- Jul 2, 2010
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The readings for this Sunday and last Sunday (Jan. 29) really speak to us, as if they were written for and about our own times. Here is Isaiah from 2/5:
Isaiah 58: 7-10
"Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday."
and Zephaniah 2, from Jan. 29:
"Seek the Lord,
all you humble of the land,
who have observed his law;
Seek justice,
seek humility;
Perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD’s anger."
Here is one of my favorites, from 1 Corinthians 1, a reading from Jan. 29:
"Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God."
It is like these people from 2000+ years ago are talking right to us. We see the meek, lowly, and despised, the powerless, standing up to the boastful and the strong, putting these words into practice in front of our eyes. The Word of God, which we believe these passages are, cannot be denied, cannot be thwarted. Not by any human or earthly power. And not by false accusations or malicious speech. The light of truth, of love, of faith will break through "like the dawn".
Isaiah 58: 7-10
"Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday."
and Zephaniah 2, from Jan. 29:
"Seek the Lord,
all you humble of the land,
who have observed his law;
Seek justice,
seek humility;
Perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD’s anger."
Here is one of my favorites, from 1 Corinthians 1, a reading from Jan. 29:
"Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God."
It is like these people from 2000+ years ago are talking right to us. We see the meek, lowly, and despised, the powerless, standing up to the boastful and the strong, putting these words into practice in front of our eyes. The Word of God, which we believe these passages are, cannot be denied, cannot be thwarted. Not by any human or earthly power. And not by false accusations or malicious speech. The light of truth, of love, of faith will break through "like the dawn".