God's Accounting
I was never in the military but I have had a peek into it through our son Robert, who has just finished his 19th year in the U.S. Army as well as my brother, one sister and each of their spouses who were all in the Navy.
One aspect I’ve always admired about it is its focus on accountability. When a young man or woman enlists, for example in the Army, from day one they have what Rob calls his jacket. Everything they do in training, courses of study, field exercises and actual combat gets recorded and goes into their jacket. Awards and citations for merit, and if there were any trouble, it all goes in there.
That serves as the basis for promotions. That clarity of cause and effect, of being accountable for yourself and your role within your platoon and so forth is often a tremendous blessing to a young man or woman. There is a lot of positive reinforcement for achievement and motivation to avoid negative entries into your jacket.
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Embracing the Word
Last week, I was studying the readings for this Sunday and I honed in on this sentence from the passage from the second letter of Paul to Timothy:
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
As it happens, and I love such coincidences, I was meeting a colleague and his family for lunch on Thursday. As I approached them, I saw that the dad, who is a priest, was in an intense conversation with his son who happens to be named Timothy. I asked, “what are you talking about?” They looked a little awkward for a moment, then said “Leviticus.” Tim was trying to figure out how that book of law fit in with his faith in Christ.
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Our God is a Merciful God
Ten lepers called out, saying, “Jesus, have mercy on us!” Later, when one of the lepers saw that he was healed, he turned back, and praised God with a loud voice.
Today’s story of the ten lepers illustrates two ways we can respond to God. Like the lepers, we can call out to God to have mercy on us, and, like the lepers, we can praise God with a loud voice for who he is and for what only he can do and what he has done for us.
When we sing or say the Kyrie to God, the “Lord, have mercy,” at the beginning of our worship, we are echoing the plea of the ten lepers to be cleansed, to be restored, and to be made new so that we might enjoy full and loving fellowship with our fellow human beings and with God. And when we sing or say the Gloria, that begins “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory,” we are echoing the praise of the leper who returned to Jesus to give praise to God for his healing, for the gracious answer to his plea for God’s mercy.
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