Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
Part I - Receiving the Word as spirit and life for yourself
This blog is a weekly invitation for you to receive the week's scriptures as spirit and life. Words received as spirit and life are quite different than words received as, for one example, words to be puzzled over or debated. Best and most of all, the Word is spirit and life. We can choose to received it as the spirit and life it is. At http://charistis.blogspot.com/2008/03/receiving-word-as-spirit-and-life.html there are some simple suggestions for doing this.
After you receive for yourself, when the spirit and life of the Word are fresh in your own being, then you can compare with others who are also receiving the Word as spirit and life.
Part II - Reflections on this week's scriptures (one place to compare notes)
Prayer for receptivity
You, God, far beyond me;
You, God, within me, closer than my very breath.
You not ignored;
You received.
Receptivity that opens me to You and to Your Word as spirit and life,
this is my prayer right now.
Exodus 14:19-31
"And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other." (vss. 19, 20)
The same Angel of God is darkness and light. Other contrasts in this passage include:
divine and human
the sea into dry land
saving and destroying.
"So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians..." (vs. 27)
The Israelites and their leader were trusting the One who was defending them, not their own judgment or strategies or warfare. That doesn't mean the Israelites and Moses weren't fully involved! It must have stretched their endurance and faith immensely! But they did not overthrow the Egyptians.
Psalm 114
"Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion." (vs. 2)
Endearing and comforting! Amazing also. The Psalmist frequently says God is our refuge. In this case Judah is His sanctuary. Imagine Judah as a place of refuge for God. Imagine!
"Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob." (vs. 7)
Romans 14:1-12
"Receive one who is weak in the faith,
but not to disputes over doubtful things." (vs. 1)
Ah! What a keynote!
"For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord." (vss. 7, 8)
This time a little picture may help. This passage is about a group, or "community" of people, who are held together by living to the Lord. They are to each faithfully focus on and account to the Lord. It is not by agreeing, or by having the same degree of faith, or by eating the same way, or by any other form of sameness that they show their love to each other and to God. It is by living to the Lord. Consider the arrows by the two triangles. At the left, the primary emphasis is on the interaction between the people at point A and the people at point B. In the second triangle the primary emphasis is on the interaction between A people and God, and between B people and God. Ponder the two ways. As I ponder the two ways, I see potential for beautiful, strong, endearing connections when the primary emphasis is on the interaction between A people and God, and between B people and God. And one of the wonderful outcomes of this way is that the A people and the B people help each other with their primary interaction with God, instead of trying to make each other think, act and be the same. It moves the whole dynamic out of "disputes over doubtful things" and into life-giving experience with God and each other. I'm hearing Paul say that individuals and groups within the Christian church are to live to the Lord and support others in doing the same. That's what needs to be worked out, or "faithed" out, not sameness.
"For it is written:
'As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.'
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." (vss. 11, 12)
The passage ends strongly emphasizing individual accountability to God. Keep each believer's union with God primary; and then life among believers falls into place. The essential priority of individual accountability to God becomes a stronger uniting power than sameness ever could be. In fact, accepting and entering into that essential priority is the secret of strong, lasting, loving community.
Matthew 18:21-35
"'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?'" (vs. 33)
It occurs to me, especially after receiving the Romans passage, that the servant's response to the King is the essential starting, or pivotal, point. Had the King's servant gotten that right, he would have treated his own servant differently. The decisive interaction in this parable is between the servant and the King. This is what, in turn, shaped the interaction between the two servants.
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