Greetings!
Thank you for joining us in prayer and reflection during the season of Lent. We will travel through daily scripture, reflection and prayer. We invite you to explore the other resources of the season found and the bottom of the page as we begin the journey together.
Christian Formation Commission |
Scripture
If you say to yourself, 'These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?' do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the pestilence* against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed. Have no dread of them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great panic, until they are destroyed. He will hand their kings over to you and you shall blot out their name from under heaven; no one will be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them. The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.
Deuteronomy 7:17-26
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Argh! Here's that awful, destructive God of my ancestors, raising his powerful arm against all the tribes living happily in the path of his chosen people! The Book of Deuteronomy challenges me when it tells me what God is going to do to Israel's enemies: "...the Lord your God will send the pestilence against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed. The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little...and throw them into great panic until they are destroyed." Wonderful. Where do I put this in my understanding of God? And where in heaven's name does it belong in my relationships with people of other nations, creeds, races, and ethnic origins?
I don't know...I only know that this is a part of my own religious heritage and I cannot simply reject this part of the story because I don't like it. And the longer I engage this moment in scripture, the more I picture my glee when the "bad guys" get it in a film or a book...there is some part of me that relishes winning and overcoming and being triumphant. Is that what I can learn...that I am not all that "righteous" after all? That I, too, wouldn't mind a God totally "for" me?
But don't I know just such a God-who loves me beyond measure and would do anything to help me grow and thrive and live abundantly? The thing is, this God I know feels that way about absolutely everyone and all creation.
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Prayer
Gracious God, help me when your holy Word confuses
and disturbs me. Keep me open to what you would
have me learn of you because I love you and
want nothing more than to know you fully. Amen.
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