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Good News - Week of 9/10/2017

9/11/2017

PRAYER OF THE WEEK
Lord Jesus, give us grace each day
That we may follow in Your way,
Especially when some unloved soul
Needs our forgiving to be whole. —DJD

The unforgiving servant

NOTES ON THE SCRIPTURES

Exodus 14:19-31: Moses stretches his hands over the sea and it opens a path for the Israelites to walk on dry ground. Then, as the sun rises and all the people have crossed, he stretches his hands over the sea again, and the waters return to their place, drowning the armies of Egypt.

Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21: The song of victory and praise that Moses sang after the liberation of the Israelites.

Romans 14:1-12: Each believer works out how faith is to be lived for themselves and must decide between them and God how to practice their faith. Therefore, as people of faith we are not to judge one another, but to celebrate each one’s commitment to living out their faith before God.

Matthew 18:21-35: Jesus tells a story about a man who is forgiven a huge debt, but then refuses a small debt which is owed to him. When the master, to whom he owed his debt, hears about it, he is angry that the man did not show others the same mercy he received, and he instructs that the man be imprisoned until he has paid back his debt in full.

The work of forgiveness, on an individual and community level is easy to speak about – and we often do in the Church. It is less easy to put into practice, it seems. It is disturbing when Christians are seen to act in ways that are anything but forgiving – burning the sacred books of other faiths, calling natural disasters God’s judgement on certain groups of people we disagree with, preaching judgement as if we are God’s agents and have the right to choose who is “in” and who is “out”. When we do this, we are not reflecting the Reign of God, and we are not proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rather, we have become part of the imperialistic, violent system that brings so much hurt into the world. The same is true when men use the Bible to suppress and control their wives, or when parents use God as a whip to keep their children in line. The same is true, whenever Christians in dispute with one another, or with others, turn to violent words or actions, and adopt methods that create more destruction in our world and communities. Into all of this – all of the ways in which our differences and brokenness result in conflict and pain – Jesus invites us into the difficult, but life-giving, peace-making and healing work of forgiveness. The challenge is whether we are prepared to release our need to be “right” and our need for “justice” and “retribution”. In the end, the “justice” we seek is not true justice at all. It is just a feeble attempt to balance the scales in our favour. But, the result is always a cycle of more pain. And so, once again, as hard as it is, we are faced with the shocking, but unrelenting call of the crucified one to follow his example, and offer forgiveness even to those whom we may feel don’t deserve it.

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Good News - Week of 9/3/2017

9/5/2017

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PRAYER OF THE WEEK
In my disputes with others, O God, teach me to be quick to apologize and quick to forgive. Amen.

Moses and the burning bush

NOTES ON THE SCRIPTURES

Exodus 12:1-14: God gives Moses and Aaron the instructions for the Passover meal – for the animal that must be chosen, sacrificed and eaten, how it is to be prepared, and the way the Israelites must eat it, with urgency and ready to travel. The blood of the animal is to be placed on the doorposts of their homes so that the plague of death which comes on the Egyptians will not harm the Israelites.

Psalm 149: An exhortation for God’s people to praise God both publicly (in the assembly) and privately (on their beds) and through their praises to proclaim and establish God’s reign and overcome wicked kings and nations (Note: The sword image is a metaphorical reference to the power of the praise expressed by God’s people, not a literal call to religious violence).

Romans 13:8-14: Paul exhorts the believers to owe no debt to anyone except the ongoing debt of love, which fulfills the law. Because of the urgency of their hope, Paul encourages the believers to live pure lives, free from the dark deeds to which they may be tempted.

Matthew 18:15-20: Jesus teaches his followers a gracious process for making right with those who have hurt them – going first to the individual, then, if necessary, taking along a couple of witnesses, and finally, taking the matter to the church. Then he encourages his followers to agree, for in doing so, they find power in prayer and Christ’s presence in their gathering.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
After the last few weeks in which we have explored God’s salvation and our call to share it with the world, we come this week to the challenging issue of confronting evil, which is an inevitable result of our commitment to bringing God’s reign into visible manifestation in our world. The Moses story leaps forward from Moses’ call, to the final result of Pharoah’s failure to negotiate the Israelites’ freedom – the judgement of the Egyptians and the rescue of the Israelites. Paul encourages God’s people to go further than those of Moses’ time by loving all people and seeking to live pure lives even in the face of wickedness. Jesus, on the other hand, brings the confrontation right into the gathering of believers, making it clear that we will face conflict and injustice inside the church as well as outside of it. Finally, the Psalms support this theme in their challenge to praise God both privately and publicly and in so doing manifest God’s reign in our lives and world (Psalm 149) and in the plea for God’s laws to guide our lives and for God to nurture love for God’s ways in our hearts (Psalm 119). So, we are challenged this week to confront evil – within ourselves, in our communities and in the world – and overcome it with praise of God and in living lives filled with and expressing God’s love.

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Good News - Week of 9/10/2017

Good News - Week of 9/3/2017

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