Will We Heed The Warning Of Avoiding Being Spoiled?
Good Morning Friends,
A life of privilege has its pitfalls. Look at the life of Pharaoh and his family. Maintaining this lifestyle thinking it is something deserved can be a problem. Acts of mercy can be redemptive but as in the life of Moses as in the life of Christ those places where most of the deeds of power were done never repented. Will We Heed The Warning Of Avoiding Being Spoiled?
Scripture: Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Matthew 11:20-24 (NRSV)
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?” He answered, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.
Exodus 2:1-15a (NRSV)
Message: Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Our Old Testament readings today continues the story of the Israelites from Genesis, the tales of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his son Joseph. This is the extension of the story of how a man from Mesopotamia came to Canaan and became a great nation that in time populated Egypt. Today’s story takes place during a planned genocide of Jews in Egypt because the Pharaoh was fearful. He ordered all the male children to be killed, but the baby girls to be spared. This is like what happened during the time of the birth of Jesus, again because of the privileged in power were fearful of losing that power. It is interesting that the girls were spared, because Jewish heritage traditionally comes through the women. One knew they were a Jew if their mother was a Jew. At any rate, this little Hebrew boy was hidden until it was no longer possible, and then he was placed in a basket in the river, instead of being drowned. His sister watched and saw Pharaoh’s daughter have pity and take the child. Then the clever girl manipulated things so that his own mother could be his nurse, and thus the Hebrew Moses became an Egyptian. His hot temper, and racial identity, took him to the land of Midian, where he has a vision of God that would lead him to do miracles on behalf of the cause. Moses had a kind of righteous anger and our Lord, too, had righteous anger and frustration when it came to the people of Capernaum who rejected his message. Chorazin and Bethsaida were apparently very hostile to His message and His works. Jesus worked miracles there, but people refused to believe Him. People did not always believe Moses either. And you begin to wonder why people fail to believe both Moses and Jesus. And their reasons may have been more similar than we might expect because the tenfold message of Moses and the twofold message of Jesus boil down to the same thing. First to love God above all things and second to have the same effective love for your neighbor–even your enemy–as you have for yourself. That means daily forgiveness of not just the tiny slights people do to us, but even the huge evils they do. And this is easier to reject than we might like to admit.
And So, Jesus used the word woe a lot and I would have to say it must have been a lot like John the Baptist saying “repent.” Webster’s dictionary says that woe is “used to express grief, regret, or distress.” It denotes a condition to be dreaded, possibly signifying impending doom, condemnation and/or the wrath of God. Today people are still rejecting the warnings of Jesus and moreover the responsibilities he instructs us to obey. In our day, we still must forgive–and work against–the sins of our age. We must pray for the criminals in our prisons, and do good for evil doers, while supporting those who work for their conversion and healing. The message of Christ is the only one that makes sense for them and for us. Unfortunately, we like those Hebrews before us seem to forget the miracle of God in our lives.
Pray we embrace the message of Jesus. Pray we not let our anger get the best of us. Pray we not reject the opportunity to love. Pray we be quick to love and slow to judge. Pray therefor for those who are addicted to drugs. Pray for those who are wise in their own eyes. Pray for those who deal treacherously for personal gain. Pray for hypocrites. Pray for those who build by unrighteousness. Pray for those who seek the Day of the Lord not realizing what they are asking for. Pray we believe in the victory of Jesus. Pray we understand that Jesus spoke about woe to get us to change direction. Pray we stop galloping into sin. Pray we prepare for the coming of Christ. Pray we experience new mercies each day. Pray we turn around and giddy up in the right direction. Pray our hearts are no longer troubled by all the woe of the world. Pray we heed the warnings of Jesus to avoid being spoiled by the world.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 