Scripture: Luke 6:22
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.
Thought for the Day: Blessed? Really? This is just one of many examples we find in scripture, specifically the Gospels, where God’s blessing or favor is found to be upon those who find life hard and unfair. And this isn’t just the usual unfair kind of stuff that most of us deal with here and there. This is the systemic and organized hatred that won’t change or stop because one person says, “No!” This is like the African American family I read about who was living in rural Mississippi in 1961. These people experienced multiple threats, a cross burning in their yard, their house was shot at, and their barn with their two cows was burned to the ground. Every Sunday they went to worship and gave thanks to God. Every morning and evening they shared in family prayers. This hatred was not of God. It was human sin manifesting itself in the evil of racism. Blessing is not just smiles and feel-good emotions. The blessing of God signifies God standing with those in the oppression, and God inviting others – near and far – to join in the faithful and deliberate work to turn the ways of the world toward the ways of God.
Prayer: O King of Kings, may I be an instrument of your blessing in a world of injustice and hatred and outright mean-spiritedness. Inspire me to be a voice that reinforces your blessed presence in the lives of those who are being knocked down by powers and principalities. Amen.
You Won’t Be Able
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Bruce Will Focus On This Sunday
