introduction to Judges, part 1

Good morning friends,
We've followed the outlines of Joshua's life as he led Israel into the Promised Land. Now Joshua is dead and things get challenging for Israel's faithfulness. The next few days introduce the Book of the Judges and a particularly disturbing part of Israel's story. With what follows the temptation is to look at Israel's failing and (as David Brooks wrote this morning in the NY Times) "feel superior." The more helpful spiritual practice with readings like these is to reflect on how we turn away in our discipleship and how we can learn to be more faithful. After all, we follow a savior who was faithful unto death.
God bless,
Sam

Judges 2:7-13

⁷The people worshiped the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred ten years. ⁹So they buried him within the bounds of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰Moreover, that whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

¹¹Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshiped the Baals; ¹²and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³They abandoned the Lord, and worshipped Baal and the Astartes.

hope in the darkness

Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning's reading marks the turn from lamentation to hope. Jerusalem is in ruins and the poet knows that Judah's sin is to blame for the terrors of judgment. Still, in the midst of that horror and grief there is hope because God is faithful. God loves us and even though disasters may hide that love from us for the moment, nothing can defeat God's love.

God bless,
Sam

Lamentations 3:19-26
The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

marital problems

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Today's reading tells the story of Israel's youth as a nation, of her first love for God and God's care for her. God wonders where things went wrong, why Israel has abandoned being God's bride to follow other gods. This bridal image is a common metaphor for God and Israel and for God and the church. There's great depth in it because marriage is a rich and complicated relationship, as is our relationship with God. There are all kinds of distractions in the world that tempt us from God. Often the things we want are part of God's plan for us, things God wants us to enjoy. The question is, are we seeking things as part of our relationship with God or are we seeking things instead of our relationship with God? When we stray God always calls us home again.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 2:1-8
The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; disaster came upon them, says the Lord. 4Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

5Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? 6They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?” 7I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.