Lent
February 23, 2021
Scripture Reading:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’
Jesus talked about being brothers and sisters in his name, Mark 3:35, Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ My pursuit of genealogy has assured me that we are at least all cousins. Now, I know that families feud and can be as dysfunctional together as any group. I do not understand why we as humans seem to need to create hierarchies of worth among people. The story of creation attests to the idea that all people are made in the image of God. The story of Abraham describes the covenant God made through him to the nations of the world. Jesus calls all his followers to be one in him.
As an advocate volunteer, I tracked both federal and state legislation to keep citizens, particularly people of faith, informed on pending legislation. It would break your heart if you saw all the bills that are designed to discriminate against people. Many of those bills were requested by people who identify as Christian. You will not see the word “discriminate” in the bill’s language, but that is the essence of creating new law or changing existing law. The LGBTQ population seems to be targeted this legislative session.
As Christ-followers, we need to invest time and energy in discerning what is of God and what is not as we strive to fulfill our civic duty. I do not know a single scripture where God indicated any group of people that we should not consider our neighbors and thus love them no matter what. Jesus was also clear that he was the ultimate judge of humans. None of us humans drew that assignment.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we fail to recognize that all your children are our siblings and deserve our loving concern and care. 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.