A reflection for the Daily Lectionary readings for March 19 Please see the Daily page for tools to help you make daily prayer and scripture part of your rhythm.
(Psalm 130; Ezekiel 1:1-3, 2:8 – 3:3; Revelation 10:1-11) Our readings today offer us two prophetic visions of the truth of God’s Love. I grew up with the understanding that to prophesy was to tell the future but I’ve come to know that this is a disingenuous understanding of prophecy in the Bible. The prophets of the OT didn’t tell the future, they presented the truth of God’s word and spoke of the consequences of people’s choices. As Moses said, they put before us life and blessings, death and curses. We get to choose.
The life God made us for is a life of Love. God made us to be in relationship with God and God is Love. It seems so clear and yet over and over again, we humans have chosen hate, anger, fear, power, entitlement, and domination instead of Love. The prophetic word speaks the truth of the life God made us for into the human tendency toward hate, anger, fear, power, entitlement, and domination.
Speaking the truth of God’s Word is much easier than living it – it is sweet in our mouths but can be bitter in our stomachs. But we must be willing to both speak it and live it and hear it because sometimes we need the truth spoken to us. When we decide we’ve got God’s Way all figured out and we have all the answer, we’ve lost the plot. Our journey following Jesus is a lifelong journey of continued becoming.
Following Jesus isn’t about earning God’s Love but living into it. It is a life of compassionate invitation. Choosing Life and Blessing means we live not for ourselves but for all of us, not increasing our own kingdom for our own benefit but building up God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven for the benefit of all.
The work of God’s Kingdom is peace making not war, feeding not taking food away, caring for the marginalized not pushing them further out. The work of God’s Kingdom operates in the wisdom that when one of us suffers we all suffer and when we all have our needs met we all thrive.
What the current leadership of the US is offering us is exactly opposite to this. They are telling us there isn’t any money to feed, house, and offer healthcare to all people but there is plenty of money for offensive wars. They tell us who we should hate, not love. They try to convince us there isn’t enough to go around when they hoard more than they need. And then they try to convince us what they are doing is ordained by God to bring about God’s purpose. And they are wrong.
Being silent in the face of harm being intentionally done to others isn’t an option as we follow Jesus. When we are indifferent, choose not to see it, or try to excuse it for any reason, we are complicit. We are all called to speak the Truth of God’s Word into the evil of this world. And, we must live it loudly so that Love is louder than the hate.
It isn’t a ‘must’ because God needs our defense but because it is the life God calls us to, the life God made us for.
Keep lovin’ louder than the hate, Y’all!
Mother Nancy's Coffee Thoughts 