Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Like new leaves in Spring,
God restores us to new life,
not as slaves, Doch
as Children and Saints.
Psalm 51:19
Then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt-offerings and whole burnt-offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Luke 15:21
Then the son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
Words of Grace For Today
Getting it right before God.
Oh, how we have tried through the generations.
We’ve tried sacrificing our own children, but more often someone else’s.
We’ve tried sacrificing our own goats and lambs, but more often someone else’s.
We’ve tried sacrificing our own cattle, but more often someone else’s.
We’ve tried sacrificing our own birds, but more often someone else’s.
We’ve tried sacrificing ourselves, like the so called prodigal son, who really is only prodigal in his waste of life’s limited resources. This son comes and confesses his sins to his father, hoping to get work as a servant or slave, for then at least he will eat well enough to survive. His ‘prodigal’ waste has left him so broke and dishonoured that he cannot even get work that pays enough to provide himself food, even when he feeds other people’s pigs food that is more than he has to eat.
And it’s all wrong, oh we get it wrong.
God uses Abraham to declare that NO God does not want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, not at all.
God uses someone anonymous in history to teach us that God does not want blood sacrifices (or maybe we just got lazy, for this sacrifice is messy and quite wasteful.)
God uses Jesus to teach us that we should not sacrifice other’s well being to make up for out own sins, in other words we should not scapegoat others in order to relieve the stress and conflict in our own lives.
Jesus uses the prodigal son and so many other parables and characters to teach us that we first can hear God’s promises to forgive us and restore us as living saints doing God’s grace for all people, and then we can confess our sins, expecting not to be made slaves or servants. Doch God rather restores us to live as God’s own children.
This God promises us, and tries to teaches us, and forgives us, and tries to restore us to full life … and still we try to make it through life like the prodigiously wasteful son, burning through the limited resources of life available to us and when things go wrong we still scapegoat others, destroy others, and try to make others pay for our own failings.
Well, some or maybe most of us that is. Some of us are blessed to have figured out how not to scapegoat others, or maybe we never learned.
The rest … ah what misery they create for others and themselves!
God have mercy on us, and keep these people far, far, far from us again this day.
God have mercy.
God have mercy on us, and teach these people soon of your promises, forgiveness, and Grace.
God have mercy on us all.