The Joy of Glory

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 (click here)
“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” (Deuteronomy 24:19)

Reflection
God called the Israelites to be a people who mirrored his own loving-kindness. They were to do this not only by loving people like them… from the same socio-economic status, education level, occupation, or even ethnicity.

No.

Their loving-kindness was to extend to those who were least among them… to the foreigner sojourning in their midst… to the orphan who was not their own flesh and blood… to the widow who was not their “responsibility.”

But how were they to do this? Often, I think many of us want to love and help the least among us, but we feel powerless when it comes to knowing how to do this.

God did not leave the Israelites in the dark, nor has he left us, the church, paralyzed in our cluelessness. The Bible is replete with ways we can show God’s love toward the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. In Deuteronomy 24:19, God very practically shows his people one way such loving-kindness might be put on display.

Israel was an agrarian society. Many were farmers, and the Lord instructed them not to pick their crops clean. If they missed some while they were harvesting, they should leave it behind and allow the poor to walk through their fields and glean some for themselves.

This was not a simple hand-out, but invited those struggling into the dignity of work. This cut into the profits of these farmers for the sake of people who were struggling. It was sacrificial love that did not demean the other, but promoted and dignified them.

What does such a command teach us about the heart of God, and the call he has placed upon his people?

We may not live in a primarily agricultural society, nor are many of us farmers, but we all have “fields” of resources. More than that, we live in a culture that not only picks its fields clean for the sake of self, but has trained us to actually pick what is not there and live beyond our means!

Could it be that the radical call of God is for us to live our lives in such a way that we need not scrape together and spend every last resource we have on ourselves? Could it be that God has called us to live sacrificially that we might be less concerned with our own profits and more concerned with promoting people?

What creative ways could you dignify, love, and help the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow, if you freed up resources specifically for that purpose?

It’s fun to dream about… only it shouldn’t be a dream.

May we be a community that displays the loving-kindness of the Lord to the least of these as he displayed it to us when we were spiritually the least of these… he poured out his loving-kindness through the cross. May we put that love on display before the watching world. May we be a cruciform community.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Leviticus 25 (click here)
“And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.”

“You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the LORD your God.”

“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: [40] he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. [41] Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. [42] For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. [43] You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God.”

“For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 25:10, 17, 39-43 and 55)

Reflection
What is Cruciform Community?

Cruciform simply means cross-shaped. A community that believes, declares, and demonstrates the sacrificial love of the crucified Christ to one another and the world… that is a cross-shaped, a Cruciform Community.

God’s people have always been called to sacrificial love for one another and the world. The year of Jubilee outlined in Leviticus 25 puts this beautifully on display.

God put in place protections against oppression and injustice. The Israelites were to treat one another as family, not as economic resources to be abused for one another’s gain. The rich were not to be ruthless, but sacrificially caring toward the poor. No one could “own” anyone, because were “owned” by the Lord!

God constantly holds up himself as the pattern for his people. Through sacrifice, he redeemed them from slavery… thus, they are to be commited to one another’s redemption and freedom no matter the sacrifice! In fact, they should JUBILANTLY sacrifice for the good of each other. And, this year of Jubilie should stand as a witness to the world of the redeeming God these people serve.

There was no society like this in the ancient world, and for that matter, there is no society like it today!

But there should be.

The church looks to the cross of Christ in the same way the people of Israel looked to the Exodus. Upon the cross, Christ instituted a new Exodus for his people. Through sacrifice he led us out of slavery to sin, redeemed us and set us free.

Now, we put that sacrificial love on display toward one another. Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

And, through loving one another with a sacrificial love that reflects the cross of Christ, the world begins to catch a glimpse of what the cross looks like. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

When people look at our community, do they see a love that reminds them of the love of Christ on the cross. Does our community take on the very shape of the cross? Is our community cruciform?

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Leviticus 16:15-22 (click here)
“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.”

“And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.” (Leviticus 16:15 and 21)

Reflection
The day of atonement.

The high-holy day that came once a year for the people of Israel. This was the day when all the sins of the people from the past year would be dealt with through propitiation and done away with through expiation.

There were two goats used in the main sacrificial ceremony of this day. Once was sacrificed on behalf of the people. The rightful punishment for sin, death, was placed upon this substituted and the righteous wrath of God toward sin was propitiated.

The second goat lived, but was kicked out of camp. Symbolically carrying away the sins of the people into the wilderness… never to return. Their sins had been expiated.

However, the day of atonement had to happen again… the next year… and the next year… and the next year. It was never final. Why? “Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4)

A goat could never actually represent the people of God. A human can only represent humans. But in order for our the penalty of the peoples sin to be paid by this substitute… you would need a human with no sin of their own! The only one with no sin of their own is God himself!

God alone can pay the price for our sin, but humans alone deserve to pay it! We need a God-man! We need Jesus!

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. [12] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11-12)

Wrath propitiated.

Sin expiated.

Forever!

For his people! We often miss that! Yes, Jesus died for you as an individual, but even deeper than that, he died for his people! Christ loved his bride, the church, and gave himself up for her!

Don’t miss the cruciform community aspect of the day of atonement and the Gospel… through the sacrifice of Christ, we are bound together as a community of sinners first. Sinners who see their need for a savior. And then, we are gloriously redeemed as the people of God! We become, together, a community of saints!

The cross binds us together as the bride of Christ! Have you embraced all that the sacrifice of Christ purchased for you? Not just personal propitiation and expiation, but communal participation?

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.