Outside My Window

Monday, March 17, 2014

Hope in Death Valley Reinbeck UMC Chapter 17

It seems like there has been a tremendous amount of death in the community lately. Just this week we held the double funeral for the Adairs, the Browns lost a father and grandfather, and many of us were touched by the outpouring of grief from the High School students as they buried a classmate.

Personally, I have had enough death for this week. How about you?

I think Ezekiel had enough death too. Ezekiel had witnessed the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Who knows what terrible things he saw, and how many bodies he saw piled up. In that same siege, Ezekiel lost his wife to the Babylonian sword. Ezekiel had firsthand experience of death. He intimately knew the sting of death, the stench of death, and the stupor of grief.

THIS IS THE MAN TO WHOM GOD SENT A VISION OF A VALLEY OF DRY BONES.

Ezekiel also knew spiritual death. Remember that Ezekiel was a child during King Josiah’s reign. Josiah was one of the few good kings in Judah’s history. He led a conservative religious reformation and spiritual revival, taking Judah back to the Law of Moses. Ezekiel had seen what life with God should be like.

When he grew up, however, he saw bad king after bad king take the throne, each of whom did more evil in God’s eyes than the one before. Ezekiel became a priest and he saw the end of Josiah’s reforms and the spiritual death of the nation. People were worshipping idols and defiling the temple. Then the Babylonians burned the temple to the ground. Ezekiel knew the sting of spiritual death, the stench of idol worship, and the stubbornness of a defiant kingdom.

THIS IS THE MAN TO WHOM GOD SENT A VISION OF A VALLEY OF DRY BONES.

In addition, to personal death and spiritual death, Ezekiel witnessed the death of his nation. Remember that Ezekiel was among the 10,000 Israelites carried off to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. He marched in that long line of refugees leaving his home, his country, and the promise of God behind in order to live in a foreign land 500 miles away.

Imagine how devastating it was to be taken from your own home, your job, and your homeland. Then add the grief of seeing your whole nation carried off as prisoners. Then multiply that by 10,000 and you’ll understand the death of the nation of Judah. Can you imagine how devastating it was to lose the land God had promised to your ancestors many generations ago? In Ezekiel’s mind, the promise died with the exile.

THIS IS THE MAN TO WHOM GOD SENT A VISION OF A VALLEY OF DRY BONES.

Ezekiel knew death: personally, spiritually, and nationally. He knew death from every conceivable side, but he had never seen anything like this.

In his vision, he found himself standing over a valley looking at a great holocaust. There were thousands and thousands of skeletons, broken and strewn across the desert. Not one bone was connected to another, and they were white. They were so dry and hard, a dog wouldn’t even bother chewing on them. It was a hopeless sight.

One of the worst insults a Jew could suffer was denial of a proper burial. Here is a valley filled with the bones of the dead; defeated by their enemies and left to rot where they fell. Ezekiel saw a vision of death on a massive scale. It was a literal death valley.

We know that death valley, don’t we? As we peer over the edge of a casket containing the earthly remains of someone we loved.

We know that death valley, don’t we? As we look at the sorry state of the church in America.

We know that death valley, don’t we? As we read the statistics that the nones, “N.O.N.E.S”; those with no religious affiliation, are on the rise. One out of 5 Americans now claims no religious affiliation. That number increases to one of the 3 for those under the age of 30.

We know that death valley, don’t we? As our culture becomes more and more alienated from our neighbors, more and more callous to the needs of those around us, more and more focused on our own little lives.

We know that death valley, don’t we? As we watch the decline of our culture into increasing violence and pornography.

We know that death valley, don’t we? We sure do.

As Ezekiel looked over Death Valley, God said to him; (Ezekiel 37:3) "Son of man, can these bones live?"

"Ezekiel, can this carnage of death, this expanse of waste, can it be reversed? Can those who are lying disjointed and without life, can these victims of this catastrophe be brought back to life? Can they live, Ezekiel?"

I am sure that Ezekiel’s head said, “Of course not. There is no way this can be changed.”

I am equally sure that Ezekiel knew that the question came from the Lord of Life, and his heart probably had a very different answer from his head.

He evades the trick question by saying, “You know lord!”

Did you see that? Just a little glimmer of hope. Just a sliver of optimism.

And it is not empty hope. It is not vacant optimism because God is here.

Because God is here, there is good reason to have hope.

It was God, after all, who created the earth and all that is in the first place.

It was God, after all, who brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

It was God, after all, who went before the Israelites with an angel army to collapse the wall around Jericho and defeat the Canaanite kings.

It was God, after all, who chose David and Solomon, making Israel a great nation.

From our perspective, it was God, after all, who came miraculously in the baby Jesus.

It was God, after all, who raised Jesus from the grave.

It was God, after all, who took a spiritually dead Saul and transformed him into the great evangelist Paul.

It was God, after all, who grew the church and made her the greatest influence on western culture.

It was God, after all, who gave you new life by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is God, after all, who saves us and loves us and brings us to this place today.

And it is in that same God that both Ezekiel and we find hope.

There is no hope outside of God. All the hope that ever existed, comes from God and rests in God.

As Ezekiel looked over that valley of dry bones, the God of hope spoke to the prophet and told him to do two things. Ezekiel was given a personal responsibility to that valley of dead, dry bones. I want you to see this because the same responsibility that rested on Ezekiel's shoulders then rests on our today.

First, He Was Commanded To Preach - “…Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” (v 4)Ezekiel was commanded to preach to a valley filled with skeletons! Nothing could be more foolish or ridiculous than to preach to a bunch of dry bones.

Yet that’s what he did. He stood up and he preached to a valley of dry parched, dismembered skeletons. Behold, there was a rattling among the bones. The bones began to vibrate. The bones began to shake. The bones began to assemble themselves. The bones began to grow ligaments, and tendons, and muscle, and skin. Finally, there stood before Ezekiel a great army.

Nothing could be more foolish or ridiculous than to witness to a bunch of dry bones. Nothing could be sillier than to witness to God in our culture where God is increasingly considered irrelevant. Nothing could be more uncomfortable than to share our faith with our friends who don’t really want to hear.

But when we do, the bones begin to shake. The bones begin to vibrate. The bones begin to shake. The bones begin to assemble themselves. The bones begin to grow ligaments, and tendons, and muscle, and skin. Maybe, just maybe your friend starts to see God putting his life back together.

“But,” you say, “I’m not a preacher.” That’s OK. If you have a tongue, you can tell the story of God’s Good news. If you have lips, you can tell the story of what God has done. If you have a mouth, you can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people around you who are broken and dead.

Look around you… you’ll see dry bones or hopelessness everywhere: in your families, at your neighbor’s house, at work, in government, in our culture, even in the church. Do we have some dead dry bones around here? Absolutely! SHH! If you’re quiet you can hear them rattling. Do you hear them vibrating?

Wherever you see dry bones is a great place to share what Jesus has done in your life. Wherever you see lifelessness is a great place to speak of the resurrection of Jesus. Wherever you see brokenness is a great place to testify to the wholeness that is available in Jesus Christ. Wherever you see hopelessness is a great place to tell the story of God in Jesus Christ.

But… but, if you don’t tell it… if you don’t share the story… if you don’t testify to the power of God the bones remain still, and lifeless, and dry.

There was something else Ezekiel was told to do.

He Was Commanded To Pray - “…prophesy to the breath..” ( V. 9) With the preaching or the witnessing, there may be a noise, a shaking, a coming together of bone to bone, and even the appearance of sinews and skin, but the scripture says “…there was no breath in them,” v. 8. Ezekiel had preached the Word of God to the bones. They had the appearance of life, but they were still dead. They needed the touch of God before they could live. He was commanded to pray that the Lord would breath on them and make them live.

Ezekiel did and, the bones took on life. “and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.”

Talking about it is not enough. For us telling the story is not enough. For us testifying to God’s power is not enough. There must be prayer that the power of God will do the work of bringing life. We can put the bones together, but God must make them live and that only happens through the power of prayer.

We are called to share and prayer. We are told to say and pray. We are taught to preach and beseech. Use whatever words you like… it all means the same…it means there is hope. There is hope when we work with God to bring the good news of life to a dead and dying world.

God has the power to bring new life. That is a Fundamental truth of the faith. But another fundamental truth is that God uses us to get his work done.

· God can bring new life to our nation. Tell of God’s guiding and grace-filled hand guiding her, and pray that God will bring us peace and prosperity.

· God can bring new life to our culture. Testify to the transforming power of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and pray that God will create a ripple effect among the people who hear it to begin transforming our culture.

· God can bring new life to your friends. Share the story of the Good news of Jesus with your friends, and pray that God will make that a living and breathing reality in their lives.

· God can bring new life to this church. Witness to the power of Christ in the church, and pray that God will push us off dead center into new and exciting ways to reach God’s people.

· God can bring new life to your family. Proclaim the power of Jesus Christ to your family, and pray that God will heal you of the broken relationships and mistrust.

· God can bring new life to you. Tell of that power that has brought you to this place and time, and pray that God will continue to work in you to bring you new life and new hope.
AMEN

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The servant of God Week 16 THE STORY On the servant songs

This is the first Sunday of Lent. Actually, that is not quite true because Sunday’s are not counted in the 40 days of lent. This is, therefore, the first Sunday of the Lenten season.

What is lent about? Some of you may be giving up something; caffeine, smoking, and deserts you know the list. Others may be taking on something new, as I have suggested in the past. Take on the discipline of daily scripture reading, prayer, and devotion. Take on a commitment to serve either in our own community, or at the food bank, or somewhere else. Take on a commitment to sponsor a compassion child or commit to tithing. Take on a commitment to the Lenten study.

Those are all noble Lenten pursuits; but what is their goal? What is the point of giving up something? What is the point of taking on something new? The whole point of lent is not what we give up or what we take on. The point of lent, and the point of any Lenten discipline you choose, is to become more like Jesus. To think, and act, and talk, and serve more like Jesus Christ.

We have, however, been studying the Old Testament as we work through THE STORY. How can we learn about Jesus when we are reading old stories that were written 500 -700 years before he was born? Let’s see.

The book of Isaiah is an interesting book. It mirrors the Bible...

· Isaiah has 66 chapters...The Bible has 66 books...

· Isaiah has 39 chapters dealing primarily with the history of the Israel...The Bible has 39 Old Testament books dealing primarily with the history of Israel...

· Isaiah has 27 chapters dealing with dealing with the future of the Israelite people...including some beautiful prophesy about Christ, the coming Messiah...The New Testament has 27 books dealing with the story of Christ.

It is in this book of Isaiah that we find some answers to those questions.

Let’s back up just a little because this 16^th chapter of THE STORY bridges 200 years of history.

Remember, when Solomon died the kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms known as Israel and Judah. Israel, the northern kingdom, was by far the largest and it contained 10 of the 12 tribes. There were a variety of kings in Israel, but every single one of them was wicked and did evil in the sight of the Lord. God’s patience ran out and in 720 BCE. They were conquered and deported to Assyria, which roughly corresponds to modern day Syria. Those 10 tribes were assimilated into Assyrian culture and have since disappeared into the backdrop of history.

That left only the southern kingdom. They, of course, had a variety of kings, not all of which were bad, but most were. They found themselves between two of the greatest armies in the world: the Assyrians to the north and the Egyptians to the south. This week we read the story of Hezekiah dealing with the Army of Assyria and the Lord handing him victory by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. This was the time of Isaiah’s ministry.

In the next chapter, we will see this conflict play itself out over the next 100 years, and over that time, in three separate deportations, we will see Judah exiled to Babylon and the temple destroyed.

Now I am not trying to spoil the next chapter, but I have to get to where this Isaiah passage fits in.

586 BCE was the last deportation and the exile lasted 48 years. We will read more about that time in chapter 17 and we will read about the return in chapter 18. The exile was not a dark ages for Israel. Don’t get me wrong, it was bad, but there were still prophets writing, not the least of whom were Daniel and Ezekiel. There was also a prophet whose name we do not know. Because he seems to have been a disciple of Isaiah, and because his work was published as part of the book of Isaiah, we call him Deutero-Isaiah. (Which essentially means second Isaiah) He wrote about 200 years after Isaiah. It is from this second Isaiah that we receive the beautiful servant songs we are talking about today.

The last three pages of this week’s reading contain one of the servant songs from chapter 53. The other three we read just a few moments ago. Scholars have spent their whole careers studying just these 4 passages but I am going to try to make sense of them for you in the next few minutes.

The first song from chapter 42 introduces the servant. The Lord says, “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom I delight

Then he lays out the servant’s mission, “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth Justice to the nations.” There’s that word justice again. Remember that last week I listed Justice as one of the 4 prophetic themes? Here it is. The Hebrew word here is not a legal justice, but a religious justice. It can be defined as true religion. “He will bring true religion to the nations.” That is his mission: to bring holy justice or true religion to the nations. Where have we heard that before? Isn’t that God’s upper story plan: to bring true religion to the entire world so that all people will live in love with him and lovingly toward each other? Sure it is.

How will he do that? He will not do it by force, as many expected, not by might, and not by military action.

Isaiah says, He will not cry

He will not lift up his voice

He will not make it heard in the street

He will not even break something as fragile as a bruised reed

He will not even put out a dimly burning candle.

He will not grow faint

He will not be crushed

· He will establish justice on the earth.

· He will bring right religion to the world.

· He will be a light to the nations.

The first song then lays out the servant’s purpose and methodology.

The second servant song from Isaiah 49 points to the great difficulty he will face.

It begins with the servant calling out to the nations, to the coastlands far away for everyone to listen. Apparently, that doesn’t work because in the next line he is saying, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing more than nothing.”

It’s hard to be a light to the world isn’t it. We have tried and at times if we are truthful, it is just plain old discouraging and disheartening. Just like he says here, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for vanity.”

Do you ever feel like you are working for nothing?

· Kind of like the dishes, as soon as they are done it seems that more appear.

· Or the Laundry

· Or shoveling the walk

· Or any number of chores.

Do you ever just want to throw up your hands and Quit? That’s how the servant felt. But he goes on to say, “My reward is with my God.”

He knows that the world is a hard place. He knows that people don’t change easily. He knows that in God’s eyes he is not judged by results, but by faithfulness. His reward is in God and God alone.

The second servant song deals with the difficulty the servant faces.

The Third servant song, in Chapter 50, continues that theme and talks about how he will suffer for the cause of bringing right religion.

“I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard. “ OUCH! But it is more than the pain, it is about the humiliation he endures.

“I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.”

That is beyond what any of us have endured, but who do we know who has endured that.

JESUS!

Do you see how this begins to connect to Jesus?

We have never had to endure that kind of humiliation for our faith, but would you? Could you? People do it every day in faraway places like Vietnam, China, Korea, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. However, in our world, those places are not really so far away.

When is the last time you took a risk for your faith? When is the last time that you actually risked even for Jesus? Would you risk your reputation, or a friendship? Would you put your heart on the line for Christ? How about your money? Do you put your money on the line for him by tithing?

The reason we don’t suffer for our faith is not for lack of opportunity, but for lack of risk taking. We are pretty comfortable in our faith and resist taking risk even for the sake of serving the one who risked everything for us.

So the third servant song is about the suffering of the servant for the mission he has been given.

The final servant song- the one printed in THE STORY is probably the best known because there are so many New Testament references to it. Along with 18 references to the servant songs there are 8 direct quotes in the New Testament. 6 are from this last song.

The last servant song describes the redemptive nature of the servant’s suffering. In other words, he does not suffer in vain.

It starts with describing how many will be astonished by the servant and the servant’s appearance. It describes how he will be rejected and despised. But moves into “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our suffering… he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” It concludes with the statement that his life was an offering for sin…. “He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Who does that sound like? To 6^th century Judeans it sounded like hope.

They were alienated from their temple and their God because of their sins, their parent’s sins and the sins of the nation. Can you imagine what it was like for the Israelites to lose the Promised Land and live as captives in a foreign country? I don’t know that we can, but just try for moment to imagine it. Then try to imagine hearing these Isaiah passages.

· Imagine hearing “Here is my servant…I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth Justice to the nations.”

· Imagine reading that he understands failure “I have spent my strength on vanity.”

· Imagine hearing that he is willing to suffer in order to set you free.

· Imagine hearing that his suffering would itself actually take away the sin for which you are being punished, so that you might go home. You may be set free.

That was the original context of those who heard this song.

They might have thought that the servant was Isaiah, or Jeremiah or even king Cyrus who ultimately sent them home. For them that may have been true.

As for us… as for us, we know the true identity of the servant of God.

· We know that God himself came as the servant placed his spirit in Christ and he came for all the nations.

· We know that God himself in Jesus Christ encountered all kinds of barriers and difficulties but didn’t let that stop him.

· We know that God himself in Jesus Christ suffered terribly for the sake of the mission. That he was beaten, and mocked, and broken.

· We know that God himself in Jesus Christ was ultimately killed for speaking the truth about his identity and his mission.

· And we know that somehow … somehow, miraculously, mysteriously, inexplicably, and astonishingly somehow his death leads to our life.

o In his suffering and death, we receive life.

o In his suffering and death, we receive forgiveness.

o In his suffering and death, we receive salvation.

o By his stripes we are healed, by his wounds we are redeemed, by his death we are saved.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Judgment and Hope RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY

Judgment and Hope

RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY

In this corner, Biblical lightweights, but with all the weight of Queen Jezebel behind them the 450 priests of BAAAAAL!

And in this corner, the challenger weighing a mere 140 pounds, but quick as can be, the prophet of God ELIJAHHHHHH!

There’s the coin toss, and Elijah wins and defers to the second round. The referee signals that the priests of Baal will receive the first bull. With the wind at their back, they begin to dance. They begin to whirl and wale. We expect that there will be a lot of cutting of themselves today, a lot of shedding of blood but they have not started that way.

It doesn’t appear that anything is happening, but Elijah begins to taunt them. He better be careful or he’ll draw a technical. They dance harder and cut themselves even more, but still nothing.

Finally, the priests take the bench and Elijah takes the field. What do you think his strategy will be today? Rumor has it that he has some tricks up his sleeve. Oh man he does, he has just dumped 4 jars of water on the offering. And another 4, and another 4. Oh, this is going to be a disaster. The field is drenched. Why doesn’t the referee call it off right now? It is obvious that Elijah is just grandstanding. He’s just showing off, but he’s going to end up shooting himself in the foot is what he is going to do.

Wait, he stands back and motions for silence. The crowd falls silent. Even the priests of Baal hold their breath waiting to see what Elijah has up his sleeve. He is muttering to himself, or maybe he is praying to God. The question is, will he get an answer? Will the lone prophet be able to pull off the upset of the century?

Everyone waits… an air of expectation fills the stadium. But nothing seems to happen…

OH BABY… did you see that. A blinding flash of fire descended and consumed not only the bull and the wood, but the water and the soil too. There isn’t even a rock left in the altar. It is all completely gone. What a show. What a tremendous effort on the part of God.

It looks like the priests are storming the field. No, I think they are fleeing for their lives. Now the real bloodbath begins. Reporting from Mount Carmel, for KGOD, back to our studios.

There is no denying that it would have been a great show, probably higher rated than the super bowl, but it was more than a show.

You see the contest in the story was not really between the Priests of Baal and Elijah. It was not an earthly contest at all. It was a contest between the very real God and all too real idol worshippers. In the end, as anyone who knows anything about God could guess, God won and Elijah was vindicated.

This story is a great example of the work of the Biblical prophet.

Now when I say “prophet” how many of you think of someone telling the future. Some prophets did, but that was never the crux of their message.

When I say the word prophet how many of you think of doomsayers, always talking about sad, bad, and scary things? Some prophets did, but that is not the purpose of the prophet.

I chose this story today because it reveals what I see as the true nature of the Biblical prophet. The Biblical prophet was a warrior. Elijah was a warrior for God battling the worship of the Idol Baal.

Now other prophets fought other battles. Other prophets had other opponents including unrighteousness and injustice, greed and luxury, oppression and poverty, immorality and idol worship. Other prophets fought their battles with words rather than contests on Mount Carmel. But here you see the true nature of the Biblical prophet.

Some would say that the Biblical prophet was all about judgment. If you lived on the side of the idol worshippers, the unrighteous, the greedy, and the immoral I suppose you would be right. But if you read carefully and if you live on the side of God, you can see a word of hope.

Let’s back up just a little and zoom out to look at the prophetic themes in the Bible. Page 215 of THE STORY has a great passage that reflects all 4 prophetic themes

Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14-15

The first prophetic theme is righteousness. Righteousness is more than being right or living right. Righteousness is measuring up to the one who is perfectly right.

At the National Institute of Standards & Technology in Washington DC, they store perfect sample of weights and measures. They have what they call prototypes of pounds and Kilograms, inches and centimeters and so forth. Prototype #27 is a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter,” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level and 45 degrees latitude then they know they will have the exact tip to tip measurement of a meter.^{^[i]}

Righteousness is measuring up to our perfect measuring rod. Not a meter, but the ultimate, unwavering perfection that is Jesus Christ.

The prophets called the people to righteousness to measure up to the one who is perfectly right.

The second prophetic theme is Justice.

We all think we know what Justice is, but do we? Justice is not revenge or retribution. Justice is not punishment. Justice is not making them pay the price.

Justice is a voice that tips the scale of a community’s life toward righteousness.

Let me tell you a fable.

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a coal-mouse asked a wild dove.

“Nothing more than nothing,” was the answer.

“In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story,” the coal-mouse said.

“I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, it began to snow-not heavily, not in a raging blizzard-no, just like a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953^rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say-the branch broke off.”

Having said that, the coal-mouse flitted away.

The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for justice [ii]

You might not be able to define justice, but you know injustice when you see it. Justice is being that voice that tips the scales toward righteousness.

The third prophetic theme is Mercy. If you find yourself on the side of unrighteousness, or if you happen to find yourself on the side of injustice, the prophets are quick to point that out. They are also quick to point out God’s mercy.

As Christians, we have no right to look down our noses with disdain on sinners. We can and should be offended at sin, but not personally offended – offended for God and His holiness. But we have to get it in our heads and in our hearts that

· All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

· When we sinned were dead to God in sin, He gave us life,

· when we were without hope He gave us faith,

· When we were enemies of righteousness, He came down to us to make peace with us by the blood of his cross.

And when we realize that, we will realize the depths of God’s mercy and the prophetic call for mercy in our lives too.

The fourth prophetic theme is the Remnant. The Bilical remnant, like a carpet remnant means that we haven’t reached the end of the roll. No matter how lacking in Righteousness, no matter how lacking in justice we have not reached the end of the roll. God’s mercy always leaves a remnant. In the fire of the Musserville church, all was completely destroyed on the North end of the building, leaving only the fellowship hall. Not wanting to admit that everything was gone, we spent some time digging around in the ashes to see if there was anything… anything left. Finally, the claw came up with some unsinged material. Scrambling to the other side of the hole, we discovered two boxes of pencils. You know those little red pencils that go in the pews at some churches. Except these weren’t just any pencils. They had inscriptions on them. They each red “Have faith in God. Coincidence? I don’t know… but I do know that that I saved that little remnant and distributed them to everyone on a Sunday when everyone was discouraged. They meant more to us than you can imagine.

God‘s judgment always leaves a remnant.

Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and remnant.

Those are the prophetic themes

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unrighteous.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unjust.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are merciless.

Judgment but not complete destruction... In God’s eyes, there is always a chance. And that is what the remnant represents. The chance for people to live in righteousness, The chance for people to live in justice and The chance for people to live in mercy

As we commune today. Come. Come to seek righteousness in your relationship with God.

Come seeking to live justly in your relationship with others.

Come seeking to live mercifully among one another.

AMEN

[i] Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport

[ii] retold by Joseph Jaworski in the closing of his book, Synchronicity