Saturday, August 13, 2022

 

Saturday, August 13, 2022


Psalms 101; 102:1-11

2 Chronicles 28:1-15

Romans 11:1-12


Observance: Jeremy Taylor, bishop and spiritual writer (d. 1667)


Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the booty they clothed all that were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kindred at Jericho, the city of palm trees.


This morning's readings give a brilliant example of how God's thinking works. The narrative from 2 Chronicles as well as the teaching from Paul both give us an insight into what I think of as “God logic”.


It reminds me of the dramatic scene in the climax of the movie “Joker”. Joaquin Phoenix plays the Joker, and he tells Robert de Niro's character that “you get what you deserve.” What follows is the city's descent into chaotic violence, triggered by the social injustices portrayed throughout the movie leading up to this point. I like this part of the movie as an example of how human logic as it relates to justice can quite often descend into unrestrained violence and retribution. Compare this to the “God logic” of justice in our two readings this morning.


Evil king Ahaz has led the southern kingdom into apostasy, and a particularly nasty expression of apostasy at that. (Baal worship involved child sacrifice, temple prostitution, and self-harm.) As a result, God delivers them into the hands of their northern kin. Similarly, Israel in Paul's time has rejected their own Messiah, endangering their reception of God's covenantal promises. In both situations, “God logic” steps in and restricts the level of punishment. Indeed, both “punishments” are used by God as a means to give even greater gifts to those who turned their backs on Him. There is no unchecked outpouring of wrath and destruction like there would be if God were human. Rather, God continually holds out the offer of love and forgiveness, no matter how much we misbehave. If the punishment fits the crime, the offer of free grace, love and forgiveness exceeds the crime by a factor of infinity. God takes no pleasure in the death of sinners, but would rather we all turn back to Him and live.



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