This is everyone’s problem
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:
What did I like about today’s passage?
This is hard to like. In recent readings we have heard a lot about how a few rotten rulers led Israel and Judah the wrong way. But here, it’s impossible to escape God’s judgement on everybody. “If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth,” said God, “I will forgive this city.”
This also shows me the root of God’s concern expressed as faithfulness to him. It was not about religion. Lack of relationship with God led to social injustice because people followed selfishness and foolishness instead of love and wisdom.
There is harsh criticism of every kind of people from the poor to the leaders, including the prophets and priests. Somehow, their faithful relationships with God had been replaced by doing things their own way, failing to recognise their society’s problems and saying “Peace, peace,” as if all was fine. Bad news – it was not. And without the help of the people in roles God had established to lead others to him, God would grab the nation’s attention with something terrible.
What can there be to like about “disaster from the north” or “a lion… a destroyer of nations”? It’s only from a safe distance that we can feel any comfort about God at work like this. But imagine being there at the time. Would you heed one man’s warnings and change, or prefer to believe the mainstream message of peace and reassurance that you’re fine?
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
God is serious about people getting to know him for real and being able to live good lives, full of his love as a result. He knows that we can easily mistake comfort for goodness – we can feel fine about ourselves even while causing pain to others, as long as we cut ourselves off from warnings. But God will not allow this to continue.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
This makes me wonder about where I prefer comfort to reality. Of course, I like to think of myself as good and right, as well as saved and justified in Christ. But can I honestly say there’s nothing I need to do better in the way I treat neighbours and people from different cultures? Conversations around how “Black Lives Matter” have been sobering and useful. I want to be better at seeing people the way God does, not through my own limiting experience and stereotypes. To do that, I need to renew faithful commitment to God.
Who am I going to share this with?
People in our multi-cultural school community where the pressures of lockdown, isolation and illness have affected some very differently from us. How does God want us to help?