REFLECTION DAY 31
“Prove
me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is
before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.” Psalm 26
The psalmist
in his plea for justice sets a big task for us – easier said than done. A task
that mankind has been trying to get right since Creation, with no end of help
from God. And, yet despite God’s Word, God’s love, and the greatest gift of
all, God’s Son, we still have not gotten it right. We are still not able to
hold our heads high and say, “But as for
me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on
level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.” Psalm 26.
The God of
Exodus heard his people’s groaning in pain. Working through His delegate Moses,
God delivered His people from bondage into freedom. He pointed the way, when
they saw no way; He provided meat, bread and water when they had none; He
codified a way of being and worshipping for them, providing them with the tools
to live a life that would be wonderful in His eyes. A life that He would bless
and continue to sustain.
The intent
of these great gifts soon took a dramatic turn “south.” God went from the Creator
with an active voice and the freedom to speak to and guide His people, to a
hidden silence enthroned in a glorious temple. The kings and the priests became
the keepers and interpreters of God’s commandments – His Law. The people of
Israel were once again enslaved – this time their priests and kings were the
masters, not Pharaoh. A new groaning arose throughout the people of Israel.
God, always
with us, once again heard His people’s groaning. He sent His Angels to
shepherds in the fields with a new gift. A gift so amazing that hopes for an
alternative way of life – a new freedom – were raised, and those who came and
saw and wondered, “What child is this?”
rushed off in excitement to tell others the good news.
Most amazing
of all, this new gift from God, the gift of His Son, Jesus, was not for the
kings, or the emperor, or the priests – not at all. This gift was for the poor, the sick, the
lonely, the outcasts. Amazing! God sent someone just for us – to be among us
and to be with us; an amazing gift for us the disenfranchised. The Good News
was that we could be forgiven, we could be valued, we could be healed, we could
all be equal in the eyes of God – we could be freed from the bondage of the Law
as administered by those who ruled for their own benefit not for ours.
God sent us
an amazing gift – Jesus – to show the way with compassion; unsurpassed
compassion.
God intended
the birth of this amazing gift to be the end of “the kingdom;” and, it was! The
kingdom knew it was “the loser” and yet, it could not give up. Not so slowly,
but very surely, the kingdom attempted to crucify the amazing gift. They tried
their hardest, but they failed…Christ lives on.
