Take Your Stand

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

1 Samuel 12:6-16

The Message

 ^6-8 And the people said, "He is witness."
    Samuel continued, "This is the God who made Moses and Aaron your leaders and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. Take your stand before him now as I review your case before God in the light of all the righteous ways in which God has worked with you and your ancestors. When Jacob's sons entered Egypt, the Egyptians made life hard for them and they cried for help to God. God sent Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them here in this place.
 ⁹ "They soon forgot their God, so he sold them off to Sisera, commander of Hazor's army, later to a hard life under the Philistines, and still later to the king of Moab. They had to fight for their lives.
 ¹⁰ "Then they cried for help to God. They confessed, 'We've sinned! We've gone off and left God and worshiped the fertility gods and goddesses of Canaan. Oh, deliver us from the brutalities of our enemies and we'll worship you alone.'
 ¹¹ "So God sent Jerub-Baal (Gideon), Bedan (Barak), Jephthah, and Samuel. He saved you from that hard life surrounded by enemies, and you lived in peace.
 ¹² "But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, preparing to attack you, you said to me, 'No more of this. We want a king to lead us.' And God was already your king!
 ^13-15 "So here's the king you wanted, the king you asked for. God has let you have your own way, given you a king. If you fear God, worship and obey him, and don't rebel against what he tells you. If both you and your king follow God, no problem. God will be sure to save you. But if you don't obey him and rebel against what he tells you, king or no king, you will fare no better than your fathers.
 ^16-17 "Pay attention! Watch this wonder that God is going to perform before you now! It's summer, as you well know, and the rainy season is over. But I'm going to pray to God. He'll send thunder and rain, a sign to convince you of the great wrong you have done to God by asking for a king."

For Reflection

Judgment and mercy are common strategies that God uses to discipline his people and influence their obedience to Him.  Time and time again God's people succumb to the temptation of taking matters into their own hands. How about you? On whom do you rely?  Who is your commander-in-chief? 

Pray

for mercy when you begin to think that you alone can handle your troubles.  Pray that you understand the judgment God delivers when you forget whom you serve.  Pray for the courage to let god deliver you from temptation to be only self-reliant.  Pray for the patience to rely on God.

Before God in Our Guilt

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Ezra 9:10-15

The Message

 ^10-12 "And now, our God, after all this what can we say for ourselves? For we have thrown your commands to the wind, the commands you gave us through your servants the prophets. They told us, 'The land you're taking over is a polluted land, polluted with the obscene vulgarities of the people who live there; they've filled it with their moral rot from one end to the other. Whatever you do, don't give your daughters in marriage to their sons nor marry your sons to their daughters. Don't cultivate their good opinion; don't make over them and get them to like you so you can make a lot of money and build up a tidy estate to hand down to your children.'
 ^13-15 "And now this, on top of all we've already suffered because of our evil ways and accumulated guilt, even though you, dear God, punished us far less than we deserved and even went ahead and gave us this present escape. Yet here we are, at it again, breaking your commandments by intermarrying with the people who practice all these obscenities! Are you angry to the point of wiping us out completely, without even a few stragglers, with no way out at all? You are the righteous God of Israel. We are, right now, a small band of escapees. Look at us, openly standing here, guilty before you. No one can last long like this."

For Reflection

What kind of advice is this for living in our modern world?  Does it really call for separating ourselves in some cult-like way from the temptations of modern culture?

Not necessarily, but, we do live in a polluted land full of obscene vulgarities.  Corruption of morality abound just as they always have.  If taken metaphorically, the advice against intermarriage is potent.  When we accept or rationalize even minor amoralities we succumb to the tyranny of common wisdom.  God-centered wisdom is sometimes challenged by cultural-centered wisdom.  How do you tell the difference?  When the option to choose God-centered wisdom is difficult, how do you respond?  How married are you to cultural wisdom?

Pray

that you will have the wisdom and courage to live in this world and not to be corrupted by it.  Pray for God-centered wisdom so you may live righteously in the light of God's grace.

Shadowed Times and Hard Hearts

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Exodus 9:27-35

The Message

 ^27-28 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He said, "I've sinned for sure this time—God is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to God. We've had enough of God's thunder and hail. I'll let you go. The sooner you're out of here the better."
 ^29-30 Moses said, "As soon as I'm out of the city, I'll stretch out my arms to God. The thunder will stop and the hail end so you'll know that the land is God's land. Still, I know that you and your servants have no respect for God."
 ^31-32 (The flax and the barley were ruined, for they were just ripening, but the wheat and spelt weren't hurt—they ripen later.)
 ³³ Moses left Pharaoh and the city and stretched out his arms to God. The thunder and hail stopped; the storm cleared.
 ^34-35 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he kept right on sinning, stubborn as ever, both he and his servants. Pharaoh's heart turned rock-hard. He refused to release the Israelites, as God had ordered through Moses.

For Reflection

These were shadowed times.  Moses has realized that he and the Israelites have been disobedient.  In an attempt to reconcile his people to God, Moses confesses his sins and entreats a sign of God's mercy to all the people.  Pharaoh, however, was not influenced by God's sign.  He maintained separation from God, sinning and becoming even more committed to his ways.
Judgments and Mercy's, punishments and rewards -- all are forms of coercion.  Some people respond in repentance while others remain unrepentant.  What do you suppose leads to one's confirmation of sin when consequences of judgment and mercy are obvious?

Pray

that having experienced God's judgment and mercy you respond in repentance.  Pray that you remain faithful to your commitments in God's covenant.

Love Good and Establish Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Amos 5:8-15

The Message

Raw Truth Is Never Popular

 ^7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
   and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos
   star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
   and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
   and gives the land a drink.
   God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
   He can turn this vast wonder into total waste. ^10-12People hate this kind of talk.
   Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
   Because you run roughshod over the poor
   and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You're never going to move into
   the luxury homes you have built.
You're never going to drink wine
   from the expensive vineyards you've planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
   the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
   taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down.
 ¹³Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
   Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
   a waste of breath.
 ¹⁴Seek good and not evil—
   and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
   and maybe it will happen.
 ¹⁵Hate evil and love good,
   then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   will notice your remnant and be gracious.

For Reflection

Those who do not speak out, those who do not act, and those who turn a blind eye to injustice are as sinful as those who practice injustice.  let your God guide your participation in His justice.

Pray

that you will pray frequently.  Pray that you will listen to God's wisdom.  Pray that you will rise to the opportunities to influence justice.

God Will Grant Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Luke 18:1-8

The Message

The Story of the Persistent Widow

 ^1-3Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' ^4-5"He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'"
 ^6-8Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

For Reflection

Doesn't it surprise you that God will use us, corrupt, imperfect human beings as we are, to his perfect and just ends?  I know I am always surprised by how God works in our lives.

Pray

that you will look for God even in the most unlikely places.  Pray that you will give your self to God so that He may use you for his just ends.

God's Continual Guidance

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Isaiah 58:9-14

The Message

 ^6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
   to break the chains of injustice,
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed,
   cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

 ^9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
   quit blaming victims,
   quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
   and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
   your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
   I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
   firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
   a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
   rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
   restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
   make the community livable again. ^13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
   and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
   God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
   making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
   Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
   Yes! God says so!

For Reflection

Last Sunday was a service of hymn singing, a service devoted to praise.  We don't do this often, so, when we have a Sunday of praise, it is special, a day of celebration, not "business as usual."  Also last Sunday a news commentator spoke of America's growing poor population and our reluctance to support programs for the poor because of a growing pressure to cut government expenditures.

Perhaps our churches need to take a hint from Isaiah. Treat the Sabbath as a day of Joy, celebrating God and spend the intervening time ministering to the poor and take up the slack where the poor have little assistance and are in need of sanctuary.  Christian hospitality can break the chains of injustice.

Pray

that you will dedicate your life to fulfilling God's call to break the chains of injustice.  Pray that you will approach God's work in humility offering hospitality to all.

God's Ways are Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Daniel 4:34-37

The Message (MSG)

 ^34-35 "At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:
   "His sovereign rule lasts and lasts,
   his kingdom never declines and falls.
Life on this earth doesn't add up to much,
   but God's heavenly army keeps everything going.
No one can interrupt his work,
   no one can call his rule into question.
 ^36-37 "At the same time that I was given back my mind, I was also given back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that's why I'm singing—I, Nebuchadnezzar—singing and praising the King of Heaven:
   "Everything he does is right,
   and he does it the right way.
He knows how to turn a proud person
   into a humble man or woman."

For Reflection

Nebuchadnezzar dared to rival God.  In spite of David's warning, he continued to defy God until he lost his mind.  After seven years, God justly restored Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar had understood and gave himself over to God.  God is just.  We all can receive God's justice.  Repentance is the key to living  humbly in the presence of God.

Pray

that you will treat your words as windows into God's will;  listen to the words of the world with God's ear. listen to the words of scripture; listen to God's whispered wisdom.