Theme/Title: Knowing God’s Heart
Scriptures: Psalm 146; Isaiah 58: 6-8; and Micah 6: 6-8
Media: YouTube video “Our Caring” by Johnson & Johnson health channel
Reflection
As persons of faith we naturally wonder: “What is it that God cares about?” We search for meaning and we look for direction as we journey the path of faithful living. In this crazy world where so many people and faith groups clamor for our support and try to show us the path of faithful living we need some guidance, some map to follow, sign posts that point the way God wants us to go.
What we seek most of all is to know God’s heart. To be able to know with some certainty what it is that God would have us be and do and the dream God has for creation. We wish God would call us on our cell-phones, send us a text, or e-mail us a message or YouTube link where we could hear from God what it is God wishes for us and creation.
Sometimes we forget that for millenniums God has been in deep, intimate relationship with people and that through these relationships God has let us know the values that God treasurers and wishes her children would treasure too. Over 4 billion people follow the teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and all three of these faiths share a deep and unequivocal understanding of the values God desires we live out in our world. A billion others follow other faith traditions but they too share a clear understanding of how it is we are to live.
Simply put, 5 billion faithful people believe that “what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” I can only speak with confidence about Judaism and Christianity but I think I can safely say that God has made it pretty clear what it is God values: “This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. (Isaiah 58:6-8 The Message). God values compassion, sharing, justice, fairness, and living rightly. God calls us to value the same things.
Meditation: Read Psalm 146 and reflect on what it tells you about the things God values.
Prayer: Pray for all those who need justice and do justice, for those who need kindness and who practice kindness, and for those who walk alone and those who walk with God.
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