Jesus’ Ministry
February 27, 2019
Scripture Reading: Psalm 99
The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he! –Psalm 99:1-5
We worship God, a lover of justice. I have a negative, visceral reaction to acts of exclusion even when I catch myself, at the least, thinking about excluding others. I hate the ebb and flow of various in-crowds who grab power over groups and organizations setting their course of action as the course of action whether it is right or wrong or the best of many choices. Of course, such weighing is based on my own judgement of right vs wrong or what is best for all. We are all guilty of the practice of exclusion, decision making based on power, and projecting our vision onto others. In those wonderful moments of holy clarity, I realize that we worship a God who excludes no one, is all powerful, and defines justice as holistic oneness where all have enough. Easy to say, God’s justice is very difficult to live and yet this all-powerful God seems to think we are capable of being just.
Jesus lived justly. God incarnate came to live among us demonstrating God’s way of loving that is the key to justice. He welcomed all, fed the hungry, healed the sick, and taught the ways of God. He suffered death on a cross in his quest to help us understands those ways of God because he was such a threat to those who were assuming power outside the will of God.
God’s love once again proved more powerful than any human concocted force. The Resurrection was God’s great gift to all who long for justice in an unjust world. God’s love cannot be contained.
Prayer: Lord forgive us when we fall into the traps of injustice. Guide our journey as we strive to create a world ruled by your love. Amen.