Choices of Faith

Jim and Debbie:

Ezekiel 34:17-31
This passage seems to convict all of us who ignore the plight of the poor. But our failure lies not in just ignoring those with little, we fail also when we what we share with others is no more than the leftovers of our lives. Ezekiel, speaking for God, promised that those who have less and are pushed to the outskirts of life are God’s people and will receive God’s fullest blessing. God is judging between sheep and sheep and God is judging rams and goats. For all of us who feel like we are part of God’s flock this passage is a warning to make sure we are doing all we can to help the dispossessed, the hungry, the homeless, the lonely, and to give from our abundance, and not just from what is left over when we have taken the best for ourselves.

Hebrews 8:1-13
Verse 5 says that the temple in Jerusalem was no more than a “sketch and shadow” of the heavenly sanctuary. The same may be said of the church as an institution. The church is only a shadow of what God intends for humanity. The point of the church is not to protect itself or to secure its own future, but to point to the glory of God and to serve God in the world. We err when we place the church ahead of the claims that God makes on our lives.

Luke 10:38-42
Mary, when given the choice between busy work and being confronted by the word of God, choose the word. Jesus called this the “better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Verse 42) Obviously there is a balance to be struck between worship and service (the preceding story was about the Good Samaritan), but if we assume that our efforts or our good deeds are the point of faith, we fail to understand God’s call to be attentive to the word and to focus our lives on Jesus as the source of light and life.