curses

Good morning friends,
Today's reading is the mirror image of yesterday's. Yesterday God promised Israel blessings of every kind if Israel obeyed God. Today God promises curses if Israel turns away. Israel and God have made a covenant with each other. God's faithfulness is clear, but Israel's isn't as certain.

God bless,
Sam

Deuteronomy 28:15-25

¹⁵But if you will not obey the Lord your God by diligently observing all his commandments and decrees, which I am commanding you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: ¹⁶Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. ¹⁷Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.

¹⁹Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. ²⁰The Lord will send upon you disaster, panic, and frustration in everything you attempt to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. ²¹The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until it has consumed you off the land that you are entering to possess. ²²The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, with fiery heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. ²³The sky over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you iron. ²⁴The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out against them one way and flee before them seven ways. You shall become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

sermon on the plain

Good morning all,
This is a familiar passage to many of us. It mirror's Matthew's telling of Jesus' sermon on the mount, but this is a sermon on the plain. Also, Luke's telling can be a bit more jarring or comforting, depending on where we sit. Jesus says the poor are blessed, and especially those who are persecuted for faithfulness to Jesus. Like many places in scripture, there's an assumption that faithfulness will be difficult because the world is largely opposed to Jesus. The flip side of that is that if everyone says good things about us, we should be wary since the world often values fitting in and going along with an immoral situation. Jesus warns that false prophets are usually the ones who get the fame and appreciation. May we always seek the true kingdom bravely and with love.

Blessings,
Sam

Luke 6:20-26

20Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.