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Sunday 20 August 2017

"The Embodiment... of Knowledge and Truth."

Through our trials, may we become a more gracious people, more loving, more compassionate, more empathetic.  May we always hold Christ close, seeking justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly.


Romans 2:17-24
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God 18and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, 19and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, 21you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You that boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? 24For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’


1) "will you not teach yourselves?" "...the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."


2) Paul at his most biting and eloquent.  Oh, how the name of God is blasphemed because of Christians who proclaim hate, and anger, and bigotry, and white supremacy, and homophobia, and misogyny.  We would correct them, claiming morally superior and progressive gospel.  But the difference between "them" and "us" is not one of kind, but of degree.  We come through a tradition of white supremacy, and continue to receive benefits and privileges: we own land, receive loans, get educations, extract resources from land we never bought.  We are in possession of stolen property.  We may have once bought the land in "good faith," but shouldn't we know better by now?  Because of our history of oppression and supremacy, so many have reason to turn away from the Gospel.  Of course, they aren't really blaspheming God, only the false God we falsely represented.  In fact, in their cries for justice are the cries of Christ, calling us back to repentance and the Kingdom of God.  Had we been true to God, true to our proclamation of release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, it would have been a different story.  Thank God, grace is free, even if it isn't cheep. 


3) to seek amends, and make amends when the opportunity presents itself.  Apologize, again and again if necessary.  Acknowledge that the land is unceded.  Cease making decisions about the land and its resources without consulting the traditional owners transparently, and justly.


"Holy One, make us anew."


Breathprayer: "the embodiment... of knowledge and truth."



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