The Last Shall Be First

Day 223: Matthew 20

It's interesting that this passage about the parable of the vineyards where the first shall be last and the last shall be first came today. Tonight, we went to a memorial service for a man who went to our church for a little over a year, and Shane read this exact same passage at his funeral. This man was in his early 80s and had spent decades of his life in jail. I don't know what he did to get there, but it had to be something big since he had spent so much of his life there. His family didn't have much to do with him, and they really didn't care if we had a memorial service for him or not. I can understand that. For most of his life, he was a bad man, not just in the moral sense but also in the legal sense.

During his time in jail, he must have become a Christian because the moment he got out, he wound up at our church. And he was a faithful Christian for this past year. He even helped another young man, also an ex-con, who started coming to our church. He was a changed man.

But his family didn't want to forgive him. His daughter didn't come to the funeral. They didn't want to show him grace; he didn't deserve it. But in God's eyes, he has just as much of a place in the kingdom of heaven as anyone else does--those who come early in their life and who don't commit felonies, and those who come later on. God is holding a spot for this man, too. He's holding a spot for all of us. In his eyes, we're all the same--no matter when we respond to the call. Those of us who have been faithful Christians as long as we remember may not see this practice as just. But we know that God is a just God, and this form of justice is one that we should implement as well. Loving people and forgiving their past is God's way of justice. He did it for all of us, and extending this same grace to others--no matter when they might come to believe--indicates that we are living out God's form of justice.

The Meaning of It All in Three Complex Words

Day 202: Micah 5-7

That last post was a bold one for me, and I'm still in my initial thinking about these things, but thanks for all your feedback. What great thoughts all of you have.

The reading for today contains a verse that spells out so clearly what God wants of us. You are probably familiar with it, too. Micah 6:8b says, "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"

Justice, mercy, and humility. There it is, all spelled out in three words.

And all of those terms coincide so much with my thoughts in the last post. He requires us to act justly, to treat others as we would want to be treated. To help those weaker than us--in whatever way that means. He also wants us to "love mercy." Wow, to do something good for someone who can't do it for themselves. To be compassionate and sympathetic but to also take action by forgiving, forgetting, loving, and doing all those other things God does for us. Finally, God wants us to show humility in our walk with God. He wants us to remember that we don't have it all figured out and that we shouldn't judge people for them not having it figured it either. Seeking humility about all else. Putting others above ourselves. Not judging harshly or condemning people for their beliefs, viewpoints, or actions.


These words, though "simple" in the traditional sense, are complex concepts that we could all do better exploring their meaning and application for ourselves and our communities.

Obadiah's Retribution

Day 198: Obadiah

The book of Obadiah is the shortest one in the Old Testament. In fact, the Bible I'm reading from doesn't even show that it contains chapters, only verses, because it doesn't contain more than one chapter. The book is written by the prophet Obadiah who, like most of the other prophets in the OT, speaks of the judgment of a nation and the hope that one day Judah and Israel will be restored. Obadiah speaks these truths based on a vision he had, and he proclaims to the people that "Day of the Lord" is coming. This promise was a hopeful one for people in captivity, in exile.

In my previous blog post, I mentioned how Amos seems to use the term justice to mean equality rather than judgment (or an eye for an eye). In Obadiah, however, Obadiah speaks to Edom and tells them that their role in destroying Jerusalem--how this country destroyed and betrayed their brother Jacob--will come back to haunt them. That is, what they did to Israel and Judah will be done to them. Retributive justice. God will punish Edom for its sins. They betrayed their relatives and will be punished. Opposite of Edom, however, is Israel who will prosper because God is with these people.

Here's just a bit of explanation of the book.

Righteousness and the Poor: A Christian Response

Day 197: Amos 5-9

Martin Luther King, Jr.--a preacher, a leader of the civil rights movement--drew from the book of Amos in one of his speeches. On April 3, 1968, King delivered a speech in Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the striking sanitation workers. In the speech, King addresses ministers and preachers, calling them to be like Amos, like Jesus. He uses a verse from Amos 5:24 that says, "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"

Here are the words from King's speech: 


It's a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Somehow, the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."

King delivered this speech the day before he was assassinated.


Like King, the prophet Amos also had a passion for the poor. Amos prophesies about justice, not the type of justice we typically think of when we think of justice--an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth--but justice in the sense equality. Equality for the poor. No oppression. No lesser-than status. Just equality. Here are some examples from these chapters in Amos:

You levy a straw tax on the poor
       and impose a tax on their grain.
       Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
       you will not live in them;
       though you have planted lush vineyards,
       you will not drink their wine. 

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
       and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Hate evil, love good;
       maintain justice in the courts.

This is the Amos that Martin Luther King, Jr. draws on to argue that the poor deserve justice, that they don't deserve to be oppressed or persecuted. They don't deserve injustice. Instead, they deserve justice. Equality. They deserve to have rights, in spite of them being poor. They deserve what everyone else has. And we need to help them do it.

Where do we stand on this issue of poverty? Of helping the poor? Of taking from our abundance and giving to those who have less? We look at the poor (and so many other issues) through political eyes rather than through the eyes of Jesus. How did Jesus look at the poor? He's come, and he's done so much. We shouldn't think, "What would Jesus do?" Rather, we should ask, "What did Jesus do?" How did he treat the poor? He already did it. I think MLK had it right when he observed that Jesus cared for the poor. And as Jesus did, so should we. No matter what our political leanings are, if we claim to be Christians, then we should care for the poor. We should do things that help the poor. It's the righteous thing to do. It should be the Christian response.

"Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"

The Church Leaves the Building

Day 188: Ezekiel 45-48

Ezekiel 45:9: "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right."

That last sentence strikes me as powerful. How often do we oppress people? Historically, we have oppressed blacks, Jews, women, poor people, and numerous others. At our best moments, churches lead the fight to stop this oppression. Many of the first and most well-known abolitionists were Christians. Churches respond to calls for help when earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis come. We take in orphans. We run homes for children without any parents.

But we also oppress people. In our hearts. In our actions. We do it. And woe to us. God wants us to do what is "just and right." He wants justice. He wants righteousness. He wants morality. May this verse percolate on your mind today as you seek to do what is just and right.

---

Ezekiel 47 is a meaningful passage to me. When Shane and I were church planting, one of our friends led a "lectio divino" over it. This ancient spiritual practice involves reading a passage of scripture aloud with other people and then reflecting on it three different times. The first read through you listen for one thing, the next read something else, and the third time something else.

Out of all the passages that I have done this practice with, this one is my favorite. This chapter talks about a river leading out of the temple. As the river flows from the temple, it gets wider and deeper, produces more fruit, and has more beautiful trees. The water becomes fresh the further it goes, and swarms of living creatures abide there.

What a beautiful metaphor for how we as Christians are called to live our lives. We are to go to the temple, for that is where we go to get fed, purified, refreshed--the throne of the Lord. Then, we leave the temple, or church, and we go out into the world and share with others what we know. The trees outside the temple bear much fruit, and we, through our relationships with others, do the same.

When I was a church planter, this passage indicated to me the importance of being out in the world for it is in the world that the fruit trees live. I was excited about this, and I did it with zest and passion. Now that I am back in the world of organizational churches, this passage still means the same, except that I also understand the difficulty that comes with leaving the temple. It's comfortable to be around people we know, in a familiar place. It's a lot harder to leave.

But we must. We must go out; we must follow the river out from the temple to the places that God leads us so that we can bear the kind of fruit he has already prepared to grow. Last week, our church participated in a "Prayer Walk" as part of our month-long Season of Prayer. We walked the neighborhoods of our small town. We prayed in front of houses. We learned more about the history of our city and the people living in it. But we left the building. That is the first step in a journey of becoming more and more the people God has called us to be. May you leave the building this week and venture out into unknown and unfamiliar places along this river.

Reeling from Revenge

Day 9: Genesis 32-35

What can I say about this reading today? A lot happened. Esau forgives Jacob. Jacob wrestles with God and God changes his name to Israel. Shechem rapes Jacob’s daughter Dinah and so Simeon and Levi seek revenge on Shechem and his family. Rachel dies in childbirth. Jacob returns back to the land of Abraham and Isaac.

If we look at all these stories together, I’m mostly struck by the contrast between Esau and Jacob’s two sons (Simeon and Levi). Both men were angry and wanted revenge. When Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and the blessing, Esau even vowed to kill Jacob. When Dinah was raped and deviled, the whole family was upset. But with time (at least 14 years), Esau’s bitterness dissipated so that when he meets Jacob on the road, he embraces him. He no longer wants to kill Jacob. The brothers, though, don’t have time on their side. They seek revenge right then and kill hundreds of men as a result. They even loot the town and take the women and children as their own. Jacob condemns their actions and curses them as he is dying. And if I’m recalling correctly, their descendants don’t inherit the part of the Promised Land promised to them. They have to suffer major consequences as a result of their actions. And Esau, because he does not seek revenge, doesn’t suffer.

Here you have two instances with different results. If Simeon and Levi hadn’t taken revenge into their own hands, they would have been blessed. Another reminder not to play God. Not to dole out justice as we see fit and instead let the Lord take care of it for us. God sure has emphasized this idea a lot in my reading so far. I guess this is a lesson that God really wants me to learn.

I do wonder a bit about the application of this chapter for me. I have never been wronged the way Esau or Dinah had been wronged, so I cannot know what it's like to want someone dead. I'm sure if I had ever been raped, I would want revenge. But for someone who has "lesser" evils done to her, I still typically don't want someone harmed or punished as a result. I just try to ignore it and move on. But I can learn more about the practice forgiveness. Forgiving others. Forgiving myself. And expressing my feelings to God rather than trying to deal with them myself.

Reaping and Sewing

Day 8: Genesis 29-31

Reading the biblical narrative in chronological order like I’m doing presents an interesting aspect of the text: it allows you to look at the text in relation to other things that have happened. I’ve just now read the story of Jacob and Laban and how Laban deceives Jacob by giving him Leah to marry rather than Rachel, the one Jacob wanted. I’ve always read this to view Laban as such an evil person, especially in relation to Jacob who was wronged. But reading this story so soon after reading the story of Jacob deceiving Esau makes me view it a little differently. What Laban does to Jacob is no different from what Jacob had done to Esau. The difference is that this time Jacob is on the receiving end of the deceit. Now he knows what Esau must have felt like. Maybe working for Laban for 17 years is the penance that Jacob has to pay for sinning against his father.

God does seem to teach us lessons in interesting ways. In this instance, Jacob reaped what he sewed.

And oftentimes, I do, too. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, though, when I’m wronged, maybe I should consider that the situation is a result of my own actions, my own behavior. Yikes. That’s not exactly politically correct, is it? To say that you get what you deserve. To say that I get what I deserve. It’s more kosher to cast blame than to take responsibility for one’s actions. Maybe I should start reflecting more on how my choices and my behavior influence what happens to me, just like they happened to Jacob.