in response to His grace.  God's grace has no rules.  God's grace is given freely to all who ask.  The only rule that matters is to serve God in love.  To me, this means leaving my judgment of others behind.  Judgment is God's domain.  We, indeed, are not answerable to each other.

Christian denominations have formed because groups of believers have similar worship preferences.  Because of this, Christianity has been able to survive and grow as an inclusive body of believers. The strength in Christianity is its ability to accept differences in worship style.  Love of God and each other is the only true standard.

Pray
that you find in the community of believers common threads of worship that are grounded in the love of God and each other.  Pray for the unity of all Christians.  Pray that you see beyond the style of worship into the core of Christian thought and deed.  Pray that  all Christians accept the differences among them as strengths in the body of Christ.