"A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just." Pope Francis
Hosea 4:12
My people ask counsel from their wooden idols,
And their staff informs them.
For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray,
And they have played the harlot against their God.
God will not tolerate anything that we value above Him. He is sovereign. If a nation dies, just as it did in the persecution of Jesus, it starts at the top with the leadership. Our god in the present age is materialism. God cares for all of His creation especially the marginalized in in the world. We were created out of His love and we are to care for those He cares for. We were created for these good works. Only Jesus can be the head of the Body, without Him, there is no understanding of our triune Godhead.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
We are in the latter days. Narcissism will be the signs of the end times. As in the time of Noah so will be the last days. Apathy to the lives of others will be the normal response and empathy for the marginalized will be rare.
Isaiah 1:9
Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
There was a small percentage of of Jews that remained faithful to God. Most had gone after false idols. There will always be a remnant who remain faithful to the Lord our God. Our only hope is Holy Spirit, who resides in us, and our recognition of Him to give us the direction of God’s plan for our life.
1 Corinthians 2:7-12 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
The leaders of Israel killed their only hope. Had they realized who He was they would not have. Jesus the Creator was God of the universe. His own people did not recognize Him. In God’s agape love for His creation He did not leave us here alone. After His resurrection He planted Holy Spirit in us, the very heart of God, who raised Jesus from the dead. He will do the same for us as believers. Carla
Hidden, means it is not plain to the person looking for understanding of the world, themselves, and others. Rather, it can be understood only through revelation from God’s Spirit. Lord of glory refers to Jesus Christ. This designation echoes the Old Testament names of Yahweh: “King of glory” (Psalm 24:7–10) and “God of glory” (Psalm 29:3; Acts 7:2).
Paul uses Isaiah 64:4 to assert that people cannot understand the things of God through human faculties (Isaiah 52:15; 65:17); they must rely on the Spirit graciously given to believers by God (1 Corinthians 2:10). Paul emphasizes that love for God—not love for wisdom or knowledge—yields an understanding of the things of God, including His plan of salvation through the cross.
Yet Paul later explains that God grants wisdom and knowledge as spiritual gifts. What the Corinthians desire (and overemphasize at the detriment of the gospel and Christ’s lordship over their lives) will come after they’ve accepted Christ and recognized who He is and what He has done for them. For those who love Him emphasizes that God grants insight regarding His work to those who follow Him and do His will. God has shown the hidden wisdom of God to those who follow Christ (verse 7). Paul argues that people desiring to know more or have greater wisdom should seek to walk more closely with Christ, as God reveals His eternal work to people this way.
Through the Spirit indicates Christ’s method for revealing His work to people and granting them spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge. Spirt of the man, Paul uses this phrase to draw a contrast with the Spirit of God. Just as people know their own minds, so the Spirit (pneuma in Greek) knows the things of God. God’s Spirit is not like the spirit of people or anything that can be comprehended, computed, or reasoned in this world.
While God’s work is eternal, everything of this world is temporal—including current rulers and evil spiritual beings. Spirit who is from God is Holy Spirit. This expression also describes the Spirit’s ability to provide believers with gifts (John 6:45; 14:26; 1 John 2:27). Freely given refers to God’s gracious gift of salvation, which believers can comprehend because of the Spirit (Romans 6:23). It therefore describes the content of God’s revealed wisdom and thus refers to Christ Himself (1 Corinthian 1:24). Faithlife Study Bible
The mystery that Paul referred to here is defined in Romans 16:25, 26 as “revelation … kept secret since the world began but now made manifest.” The message was hidden, known only to God, until He chose to reveal it (Ephesians 3:1–11). This is in contrast to the teachings of the Gnostics, a group of false religious teachers who would infiltrate the early church (1 John 2:18–27). They claimed that there existed a body of secret knowledge that was only available to those initiated into an inner circle of spiritual teachers.
Lord of glory: Though Jesus emptied Himself of His majesty when He became human, He remained fully equal with the Father. Only the Holy Spirit could reveal the truths of God (2 Peter 1:19–21). knows … know: The first verb refers to innate knowledge; the second refers to experiential knowledge. We could never have discovered the mysteries of God or the benefits of Christ’s death by ourselves. But we can know them by experience because they have been freely given to us by God.
Isaiah 64:4
For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Ephesians 3:5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart
We live in an emotionally and spiritually de-hydrated world, thirsty for the sustaining balm of mercy.
Rev. William Barber II, a civil-rights leader and ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ denomination, said the loss of Pope Francis meant others must carry on his mission to the marginalized. “We must now say, ‘I am Pope Francis,’” he said.
“Okay, count me in,” I say out loud as I read the comment. And then, “But how is that even possible?” (Let’s just say that skepticism and cynicism raise their irksome heads rather predictably.)
Then, I close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
And I take to heart the invitation: I can be a voice of mercy.
What does mercy look like?
How can I choose to heal, instead of choosing to hurt?
How can I spill grace to those around me, instead of disregard or neglect?
How can I make room for transformation and growth, instead of numbing and detachment?
Mercy is the fruit of compassion in a world where inhumanity and heartlessness is real. Mercy is any compassionate gift given to someone who is suffering.
And raised in a church where verbal affirmation was the key to “passing the test”, I need to take to heart that compassion is more than just a verbal nod, and more than just feeling concerned about someone in distress (or caring about a person’s misfortune); compassion involves action. And that action, is mercy.
Speaking from my heart, this is not easy to read or hear, or do, when anxiety is so real.
And somewhere along the way, every one of us has wrestled with discouragement, disillusionment or defeat (only exacerbated by a disappointment in ourselves).
Yes, our “upside down” year has illuminated all of this.
There is no doubt that the weight of our world is real. For some, too hard. For some boiling rage. For others, stillness. And for others, there are moments of unexpected resilience, and courage. (Okay, another confession, this is the range of what I have been feeling of late.)
Mercy is a compassionate gift to someone who is suffering. And here’s the deal: Every one of us knows what it is like to be broken. Or marginalized. Or shunned. Or wrestled with feeling powerless.
And every one of us needs the rebuilding and sustaining balm that mercy provides.
And I wonder, “What can I do about this?”
And then (ironically), “I should be able to handle this.” As if I have to bring to this moment, something other than myself.
And, “How can I possibly be Pope Francis?”
No, in a crazy world, mercy often does not feel possible. Attainable. Doable.
But here’s the good news. Mercy is not an acquirable, attainable trait. Mercy is what flows from an open and vulnerable heart. In our vulnerability and humility, mercy matures, and is spilled.
The healing balm of God’s mercy. Yes. Let us sit, and allow that to percolate. A balm that is healing and replenishing and sustaining for both hope and courage.
And my friends… We can be voices of mercy. “We”, the applicable pronoun, as more than ever the saying is true, “In the shelter of each other the people live.” Sabbath Moments
Hosea 1:1 tells us he had "the word of the LORD." And we know "the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him" (Psalm 18:30).
This is also true for us today: God gives us His Word to help us through whatever life brings. Here are three powerful ways in which God promises His Word will always be available:
1. God's Word is our spiritual weapon.
God would give Hosea hard words of truth to cut away sin from His people. There are times when we, too, need to fight back against the sinful tendencies in our hearts, the enemy's lies in our heads, and the world's noise in our ears. It takes the sword of God's Word to cut through deceit and expose the truth (John 17:17; Psalm 119:11).
2. God's Word gives us guidance and wisdom.
God would give Hosea direct commands regarding his own family as well as all the people of Israel. For us, the Bible may not tell us exactly which job to choose, which medical treatment to pursue, or which next steps to take in a specific situation, but it will guide us. Scripture aligns our priorities, convicts us when we lean in a selfish or prideful direction, and focuses our eyes on things eternal (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119:105).
3. God's Word reveals to us God's heart.
Through Hosea, God would send a message about His justice and His unconditional love for His people. Today, He also shows us His love through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "Long ago ... God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." The more we listen to Jesus, the better we know and trust God's heart toward us. The better we know God's love, the steadier our feet (Psalm 18:31-33). First5
No comments:
Post a Comment