Tag Archives: Loving Like Jesus

Selective Love

Living in the Spirit

October 11, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:1-14

‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.‘ –Matthew 11-14

One of the hardest things we must recognize is that people are all people. There is no hierarchy of worth. A poor person can be just as greedy as a rich one. An influential person is as capable of being as humble as anyone else. I find it interesting that, while trying to address the inequalities in life, we take steps backward when anyone in the oppressed group makes the same mistake that the privileged make. The privilege cry out, see we were right all along; they are not as good as we are. One of the first things I learned about George Floyd was he had tried to pay for his purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. I wondered how many times that clerk had run the counterfeit test, saw it failed, and handed the bill back to the one making the purchase. Any of us could get a counterfeit bill back in change and not know it. The store called the police on George Floyd.

 I would love to see a grand jury’s findings trying the Breonna Taylor case, whose members did not know the issue before they entered the courtroom. What would have been the response if they were presented the same evidence, except the prosecutor was white? The victim’s picture was of a beautiful, wholesome-looking, white 20-something woman working as an emergency med-tech earning money to become a nurse.

The scripture above is the continuation of the story related to privileged people ignoring the invitation-of-a-lifetime because they felt they had life right anyway. They did not want to be bothered by accepting an invitation to celebrate love. So, the invitation was issued to everyone, commoners, and even the oppressed. They came, but at least one of them failed to take the invitation seriously. Perhaps came just to watch or eat the refreshments but had no intention of celebrating the gift of God’s love.

Each of us is somewhere in this story. God grants us the choice of loving God and loving one another. We are either in or out. There are no gradations in our selections—we cannot choose to say I will love God when I have the time, and it does not interfere with my greed, I will love this person but not that person.

Prayer: God, forgive us when we turn to lesser gods and choosing to love some but not all of your children. 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.

The Art of Waiting

Living in the Spirit

October 6, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25:1-9
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Our world is indeed covered by a shroud, a pandemic of death with no favorites by any standards. The people of the USA are an impatient lot and acquainted with getting what we want. Some call it privileged.  

A strong straight wind blew through my neighborhood, recently knocking out my electricity and the streetlights nearby. I sat for a few moments thinking it would quickly return. We do not realize how addicted to instant information we are until something like this happened. My phone was three-quarters charged. My iPad and laptop were fully charged, but otherwise, I was sitting in total darkness. I checked via my iPad and learned a major outage had occurred, and my electricity would be out for several hours as repairs were in process. After stewing around for a short time, I gave in to having no control over my situation, laid back in my recliner, and listened to the book I was reading via Audible on my iPad. My busy life rarely allows me four hours of reading time. I totally enjoyed the experience. Using a battery-operated lantern, I then found my way to my bed and fell asleep content. There are two lessons I learned from this experience. I, in many ways, am one of the privileged, and waiting is not wasting time.

On a much broader scale, our waiting for the time when we do not need to wear a mask or distance ourselves from others, when we can shop and eat where and when we want is not wasted time. It allows us to practice, by obeying the simplest of rules, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Prayer:God of Mercy, support us as we learn to be patient with our lives as we strive to love you more nearly in frightening times. 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.

Producing God’s Fruit

Living in the Spirit

Scripture Reading:
Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
   and it is amazing in our eyes”?*
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. —Matthew 21:42-46

A cornerstone is the event, fact, or thing that forms the principal foundation or support upon which an achievement is based or from which a development makes its beginning**.

The warning that the kingdom of God is designed for those who produce God’s fruit is a stern admonition—an expression of authoritative advice or warning especially in ecclesiastical censure***. And it was not news to the religious leaders of the first century. They had been reading it from ancient scrolls their entire lives.

When studying the Bible, I am continually surprised when I discover something I had never noticed before. Such findings are influenced by the various stages of life and life experiences. Caution is, however, critical to avoid interpreting scriptures in ways that support our vision of the kingdom of God rather than God’s. Beginning Bible study with a prayer of discernment supported by the Holy Spirit is imperative.

What repeatedly is illustrated in Bible stories and life today is that increasing affluence and safety decreases our bearing God’s fruit as we seek more prosperity for ourselves. We interact primarily with people like us, excluding others. We are more driven by self-righteousness rather than God’s righteousness and justice.

The full kingdom of God will never be realized until we mature enough in understanding that God’s kingdom offers for all an abundant life measured by our love for one another. God’s kingdom is defined by inclusion rather than exclusion and requires constant and consistent perseverance to continue to develop and grow God’s fruits.

Prayer:
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise. Amen.

*Psalm 118:22-23
**https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/cornerstone
*** https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/admonition

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.

God’s Righteousness

Living in the Spirit

October 2, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Philippians 3:4b-14

even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Clergy from my denomination generally do not wear the white clerical collar. Some of my female friends wear collars because sometimes they are not accepted by others as clergy without that visible proof. Some clergy advocates wear the collar to tell legislators and media that faith-based groups care about an issue without the need to say a word.

In the scripture above, Paul is talking about credentials that are meaningful to other people. In his case, he seems to mainly be addressing the Jewish community to whom the credentials he lists would be most important. Paul claims something beyond merely following the law. He describes being the righteousness that can only be realized through a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a difference between stopping at a stoplight to keep from getting a ticket and stopping at a stoplight to make sure your neighbor, driving on the same road, is safe. The mask we wear to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is an excellent example of this. I understand that these masks do little to protect me from the virus, but they protect others from the virus when. We all wear masks, we eliminate markedly the spread of illness, with you protecting me and I protecting you.

There is a difference between self-righteousness and God’s righteousness. We are called to be a part of God’s righteousness, God’s justice. That does mean we must remove all impediments to our ability to love like Jesus letting go of what we value about ourselves and living in the ways that God created us to live. It takes knowing we are each a person of worth because God created us, as are all people.

Prayer: Righteous God, teach us to love ourselves as you love and thus enable us to love all others as you love them. 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.

Christ’s Worldview

Living in the Spirit

September 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So, the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

I heard many sermons on this scripture over my years. Does a deathbed confession merit eternity in heaven, and what about that prodigal son? Dr. Fred Craddock was my Introduction to the New Testament professor in college. He was trying to reach a room full of freshmen who were required to take the class. I do not recall the scripture Dr. Craddock addressed, probably something from Paul, but I think what he illustrated applies to this scripture. He drew a long horizontal straight line at the top of the blackboard. Under it, he drew what essentially looked like a bell curve with its top center resting just a hair below the straight line. He noted that the straight line was salvation and the bell curve was where diverse people with varied backgrounds might be charted based on human measures of outward righteousness (my words, not his). The space between where one was located on that curve does not matter; salvation is dependent on God’s gift of grace, which fills any void.

We humans seem to need to meet some external measure of our worth, often allowing society to dictate who is right and who is not. Our culture does tend to caste wealth as a measure of worth. My guess is everyone who reads the above scripture, at least those who live in the USA, squirm a bit, thinking that is not fair. In our cultural worldview, we would be correct. Jesus is calling us in this scripture to share his worldview. He wants us to love and want the best for all with no strings attached. God created a diversity of people, and it would be extraordinary for them to all think and act alike. I think what Jesus is saying is we must see our cultural worldview through the lens of Christ’s worldview and make any adjustments necessary to assure that Christ’s worldview dominates.

Prayer: Lord, help us take the time to consider how you would view every situation we encounter, whether it is something we find strange or something we take for granted. 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.

Unity

Living in the Spirit

September 18, 2020

Scripture Reading: Philippians 1:21-30

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul may have been in prison in Ephesus when he wrote the letter to the Philippians. Feeling threatened by his foes, he had every reason to consider his mortality. Many did not survive in prison in those days because of starvation or disease. Paul was also a candidate for execution. While my situation is not so dire, being in the at-risk old-folk group who are more susceptible to COVID-19, I, too, am more attuned to my mortality when I hear on the news each day how many have died. One of my more philosophical friends, 25 years my senior, said we all had to die sometime. Of course, he is right. While Paul identified dying as gain, we must not overlook his words living is Christ.

I think most of us would agree that the world is in a big mess, but we are very divided on what we consider constitutes “a mess” and how to fix the problems. I thus was surprised and pleased to know that there is a bipartisan group of congress members called the Problem Solvers Caucus, who are seeking common ground for the Common Good. My Congresswoman, Kendra Horn, is one of them. It is a tough job as it not only involves bringing people together but doing that among those principalities and powers*, mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible, whose success is often based on divide and conquer tactics.

I have long believed that our government, for good or bad, is a direct reflection of we, the people. We are the ones who want to have our cake and eat it too. We are the ones who measure our worth by comparing it to others. We are the ones who want to bury our heads in the sand and not notice the earth is hurting too. So, rather than sit around considering our mortality, it is time that we make the changes in our lives that will then be reflected in our lawmakers’ actions–like loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. Please join me in supporting our lawmakers who are seeking common ground for the Common Good. That includes examining our own lives to see where we may be a part of the divisiveness and work to become a part of the unity Christ envisions for us**. Join Christ in that prayer that we may all be one and mean it.

Prayer: Lord of all, weave us together in love. Amen.

*Ephesians 6:12
**See John 17

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.

Looking for Jesus in our Mirror

Living in the Spirit

September 11, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Genesis 50:15-21
Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?’ So they approached Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this instruction before he died, “Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.” Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.’ In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Joseph carried his faith into his new life in service to the Pharaoh. We do not know whether the Pharaoh or any Egyptians sought a relationship with God because of Joseph’s example, but he apparently was allowed, even encouraged, to continue his faith. After being sold into slavery, Joseph most likely invested much of his energy into merely surviving. Somewhere in that process, he had to have let go of anger or resentment against his brothers, who were the source of his plight. He also developed a deeper relationship with God.

Holding grudges and dwelling on the past defeat our successes in life. Learning from the past opens doors of opportunity. Letting hurtful things go is not easy. Our relationship with God is crucial to our transitioning from self-defeating behavior to living God’s abundant life. Joseph had time to think and pray in prison. Elijah ran away to a mountain to commune with God. Jesus withdrew into the wilderness for 40 days to face the tempter’s challenges. And Paul, following his experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus, went to the desert pondering with God his encounter.

The first step in such a quest is self-examination. Sitting in that prison, did Joseph take the time to really see himself as his brothers saw him? He was his father’s pet. He obviously had talents that did not fit the farm and took pains to make sure his brothers knew how extraordinary he was. We each need to consider how others see us and how they perceive we see them. Looking inward requires some sort of objective mirror for us to see ourselves as others see us and to identify ways we might shift negative reactions to positive ones. God’s love, as exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ, is an excellent place to start.

Equally challenging is seeing others as they are, not through the filters we have built up over time-based on our past history. One of my most significant challenges, when I was in the workforce in a large government agency, was deciphering whether I was being treated a certain way because I was a woman or because of my work outputs. My workplace was very misogynistic. As a policy analysis in the late 1980s, I did a study of the status of women regarding that agency. I honestly did not know it was as bad as it was. The executives by percentage were almost the opposite of the workforce by gender. About 75% of the total workforce was female only 25% of the executives were female. Most of the females had more education and more years of experience than males. The female executives made salaries that were 20% less than the males. That is a lot to get over.

On the other hand, I have invested much energy in becoming anti-racist. Yet, I still discern peoples’ physical features of color or language or ethnicity or disability or gender before I weigh the content of their character as Martin Luther King Jr. desired his children to be judged. The film of my filters remains, and thus, I must continue examining and perfecting my character with God’s help. I must also invest my energy in seeing past the external while seeking the image of God in each person.

Prayer: Lord, help us grow in your truth and wisdom as we work to build a world ruled by love. 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.

Justice Cries Out

Living in the Spirit

September 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 114

When Israel went out from Egypt,
   the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became God’s sanctuary,
   Israel his dominion.—Psalm 114:1-2

Who owns God? Which is God’s favorite sanctuary? Who follows God’s rules best? We, humans have a need to encapsulate God when God is boundless. Indeed, Judah did become God’s sanctuary and Israel God’s domain. But the God of love is boundless and inclusive, and no one or no group has sole ownership of God.

God’s grace is greater than anything we as humans alone can fulfill.  There is no magic formula that makes anyone or any specific group closer to God than another. God is fully capable of loving each person, and each group fully and completely. From the experience of our ancestors in faith, we learn that our reaction to God is not to prove that we are better following God’s rules or worshipping God. Our most excellent response is loving one another as we love God. When we love like God, chaos falls away, and order prevails.

We are living in the chaos of hate and division now. While it is not Christmas or even Advent, we might benefit from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s hymn I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Hymnals do not carry all its verses now, but it was written in 1863 during the Civil War shortly after Longfellow’s son enlisted in the Union Army. Here it is in its entirety

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

Prayer: Weave us together, Lord. Heal our divisiveness. Help us to turn hate into understanding and understanding into love. 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.

Self-righteous or Righteous

Living in the Spirit

September 9, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13

The Lord works vindication
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always accuse,
   nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
   so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. –Psalm 103:9-13

I do not know how God works. My sense is God’s work is designed to deal with the issues of individuals within the much broader context of all people and how in consideration of all people, God can bring hope and love to each individual based on his or her unique needs. That is am exemplary leadership model.

God’s actions are further complicated because of God’s great desire that God’s people be free to choose how we respond to God and to one another. The Bible reports varied results based on our choices. We learned those stories as children. The Exodus of people being freed from slavery is an example of God’s response to oppression. Yet, it was not long before those same people God saved were demanding food in the wilderness wanting to go back to Egypt. When Moses did not return from the mountain soon enough, those people worshiped a golden calf. God may not be slow to anger, but we are quick to forget God’s works on our behalf.

We people of privilege need to carefully read the words The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. As California burns, the south and east coast of the USA faces hurricanes, and the Midwest is assailed by freak storms. As these catastrophes are reported, some comment near the end of the stories often identifies the cause as climate change. We choose to ignore the problem while we stubbornly hold on to our desire to have our carbon and clean air too. Being unwilling to reduce our carbon footprint to curb climate change is harmful to both ourselves and our neighbors. I do not think God necessarily sends pestilence on us. Still, God knows it will happen if we do not love ourselves and one another in all aspects of life. That includes reducing our carbon footprint. We see the same attitude toward wearing masks to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Prayer: Lord, forgive when we insert self-righteousness for your righteousness and justice. 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.

Doing Unto Others

Living in the Spirit

September 8, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21

The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake,
   I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
   I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”
You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;
   they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
‘Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
   Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
   awesome in splendor, doing wonders?

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them:

‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’ –Exodus 15:9-11, 20-21

There was a leader of Egypt identified as Pharaoh, who observed the worth of a talented Israelite slave named Joseph. This Pharaoh removed Joseph from bondage and engaged him as a major official in Egypt’s governance. Joseph did such a good job that when famine struck his homeland, the Pharaoh allowed Joseph to bring his large family to live in prospering Egypt. Fast forward several generations when Joseph’s contributions were mostly forgotten, the Egyptians seeing the worth of Joseph’s people still considered to be aliens, enslaved them for profit’s sake. And then came Moses.

After confronting the current Pharaoh, and with the power and might of God on his side, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt away from the pursuing Egyptian army across the Red Sea to safety. The Egyptian soldiers drowned in the waters from which God had saved the Israelites.

The Israelites’ response in our scripture today is complex, a mixture of acknowledging the work of God in their salvation and celebration of the destruction of their Egyptian enemy. Can we put ourselves in those Israelite’s place? Emotionally exhausted, hearts pounding, checking to make sure all family members are present and safe, I think we all can identify with praising God for being saved from slavery. I cannot tell you how I would have reacted to watching the Egyptians being washed away. I most likely would have been horrified at first, but after that initial response, would I have celebrated their deaths?

We are called to a higher standard in Luke 6:27-31, Jesus says, ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Perhaps the lesson from the Exodus story starts at its beginning when a Pharaoh observed the worth of a talented Israelite slave and engaged him as a significant official in Egypt’s governance. When we do to others as we would have them do to us, the whole world is blessed.

Prayer: Lord, enable our doing unto others as we would have others do to us. 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.