The ocean in its place ...

Hear the word of God:

Rejoice in the Lord, good people!
It is only right for good people to praise him.
Play the lyre and praise the Lord.
Play the ten-stringed harp for him.
Sing a new song to him.
Play it well and sing it loud!

The Lord's word is true.
You can depend on his teachings.
He loves goodness and justice.
The Lord's faithful love fills the earth.

The Lord spoke the command, and the world was made.
The breath from his mouth created everything in the heavens.
He gathered together the water of the sea.
He put the ocean in its place.

Everyone on earth should fear and respect the Lord.
All the people in the world should fear him,
because when he speaks, things happen.
And if he says, "Stop!"—then it stops.
The Lord can ruin every decision the nations make.
He can spoil all their plans.
But the Lord's decisions are good forever.
His plans are good for generation after generation.

Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God!
He chose them to be his own special people.
The Lord looked down from heaven
and saw all the people.
From his high throne he looked down
at all the people living on earth.
He created every person's mind,
and he knows what each one is doing.

A king is not saved by the power of his army.
A soldier does not survive by his own great strength.
Horses don't really bring victory in war.
Their strength cannot help you escape.
The Lord watches over his followers,
those who wait for him to show his faithful love.
He saves them from death.
He gives them strength when they are hungry.

So we will wait for the Lord.
He helps us and protects us.
He makes us happy.
We trust his holy name.
Lord, we worship you,
so show your great love for us.

Psalm 33 Easy-to-Read Version, Revised Edition

Blessings,

Ron

Spiritual friends ....

Today’s devotional thought is from Troy:

I am finishing up a book titled Living God’s Love: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality. I came to a part in the book that deals with hearing God through others. The author describes how we come to hear God through family, spouses, and friends. He goes on to say that we hear God’s voice through our “spiritual friends”. He writes:

“Spiritual friendship is one that does not seek to have our needs fulfilled in friendship, but rather proclaims the reign of God over all. It is a dangerous love that opens us and our friends to the socially disruptive possibilities of the life of God. In other words, a spiritual friend cares more about our relationship to God than about our happiness or even about our friendship. Such friends can confront us in love about our weaknesses, gently restoring us to deeper fellowship in love (see Galatians 6:1-2). They can speak the tough words of God to us, words we would not hear if they did not come from those who did not love us.

“God speaks through wise men and women who serve as spiritual mentors to us. We show wisdom if we seek the counsel of these wise ones. The book of Proverbs advises that we follow the path of the wise (Proverbs 8:33; 12:15; 15:31; 19:20; 22:17). One of the essentials ways of growing spiritually is intentionally looking for those who can guide us spiritually with an attitude of humility.”

Over the past several months I have witnessed this principle in work. What is very interesting to me is that it does not have a trickle-down effect, but rather a horizontal effect. I see older, more experienced staff members giving advice to the younger, less experienced staff members, and I see the older, more experienced staff members asking the younger, less experienced staff members advice. God has brought together a group of people with a wide variety of ages, experience, and education, to work together. This impacts the lives of not only our boys, but also each other; we are better because of this. What I see from the staff at Westview Boys’ Home is the living out of Romans 12:3-13:

“For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.”

Blessings,

Troy

How much ...

Today, a prayer:

Lord,
How much juice you can squeeze from a single grape.
How much water you can draw from a single well.
How great a fire you can kindle from a tiny spark.
How great a tree you can grow from a tiny seed.
My soul is so dry that by itself it cannot pray,
Yet you can squeeze from it the juice of a
thousand prayers.
My soul is so parched that by itself it cannot love;
Yet you can draw from it boundless love for you
and for my neighbor.
My soul is so cold that by itself it has no joy,
Yet you can light the fire of heavenly joy within me.
My soul is so feeble that by itself it has no faith;
Yet by your power my faith grows to a great height.
Thank you for prayer, for love, for joy, for faith;
Let me always be prayerful, loving, joyful, faithful.

Amen.

A prayer of Guigo the Carthusian (d. 1188)

Blessings,

Ron

Kindness for Jonathan's sake ...

Hear the word of God:

David asked, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, "Are you Ziba?"

And he said, "At your service!"

The king said, "Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?"

Ziba said to the king, "There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet."

The king said to him, "Where is he?"

Ziba said to the king, "He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar."

A promise is a promise. Jonathan is dead, and David is king, but David has not forgotten his friendship with Jonathan. Nor has he forgotten his exchange of promises with this, his greatest friend. Jonathan said: “If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die, never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth." Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the Lord seek out the enemies of David." Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life. (1 Samuel 20:14-17 – NRSV). David is determined to prove his steadfast love for Jonathan.

Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, "Mephibosheth!"

He answered, "I am your servant."

David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always."

He did obeisance and said, "What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?"

That Mephibosheth is humble seems apparent from his words. At the same time, these words have a familiar sound to David because he knows them all too well. In the desert, fleeing from Saul, Mephibosheth’s grandfather, David speaks of himself as he calls out to Saul: “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A single flea?” (1 Samuel 24:14-15 – NRSV). David remembers all too well the feelings of fear, the overwhelming sense of vulnerability, the loss of feeling safe. So now he offers the son of Jonathan a way out of danger, poverty, and dependence.

Then the king summoned Saul's servant Ziba, and said to him, "All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that your master's grandson may have food to eat; but your master's grandson Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do." Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. (2 Samuel 9 – NRSV).

First David restores Mephibosheth’s fortune. Everything that had belonged to Saul’s family was now Mephibosheth’s, and placed under the care of a professional steward. This would have been more than enough to have generously provided for his needs for several lifetimes. Then David goes one step further; he offers him a seat at his family table, alongside his own sons. At first this seems like unnecessary duplication, but think about it. Saul’s fortune becomes the supply of resources that make up Mephibosheth’s wealth. By itself that would have been a great gift, but would not have restored the relationship between the house of David and Jonathan. So David offers a place at his royal table. Without the fortune of Saul, the table of David would be mere benevolence; with the fortune of Saul, a seat at that table becomes hospitality. Do we see the difference?

I think the gap between benevolence and hospitality is huge. How the two work is different, and the relationship involved is different. To me, benevolence is good, but it has the tendency to trap us into power plays with the very people we would help. And the power situation changes how they feel about us as well.

So the question I ask is: “Is our ministry a benevolent work, or a work of hospitality?” How would that difference work out in our ministry today?

Think about it.

Ron

Justice and equity to all ....

Hear the word of God:

Some time afterward, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them; David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

He also defeated the Moabites and, making them lie down on the ground, measured them off with a cord; he measured two lengths of cord for those who were to be put to death, and one length for those who were to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

David also struck down King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah, as he went to restore his monument at the river Euphrates. David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for a hundred chariots. When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of the Arameans. Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. David took the gold shields that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. From Betah and from Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great amount of bronze.

When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to greet him and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Now Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze; these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.

David won a name for himself. When he returned, he killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered justice and equity to all his people. Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.
2 Samuel 8:1-18 – NRSV

Philistines. Moabites. Syrians. Arameans. Amalekites. Edomites.

This is the Who’s Who of the enemies of Israel. Against one enemy after another, God sends, David attacks, God delivers, David dedicates, God lifts up, David worships, and then God sends all over again. Because of David’s faithfulness, even when his obstacles seemed overwhelming, God starts this cycle of success in the life of David.

Yet being a good king involves more than winning battles; the statement is so subtle that we might miss it at first. “David administered justice and equity to all his people.” The true marker of David’s reign over the people of Israel was not the use of his military power, but the use of his power for justice and fairness.

Human beings tend to glorify the use of military power, yet in the Christian scheme of things, physical force is one of the lowest forms of power. Frequently, the side effects of physical force outweigh the benefits. Still, sometimes it is tempting to take the action just short of violence: intimidation, which is nothing more than an implicit or explicit threat of force.

The calling of the king, though, is to give up the use of power for his own benefit, and to use his power in order to bring justice to his people: the outcast, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the poor. The calling from our king is the same.

Power. How do we use it? For what purposes? For or against whom? To what end?

Think about it. Pray about it.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Because you are with us ...

Today, a prayer meant to follow the reading of 2 Samuel 7:

The threats do not wane
Walter Brueggemann

The threats do not wane,
The dangers are not imagined,
The power to undo is on the loose . . .
And in the midst, you speak your word.
It is your word that cuts the threat,
that siphons off the danger,
that tames the powers.
You speak and all is made new.
You speak your true self of abiding faithfulness,
of durable presence,
of long-standing reliability.
You give yourself in the utterance of “fear not,”
and we do not fear.
We do not fear,
because you are with us,
with us, and so safe,
with us, and so free,
with us, and so joyous.
We diminish our lives in our feeble anxiety . . .
and you veto our anxiety;
We cheapen our neighbor with our frantic greed . . .
and you nullify our greed with your satiation;
We pollute our world in our lust for safety . . .
and you detoxify our mess.
Now come here and in Kosovo,
here and in Littleton,
here and in East Lake,
here and in Louisville,
here . . . and there . . . and there . . . and there,
Override the fickleness of it all,
And give us faith commensurate with your true, abiding self.
Amen

Grace and peace,

Ron