July 31-Hos. 11, Lk. 12:13, Col. 3:1-11
Vastly different image of God than the stereotype of the OT-when someone speaks of the OT God they haven't cracked open a Bible in a while-It resists all attempts to rein in the God of all. God is god, not a mere mortal.According to the Torah, rebellious sons are to be stoned to death (see Deuteronomy 21:18-21). As for Israel, it deserves destruction,). But God cannot bring the divine self to follow through with what is deserved. God is even willing to break God's own Torah for the sake of the life of the beloved child/people! As Beeby puts it, "The rebel is now not Israel but the heart of God as it recoils within [Godself]." We see another facet of the divine character here that emerges from the loyalty, chesed, the steadfast love of Ex. 34.we get a sense of God as a frustrated parent at the end of the long rope that is tethered to hope.I think of god going back to the past, as the bands of love could be like those leashes parents put on small children when out in public.
Presbyterians have been the carriers of a notion that God has a plan for our lives. At times, we have fallen into the delusion that this is a detailed plan for every occurrence, every event and not the future horizon of salvation. God’s order, god’s plan is a careful balancing of the wild and unpredictable along with the iron laws of naure.Rich fool and control, not wicked-is self-centered-no sense of gratitude-future is uncertain- The rich farmer is a fool not because he is wealthy or because he saves for the future, but because he appears to live only for himself, and because he believes that he can secure his life with his abundant possessions.When the rich man talks, he talks only to himself: “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, The rich man’s land has produced abundantly, yet he expresses no sense of gratitude to God or to the workers who have helped him plant and harvest this bumper crop. He has more grain and goods in storage than he could ever hope to use, yet seems to have no thought of sharing it with others, and no thought of what God might require of him. He is blind to the fact that his life is not his own to secure, that his life belongs to God, and that God can demand it back at any time.The rich man learns the hard way what the writer of Ecclesiastes realized -- quite simply, that you can’t take it with you. Ecclesiastes puts it, “Who knows whether they will be wise or foolish?
New life in christ in Col.We who have heard that clothes make the person are now clothed with a new self, clothed with what may appear at times and to some to be a life like the emperor's new clothes—we still struggle with anger, slander, abusive language (Colossians 3:8) and at times give ourselves over to impurity, evil desires, and the idolatry of greed (Colossians 3:5); but we are in fact clothed in Christ Jesus, raised with him, renewed in him. Greed as issue and needs to be stripped away Hidden life made apparent.we continue to struggle with vices that harm not only oneself but our relationships with others.We are better than our worst impulses. We ar emade to live together.
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