A God Who Contends for the Powerless
- davidwperk
- Dec 10, 2024
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Tuesday of the second week of Advent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for refection from today’s Hebrew Scripture reading:
13Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. 14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her. 15People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled. 16But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness. 17Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins.
You will find the full text of today’s Hebrew Scripture reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 931)
AM Psalm 26, 28; PM Psalm 36, 39
Isa. 5:13-17, 24-25; 1 Thess. 5:12-28; Luke 21:29-38
Today we celebrate the Feast of Thomas Merton. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Donald Schriver has said, "The mission of Jesus Christ to the world is the transformation of persons, persons-in relation, and the structures of society, until the earth is filled with the knowledge of God, the love and justice and God, as the waters cover the sea." * Reading today’s Old Testament reading brought that statement to mind.
This passage follows a stinging condemnation of judges and political officials whose opulent lifestyles rendered them insensitive to God's presence and activity and whose dishonest exercise of power exploited the poor and powerless. Note these verses in the context of today’s reading.
"Woe for those touching house to house.
Field on field they joined
until there was no place
and you had to dwell by yourselves
in the open country."Â (Isa 5:8)
"Woe!
Those rising early in the morning
they pursued strong drink.
Those staying back in the twilight
wine inflamed them
And, a harp and a flute,
a drum and a pipe
and wine (are in) their banquets.
But of the doing of Yahweh
they take no notice,
and the work of his hands
they do not see. (Isa 5:11-12)
Their oppressive ways victimized others. But, beyond that, their corrupt and insensitive style of life infected and weakened the society itself. Isaiah foresaw that the society, lacking in a social ethic and devoid of leaders with spiritual integrity, would falter and fail, and that would drag the innocent and powerless into further suffering not of their own doing.
His foresight proved correct. The Assyrian Empire threatened and oppressed Judah during his lifetime. Two centuries later another oppressive empire, Babylon, annexed Judah and devastated her religious and social structures, destroying the Temple and exiling the prominent to Babylon. The oppressors in Judah became the oppressed and the innocent also suffered that oppression, in addition to the exploitation they had suffered from those of their own country.
Hence, the tone of our text feels rather severe. The paradigm for God's nature can be found in the Exodus. The Hebrews were being exploited and used as slave labor by a ruthless monarch in Egypt, and that monarch refused repeated overtures from Moses to release the slaves. God fought against him, delivered the Hebrews, and the king and his army perished in the effort to prevent their escape. (See Exodus 3-12.)
The prophets repeatedly warned the leaders of Israel and Judah that oppression of the poor and powerless would cast them in the role of that Egyptian Pharaoh whom God resisted and brought to ruin. The catacombs of history hold the bones of oppressive leaders and their cultures--the U. S. S. R. of Lenin and Stalin, the Germany of Hitler, the Japan of the warlords and generals of the 30's and 40's, the Jim Crow southern culture, and the apartheid regime of South Africa come immediately to mind.
The horrible tragedy has to do not only with the devastation suffered by the ordinary people of the oppressors’ cultures but also with the agonies suffered by the oppressors under God’s judgment. The victims of Hiroshima come to mind as do the deaths of civilians in the fire bombings of German cities. Our text touches some of the most basic social justice themes and does so with vivid, foreboding, and graphic images.
Reading these texts certainly creates dis-ease. It was rather a struggle for me to decide to write about this reading. Yet, we cannot affirm God's saving love and unfailing sense of compassion for the poor and powerless and deal lightly or not at all with God’s resistance of those who oppress. If wholeness comes as a result of faith, justice, and obedience, then devastation and ruin come as a result of unbelief, injustice, and spiritual insensitivity. A God who does not fight for the oppressed by resisting and bringing about the ruin of the oppressors would be a God other than the one who came to us in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus spent his public ministry setting free the oppressed and opposing a political and religious system insensitive to the little ones (Matthew 25:31-46). In those ways he reveals the God who sent him and whose kingly rule he embodied.
The church in her mission to the world ignores the little ones to her peril. God reaches out to those despised, deprived, and exploited because of race, economic status, or lifestyle; Jesus' ministry makes that clear. Each church has the chance to alter its parish culture, to practice Jesus' radical inclusion and honor Isaiah's call for justice and compassion for the little ones. Each of us faces the challenge of embodying these values in our personal journey.
*Donald Schriver, "The Accountability of Theological Education to the Mission of the Church," Theological Education 17 (Autumn 1980):69.
Collect of the Day, The Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 211)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Thomas Merton, monk, mystic, poet, writer (died 10 Dec 1968 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Thomas Merton
Gracious God, you called your monk Thomas Merton to proclaim your justice out of silence, and moved him in his contemplative writings to perceive and value Christ at work in the faiths of others: Keep us, like him, steadfast in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Prayer of Thomas Merton Â
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude (Boston: Shambhala, 1983), p. 89.
A Collect for Peace
Most holy God, the source of all good desires, all right judgments, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, so that our minds may be fixed on the doing of your will, and that we, being delivered from the fear of all enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the mercies of Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen. (BCP, 123)
For our Enemies
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 816)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength of
our life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Daily Office Old Testament Reading  Isaiah 5:13-17, 24-25
13Therefore my people go into exile without knowledge; their nobles are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. 14Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure; the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and all who exult in her. 15People are bowed down, everyone is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled. 16But the LORD of hosts is exalted by justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness. 17Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture, fatlings and kids shall feed among the ruins. 24Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them; the mountains quaked, and their corpses were like refuse in the streets. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer