This week we begin worship with:
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Other verses command us to love. The last phrase of this verse gives us the reason to love.
Speaking to Jews, who had been just redeemed from the slavery of Egypt, they were told to love sojourners because they, themselves, were sojourners. They had been in that same condition.
Stepping forward to today, one could metaphorically say we are still sojourners. We are waiting for our redemption. But that does not parallel this verse. Our sojourning has not ended, so it is not the reason to love others.
If said to us today, the reason to love the unlovable is that we too were once dead in our sins. We were once just as guilty, just as messy, just as rebellious. It is the reason to love.
No comments:
Post a Comment