Tuesday May 18 Easter 7
Click here for simplified daily office prayers
Psalm 97
God’s power in creation is an expression of God’s commitment to justice—righteousness and justice are the foundations of God’s throne and therefore of all creation. We can count on God to uphold those who are without power as surely as we experience enormous power in creation. A wonderful image for our age when science shows us so much power in creation – dignity and justice are equally embedded.
Psalm 99
God’s justice was shown in the way God rescued the people from slavery and cared for them throughout history. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 100
A short hymn of praise that God has remained faithful forever.
Ezekiel 7: 10-27 What’s Ezekiel about?
The people have abandoned the God of justice and refuse to change their ways and so the horrific consequences are inevitable. Their endless greed will come to suffocate them.
At the end of this horrific passage, God intends to use these consequences to ensure that the people come to know the God of justice. It is always possible for them to return to security and safety when they do so.
We are experiencing the beginning of such consequences in our day of having been heedless of the needs of the poorest in the world and of the needs of other life. However those consequences are themselves illustrations of how fundamental it is that we make justice and inclusion the priorities for humanity, the only path to a fulfilled life for all in the future.
Luke 10: 1-17 What’s Luke about?
Jesus sends 70 followers out to various towns. They are to rely on other people’s generosity as a way of being humble and learning to accept love from others. They are not to go from house to house, meaning they are not to seek out the wealthiest hosts so they get the most comfortable accommodations. They have to practice what they preach. But communities that do not accept them, i.e. which do not accept God’s proclamation of inclusive justice, will suffer consequences. The seventy return amazed at the power of proclaiming justice.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven.
Mercifully give us faith to know
that, as he promised,
he abides with us on earth to the end of time;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Click here to share a comment on the web site.