Monday June 21 Pentecost 4
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Psalm 89 Part 1
God’s faithfulness in creation is the basis for our trust in God’s justice and care for us. Just as God created order from chaos in creation, so we can rely upon God to create order out of chaos in human society. God’s original goodness intended for humanity and the world, is that everyone have a place and dignity and worth. Accomplishing that is the work of justice, often translated into traditional English as “righteousness.”
1 Samuel 5: 1-12 What’s Samuel about?
The Philistines have captured the ark, containing the original stone Ten Commandments and place it as a trophy in the temple of their god Dagon (understood by the Israelites as the symbol of greed and injustice.) But each night the idol of Dagon mysteriously falls on its face in obeisance to the justice contained in the ark, and ark destroys the idols in every town to which the Philistines then move it. The ark then brings disaster, similar to the plagues with which the God of Israel struck the Egyptians generations earlier. It is clear that the God of justice has supreme authority even in non-Israelite territory. Such a story would have greatly encouraged the Israelites under Babylonian rule when these ancient stories were being compiled and arranged.
Trust that the God of justice reigns supreme even in our time and place can change our sense of powerlessness into a sense of confidence and hope.
Luke 21: 29-38 What’s Luke about?
Jesus concludes his apocalyptic description of the destruction of Jerusalem, encouraging the crowds to remain confident in dangerous times. People were spellbound.
There are few messages in our day which encourage wide-awake confidence—the news usually encourages us to despair or to shelter in the illusion that all is well. Jesus’ clarity that dangerous times can be fertile opportunities for a new kind of confidence gives us a whole new way of experiencing life in our day.
This week’s collect:
O God our defender,
storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid.
Rescue your people from despair,
deliver your sons and daughters from fear,
and preserve us all from unbelief;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and ever. Amen.
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