Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19
The mercy that God desires is as often about not doing things as about actively seeking compassion. Mercy is not charging interest on loans, not preventing people from picking at your cornfield, not sending newlyweds to war, not adversely affecting people’s livelihoods, not taking advantage of contractors and not making efficient use of every last piece of your property. Mercy seems to be about slanting your daily operations so that they are open to others, so that others can engage and exchange with you and benefit from all that you have. This kind of mercy is what we see Yahweh showing time and time again in the Old Testament and what we see Jesus embodying in the New. God could have run everything very nicely on his own but he chose to open up himself so we could engage with Him, he has opened up his Kingdom so that we can chew on his grapes and borrow without accruing a debt. How open is my day to others? Oh God, please would you make me more merciful.
Luke 16:19-17:10
People have done all sort with the parable of Lazarus but I think the important thing with parables is always to focus on the decision that Jesus is pushing in people’s faces rather than on the inner workings of the story. What I think packs a bigger punch today is the little section about the ploughing servant that follows the Lazarus thing. It’s always been a Vineyard thing that we are just servants, that we are just loose change in the pocket of God. It sounds catchy but when you try to like it it does feel a bit like you are being emasculated by crushing (as is mentioned in Deuteronomy 23:1). I find that I love admiration and praise. I regularly come in from the field and sit at the table with a smug grin waiting for Jesus to fry me a burger. I need to deeply deeply repent of this gross presumption and self-obsession. Jesus is the master and that is a 24-7 reality; we lost our rights when we was bought with blood. I think that Jesus is asking us again to prepare his supper and to wait on his table. It is servant stuff, but there is no better place to spend your days.
Psalm 45:10-17
Can I be honest - I’ve got nothing on this one.
