Tuesday, November 10, 2020
It’s an empty bird house.
God has a Home for Us All,
Each of Us, and
It’s Not an Empty Bird House.
Psalm 86:16
Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your serving-maid.
Philippians 4:19
My God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Words of Grace For Today
There are so many things to ask God for.
There always have been so many things to ask God for.
There always will be so many things to ask God for.
Our pleas have filled the nights and days since we first imagined that God existed. From the comfort of our palatial homes, the likes of which Pharaohs, Caesars, Kings, and Queens could hardly dream, we plead with God for yet more.
In Palestine the church pleas for basic human rights, where a home is for most people a dream unattainable. Where refugee camps are the norm. Where violence and ensuing death is inevitable, it’s only a matter of when. Where clean water, nutritious food, adequate clothing and shelter, meaningful labour and the freedom to love and be loved unconditionally are all in short supply, if attainable at all.
God will fully satisfy every need of yours ….
This is blatantly not so, not today, not in all our yesterdays, and not for all our tomorrows.
God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
… ‘according to’ these are the modifying words that make this true, as part of God’s promise to provide for all God’s people.
God does not promise that everyone will receive the basic requirements of life, nor the recognition of their human rights. God promises to provide everything for us according to God’s riches in glory in Jesus Christ. Which means according to God’s Good News, that God loves us unconditionally, frees us from our sins so that we may live in grace and be that same grace for others.
God’s riches in glory in Jesus Christ are beyond our imaginations, and yet Jesus lived out them in his life, ministry of healing, welcoming all especially the outcast and sinners, and sacrificing himself so that the whole creation would be redeemed and re-newed, that is re-created pure and righteous and holy.
God does not come to save us from our trials. That happens rarely. God comes to save us in our trials, suffering with us, giving us God’s strength to endure and still be gracious, with ourselves and with others.
We may well wish others to evaporate from the face of the earth when they cause our suffering, and others’ suffering, especially when there seems to be no end or limit to the suffering. God prefers to save these enemies of ours, for they are also God’s creatures, just as we are.
Hang on then. Pray for everything we need. Hope for justice based on truth for all. Expect daily bread. Prepare for unending suffering.
We are all in this together, oppressor and oppressed, privileged and deprived, faithful and evil. Just as Covid 19 can get any of us, evil can take any of us under, and only God can save any of us.
God’s promise is that, through Jesus Christ, God saves us all, unconditionally.
Now we get to live out of that promise, bringing that promise to bear on the lives of everyone we encounter in anyway, every day.
What a life!