Perfect love casts out fear!
Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He is a Father to the fatherless and the protector of the marginalized.
Isaiah 51:12–13
“I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
And you forget the LORD your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth;
You have feared continually every day
Because of the fury of the oppressor,
When he has prepared to destroy.
And where is the fury of the oppressor?
The Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles (civil rights leader) used to tell the story from the time when gas powered the streetlights. A little boy who was supposed to be in bed watched out the window as a city employee lit the lamps.
He ran to his mother and father and said, “Come here, quick.”
“Why are you up?” they asked.
“You have to see this! There’s a man outside. He’s punching holes in the darkness!”
Revered Kyles explained, “That’s your role: To punch holes in the darkness.”
And I’ll say, Amen.
And this can be our Easter Season affirmation: I know I can punch holes in the darkness, for I know that resurrection is possible, and the dawn is coming. (Thank you Otis Moss, Dancing in the Darkness)
As I write this, I’ve been reading follow-up stories to the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. My heart hurts, and I wonder, where are the holes in the darkness. My spirit struggled today to find hopeful places to rest. And I’m grateful for a couple of good “do the heart good” moments. Reminding me of healing spirits, that are more powerful than the darkness.
And this, we’ll call it our punching holes in the darkness “prayer” from Rabbi Sharon Brous (The Amen Effect).
“That is precisely what we must now do. Put to rest an old story—loneliness, isolation, polarization, and extremism, broken politics, and ailing spirit—and in its place, lay the foundation for a new story. One in which we see each other in all our bruises and all our beauty. See each other, not despite our own broken hearts, but precisely because our hearts are broken too. See each other not only because we can, but because we must. Say ‘Amen’ to one another’s sorrow and celebration because we understand that’s what it means to be bound up in the bond of life. And because we know that is the only way to build a society of love and justice, worthy of each and every one of us. Amen.” Sabbath Moments
Jeremiah 38:19-20
19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.” 20 But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. The New King James Version
Zedekiah’s fear of those who opposed his rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar is his excuse for not surrendering. Jeremiah reassures him that the only thing Zedekiah needs to be concerned with is obeying Yahweh. Faithlife Study Bible
Zedekiah revealed he was afraid to surrender to the Babylonians because he feared retaliation by early deserters from Jerusalem. His unfitness to be king is proven by his concern for his personal safety above that of the city and its inhabitants. Jeremiah tried to settle Zedekiah’s fears and to resolve his moral and ethical dilemma by reassuring him that surrender would result in his personal safety. But if the king refused to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, the word of judgment would fall. The NKJV Study Bible
Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king’s guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Isaiah 55:3
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
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