Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 13: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 80; Evening, Psalm 77 ;
Judges 6:25 to 40; Acts 2:37 to 47; John 1:1 to 18:
“That night the Lord said to him, ‘Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt-offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.’ So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the Lord had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night. When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole* beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.” (Judges 6: 25 – 28)
While all of the Daily Office Readings are wonderful, my pondering gravitated towards the lesson I read in Judges. Gideon has been called by God to let go, let go of the beliefs of his parents to ponder anew what the Almighty is doing. This is not new. Abram too was called from his father’s house to a place that God would show him, (Genesis 12:1). So God calls us from darkness to light and to more light, and to further light.
I think this resonated with me so much because I too had to let go of old and false beliefs in order to behold the real truth about God. My parents would have me believe in the human constructed system of racism even though they themselves were considered on the bottom rung of the racial divide. It has taken time, but God has called me away from believing such nonsense.
What I have also pondered about the Gideon story is that there is often the requirement to give up something in order to obtain something. And it may not be an action that we are bold enough to do openly. Gideon did his deed at night so as to avoid notice. I chose to give up any so-called black expectations people may have had of me in order to be who I really am, who God made me to be.
Racial discrimination is today’s altar of Baal and the un-sacred poles of some of our parents outdated superstitions. We must remove them in order to make room for the real Truth: the Truth that is God. Stepping out of our expected behavior of darkness into the light of true belief territory is not easy, but it is very necessary. And the truth will make us free.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Holy God, holy and mighty, creator of all life, open our human eyes to see the equality of all people and all human likeness in you our Creator. Let us see in Jesus the level playing field where we are judged by our moral attitude and loving kindness as Jesus modeled for us, He who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen.
onewhoponders 