Living in the Spirit
November 17, 2014

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. — Ezekiel 34:15-16

The prophets can get downright nasty at times when indicating what will happen to oppressors and others of that ilk. In the part of the scripture for today that is quoted above, the prophet indicates that God will seek the lost, bring back strays, treat the injured, and strengthen the weak. Most of us try to identify with one of the other of these categories and feel good about this scripture. But I was rather taken back by what God threatened to do with the fat and the strong. God plans to destroy them by feeding them justice. I think that may mean that God is promising to return all to a state of good health including the fat and the strong.

I have mentioned before that I was morbidly obese for several years. While obesity is terrible on knees one of its few good side effects is that it strengthens bones and muscle because the mere act of carrying around all that extra weight is very real weight-bearing exercise. My self-imposed “feeding of justice” that returned me to better health was eating 1200 calories a day of quality food, and doing a lot of exercise.  As I began to lose pounds I also lost the ability to push as much weight on the leg press as I had been able to do when I was heavier. In moving toward optimum health for me, I had lost strength in my legs. Proportionately I have increased strength as I can now press leg weights equal to my body weight, which I could not do when I was overweight, although I could press more actual pounds when I was overweight than I can now.  I guess what I am trying to say is the person who is being oppressive is just as in need of God’s healing mercies as the ones being oppressed, although they probably do not think they are, because from their point of view, they are stronger than the people they are oppressing.

I may be putting words in Ezekiel writings, but I think he is saying that God wants even the oppressors in our world to know the “health” of the love of God. God wants everyone to function at their very best as co-workers in God’s kingdom with everyone doing his or her fair share and no one misusing his or her “strengths” to oppress others.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, grant us the strength and courage to love rather than to oppress, to prevent oppression, and to welcome the restored. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.