Tag: Compassion

Morning Musing: Romans 2:1

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“Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We live in a culture that hates judgment. Well, at least we profess and make a mean case of such a thing. But the truth is that we love judgment. We simply don’t like people judging us or people we count as our people. We’re very content to cast judgment on those who don’t meet with our standards whatever they are. This state of affairs makes the oft-lobbed criticism that Christians are too judgmental of a lot most ironic. Yet accusing followers of Jesus of being judgmental isn’t something the culture has the corner market on. Paul does it right here. Let’s talk about why and what he means.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 22:22-24

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“You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, they will no doubt cry to me, and I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How any society treats its most vulnerable members is a reflection of that society’s moral fiber. The Nazi regime, for instance, rounded up their weakest members and systematically eliminated them. Darwin was right that nature tends to operate on the law of the survival of the fittest. The strongest survive and thrive while the weakest get eaten. People and animals, however, are not the same. We are made in God’s image, and are called to reflect that in our interactions with one another. When it came to the question of how Israel was to treat some of their weakest and most vulnerable members, God was pretty clear on what He expected. Let’s explore what He says here and what it might mean for us.

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Morning Musing: Deuteronomy 24:17-18

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“Do not deny justice to a resident alien or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Experience is a teacher. Exactly what kind of teacher it is depends. Depends on what? Well, to a very great extent, it depends on us. It depends on how we respond to it and the lessons we learn from it. The people of Israel had been through a school of experience in Egypt and God wanted to be sure they learned some particular lessons from it in terms of how they treated others. We may not be Israel, but I think there is something here for us too if we’ll pay attention. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Genesis 1:27-28

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“So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last week I told you that I would be pursuing three different occasional series through the beginning of this year. The first I introduced you to was a walkthrough the prophetic record of Amos. The third will be focused on managing the resources God has put within our sphere of influence well. Today, I want to introduce you to the second one. For the next several weeks, we are going to be taking a look at several different places in the Scriptures to get a better sense of God’s heart for the weak, vulnerable, oppressed, and rejected members of society. These folks come in many different forms, but every culture has them. Very often they are the ones who weren’t born there, but have arrived later in life for a variety of reasons. We are going to examine several passages throughout the Scriptures that help us better understand God’s passion for them. For this first part, we are going to look at the passage that ultimately grounds God’s compassion and love for all people. We’ve seen this one before, of course, but never from quite this angle. Let’s take a look.

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Morning Musing: Isaiah 61:1-3

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“The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Who did Jesus come to save? I know the “right” answer to that question is everyone. But let’s actually think about it for a minute. Who did Jesus come to save? Here’s an answer that’s just as correct but isn’t in terms we usually use. Jesus came to save people who are in need of saving. Now, if that seems tautologous, it is, but that doesn’t make it any less important to understand. In this prophecy from Isaiah that Jesus claimed for Himself, we get a better sense of just what this means.

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