The Joy of Glory

Ezekiel 16:48-49 
As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Reflection
Ego… excess… ease… a dangerous and damning combination.

When we think of the sin of Sodom our minds quickly turn to sexual ethics… and that is not unjustified. However, the story of Sodom is larger than just Genesis 19. The prophet Ezekiel points out their prideful self-indulgence in all areas of life… and the more they centered on themselves, the more harm they did to others.

Much like the exploitation described in Genesis 19 was for their own pleasure at the expense of others, Ezekiel 16 describes their exploitation of wealth and excess for their own ease… all at the expense of the poor and the needy.

And the prophet brings all of this up for the purposes of comparison. He is speaking to God’s people and telling them that for all its sins, Sodom was not nearly as evil as they have become. The people of God mirrored and magnified the ego, excess, and ease of Sodom. They mirrored and magnified Sodom’s exploitation of the poor and the needy.

This should not be the story of God’s people for it is not the story of our God! The Gospel goes against this grain in proclaiming a Christ who left behind his eternal riches and glory to come to us, poor and needy sinners. He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

He made himself poor that we might become eternally rich in him!

This is the Gospel, the good news of grace that we embrace by faith! This is the news that God’s people are called to mirror and magnify… not through ego, but humility… not through excess, but sacrifice… not through ease, but at any cost we mirror and magnify the cross as a cruciform community.

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

Isaiah 1:21-23 
How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

Reflection
Well this is a pretty picture… isn’t it?

It’s funny to me how passages such as Isaiah 1:21-23 can be so shocking to people, as if something like this should not even be in the Bible. I mean… isn’t the Bible just a collection of encouraging sayings that make good inspirational posters, magnets, or mugs?

Hardly.

Scripture is brutally honesty, and when the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah, his words were like a mirror so that the people of God saw themselves as they really were… and the picture was anything but pretty.

A whore. He called them a whore.

The Lord’s relationship with his people was often described as being like a marriage. He was the groom and the people were his bride. Thus, anytime they forsook him for other gods, their behavior was nothing less than adultery toward God which led to abuse toward others.

They had been a community of justice, but now they were murders, rebels, and thieves. They now loved bribes and gain at the expense of the fatherless and the widow… the helpless and marginalized in society.

All of this came as a result and stood as evidence of their adultery against the Lord.

As a community, our treatment of one another is evidence of the current state of our relationship with the Lord. Love for the Lord leads to love of others (John 14:15 +15:12), but adultery against the Lord leads to abuse of others.

What does your treatment of your bothers and sisters in Christ say about your relationship with Christ today?

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

Word-Centered Community
2 Timothy 3:13-4:5 (click here)
On Sundays during Lent, there will not be an email devotional because I actually preach on the passage for that day. If you would like to listen to today’s sermon, you can find it on iTunes by searching for “Shades Valley Community Church” or simply click here.