slavery versus freedom – The Noontimes

Deuteronomy 5:15: Our God

Friday, September 22, 2023

The writer of Deuteronomy records Moses’ words faithfully.

Don’t ever forget that you were slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength. That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath rest. (MSG: The Message)

Through Moses, God calls us to rest in the Lord each Sabbath day.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and that I, the Lord your God, rescued you by my great power and strength. That is why I command you to observe the Sabbath. (GNT: Good News Translation)

Through his prophet, the Lord reminds us that we were once slaves, rescued by God.

Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe the sabbath day. (DRA: Douay-Rheims)

Through the voice of scripture, the Lord calls us to rescue others just as we are rescued.

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence with a powerful hand and with a stretched-out arm; therefore Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to observe the sabbath day. (Darby: Darby Translation)

Through the work of Christ among us, through the consolation and power of the Spirit, the Lord Our God asks that we show mercy to all, as the Lord has shown mercy to us.

You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Adonai your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat. (CJB: Complete Jewish Bible)

When we refrain from gossiping we free others from the personality we have set in stone with our unkind words. We make room for growth in ourselves and others.

When we speak for those who have no voice we free others from the curse of invisibility. We nurture hope in the darkness.

When we include those excluded by others we open our lives – and the lives of all – to the outrageous possibilities engendered by God’s healing love. We embody mercy and compassion.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. (NRSV: New Revised Standard Version)

God, Adonai, Jehovah, the Living One, this is whom we find when we compare varying translations of this verse. God’s wisdom, Jesus’ strength, the Spirit’s compassion, these are gifts we receive and share when we consider how enormous is the love of Our God.

As we consider these verses, we might listen to Chris Tomlin’s HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBD18rsVJHk

Image from: https://owprince.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/the-sabbath-message-the-sabbath-belongs-to-god/

September 23, 2023

God’s love, hope, mercy, slavery versus freedom

John 7:32-36: Questions

Monday, April 19, 2021

John 7:32-36

Questions

In today’s Noontime we hear words from Jesus that cause his listeners, both then and now, to ask questions. Rather than stifling curiosity that will lead to a fuller understanding of his identity and purpose, Jesus initiates a sense of inquiry that continues today. Jesus frequently answers questions with further questions. Jesus regularly creates open conversations instead of shutting down curiosity. Jesus refuses to take these questions as a challenge to his divinity and instead, uses these questions to call each of us to our own divinity.

Any creed that provides firm and pat answers to all question about our relationship with God does not reflect the life Jesus lives with his followers. What we experience today is God’s invitation to open and free dialog with God’s Word. We experience the patient and compassionate Spirit that abides with us despite our reluctance to believe.

As we move further into Eastertide, let us find an hour of time to listen to an On Being podcast of an interview conducted by Krista Tippett with Avivah Zornberg, a midrash expert. (The interview was conducted on April 7, 2005 and was first aired on April 10, 2014.) We investigate the Exodus story about a people who were once honored guests who have become slaves in ancient Egypt.

“With a master of midrash as our guide, we walk through the Exodus story at the heart of Passover. It’s not the simple narrative you’ve watched at the movies or learned in Sunday school. Neither Moses or Pharaoh, nor the oppressed Israelites or even God, are as they seem. As Avivah Zornberg reveals, Exodus is a cargo of hidden stories — telling the messy, strange, redemptive truth of us as we are, and life as it is”. (On Being: http://www.onbeing.org/ April 10, 2014)

Zornberg points out that this story of flight does not happen in order that we merely re-tell or re-read it; rather, it takes place so that we will each tell a greater story of our own exodus from slavery to salvation. Listen today and think about how each of us might recount our own redemption story. Listen today and ask questions. Remember our experience of the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday Triduum in which Christ makes his own exodus, and be prepared to listen to God speak to us in a new and redemptive way.

Image from: www.bibleresearcher.org/comments/Exodus-the-crossing.html

http://www.onbeing.org/program/avivah-zornberg-the-transformation-of-pharaoh-moses-and-god/6258/audio?embed=1

Listen to the unedited version of this interview to hear how Zornberg explains God’s passion for the faithful, and the importance of women in this saga when she connects The Song of Songs and Exodus.

The image above is an object found in the Red Sea. The image of a chariot axle is superimposed. To find out more, click on the image or go to: www.bibleresearcher.org/comments/Exodus-the-crossing.html

To learn more about the midrash, go to: www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Rabbinics/Midrash.shtml

April 19, 2021

Avivah Zornberg, Exodus, Good Friday, Krista Tippett, redemption, slavery versus freedom

John 6: A Prayer for Exodus

Thursday, June 4, 2020

John 6

A Prayer for Exodus

I am the Bread of Life . . .

We are named by God, called by Christ and accompanied by the Holy Spirit in our journey here on earth.

In John 6 Jesus feeds thousands with a few pieces of food. He mystifies his apostles, disciples and followers when he appears and disappears, walks on water, shows up, slides away, and explains the mystery of his mystical Body and the Eucharist. Almost no one understands. But there are those who believe, and perhaps this is all that we need do as well. Believe. Believe and enact this belief in the way we form relationships with others. But this can be so difficult.

When we become surrounded by a relativistic society where people decide what is right and what is wrong relative to their own wishes rather than going to God in order to make their best decisions, do we still follow Christ?

When we find strained interactions with people with whom we formerly had comfortable and easy relationships, do we still rely on God to see us through the tough patches of our journey?

When we discover an ugly truth where we thought there had been beauty, do we still rely on the Spirit to bless and grace us with patience and perseverance?

When we realize that we have been too stubborn or too narrow-viewed, too backward-looking, too prideful or too self-centered in our relationships with others, where do we go for sustenance and exodus?

What will we do when Jesus offers us the manna that sustains? How do we react when we see the door to a new and transforming exodus? Why do we fear that the Spirit will abandon or disappoint us as some of our best-loved have done?

When we search for resolution of strife we become too focused on ourselves and we miss the wonderful gift we receive each day: Christ calls faithfully and waits endlessly for our reply; Christ offers not only his experience as a fellow exile but himself in body to us . . . the new manna . . . Eucharist.

Too often we hesitate as we watch many of those around us move away from the Light and Truth which Christ brings. What will we do today, tomorrow and every day when the Christ asks each of us: Do you also wish to go away? Will we slip into the shadows? Or will we respond as Peter does, saying: Where else do we go? You have the words of everlasting life.

And so we pray . . .

May we understand that we are all in Exodus, from darkness to light, from sin to reconciliation, from separation to unity, from selfishness to selflessness, from fleeting pleasure to sustaining joy, from the old to the new, from slavery to freedom.

May we come to fully comprehend that Christ is this new freedom from slavery, this new light to the darkened world, this new manna in the desert, this new communion of bread and wine, this new voice and body of love among us.

May we fully express our understanding that when we join Christ in exodus, when we form solidarity as the early apostles did, and when partake of the manna that is Christ, we become one with Christ. We are that Christ.

Lord, grant us the faith to believe you, the wisdom to know you, the hope to endure with you, the love to abide with you, and the courage to join you in Exodus. Amen.

Image rfom: http://www.begrace.org/media/follow-bread-life

Adapted from a reflection written on January 25, 2008.

June 4, 2020

bread, darkness versus light, deception versus truth, Eucharist, manna, slavery versus freedom, solidarity, Trinity

Tag: slavery versus freedom

Deuteronomy 5:15: Our God

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John 7:32-36: Questions

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John 6: A Prayer for Exodus

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