The Joy of Glory

Psalm 82 (click here)
God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:1-4)

Reflection
A community lament… a communal cry to the Lord…

…that is what is at the heart of Psalm 82.

God has taken up his place in the midst of human rulers (“gods”) who are oppressing the people, being partial to the wicked, and neglecting the needy.  The Lord calls out to them for repentance and true justice. When the community sings this Psalm, their voices unite with the voice of God and they are reminded that the Lord is with them and for them… and that he is also gracious… even to unjust rulers.

Of course we can’t relate to this at all today. We have no corrupt leaders who seek their own gain at the expense of the people they are supposed to be serving. Our globe is now blessed with completely just and fair rulers.

Pardon my immense sarcasm.

The real question is does the church take up the communal cry of Psalm 82 on behalf of our world… or do we seek to align ourselves with those in power so that we might be beneficiaries of their partiality?

All too often, Christian community is tempted to ingratiate itself to corrupt powers instead of prophetically calling them out for their oppression. It’s true that it is costly to speak out against corruption… but sacrificing ourselves for the sake of those who cannot help themselves is exactly what it means to be a cruciform community.

Will we be silent as long as the “powers that be” are “for” us… or will we cry out as a community and bear witness to the heart of God no matter what it costs us? Will we be a cruciform community?

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

Psalm 78:1-8 (click here)
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done. (Psalm 78:1-4)

Reflection
Every community has a narrative.

Our country, our state, our city, our neighborhood… they all have a narrative… a story that explains what has happened in the past to lead up to the present, and that likely foreshadows where the community will head in the future.

And communities innately understand that part of their responsibility is to teach this narrative to the next generation. I’ve began learning American history the moment I set foot in a public-school classroom. Growing up in Georgia, we had an entire segment of our social studies dedicated to Georgia history. On and on the retelling of history goes.

We all understand ourselves as part of a larger story.

Why?

Perhaps it is because we were created as part of a larger story… a grand narrative written by the creator himself. Perhaps we are a part of God’s story.

This is precisely what Scripture unfolds… the grand story of God through creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. And we are a part of this story! Apart from this story, we cannot understand the world, our current place in history, or where we are headed! If we lose this story, we will lose ourselves and the very meaning of our lives.

This is why the Psalmist calls for the story of God’s glorious deeds to be told to the coming generation! They must not forget who there God is, what he has done, and what he will do! The coming generation must not forget who they are and what their purpose is as a part of God’s people!

This is why we, the church, gather week after week to re-hear and rehearse the story of God’s great Gospel! It is this story that shapes how we view God, the world, ourselves, and the goal of all things!

Will we, as a community, tell this story to the coming generation? Are you being a part of God’s story by sharing it as it was shared with you? Part of belonging to a cruciform community is sharing the story that makes us cruciform with the coming generation. Who can you share the Gospel with today? What younger Christian can you come alongside and help them to be shaped by the story of God’s glory in the Gospel?

“…tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done…”

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

Psalm 41 (click here)
Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him…

All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever. (Psalm 41:1, 7, 9, and 11-12)

Reflection
Everyone I know has had a bad experience with community… even (or maybe even “especially) Christian community.

You have poured out your heart and soul into a particular people. You’ve loved, not perfectly, but truly with the love of Christ.

Then… it happens.

Hurt. Insult. Slander. Betrayal.

Put whatever label on it you want, at the end of the day the would is deep, difficult to heal, and even potentially deadly to your trust in community at all.

In Psalm 41, this is the situation of the Psalmist as he cries out in lament. He has loved a community… poured himself out, especially for the poor and marginalized. He’s cared for them, most likely financially and physically. He has done everything right… so surely the community will do right by him.

But then the slander begins… this whispers and ill wishes.

Then the unthinkable happens. The wounds begin to come from friends… and not the faithful kind (Proverbs 27:6). No. This is friendly fire from the one you used to break bread with… now they are breaking you. You’ve been kicked to the ground by the community and now even your friend raises his heel to step on you like everyone else.

What are we to do when we find ourselves betrayed and beaten? Do we forsake the community of God as we feel it has forsaken us? Do we give up being faithful to God because we feel like his faithfulness has failed?

That is not the solution of the Psalmist!

It’s true that perhaps he needed to be removed from that specific expression of community, and there are times and situations when we will have to remove ourselves from specific churches… but the Psalmist doesn’t just forsake the people of God as a whole and neither should we.

How does he do this?

He holds on to God’s faithfulness believing that his enemies (even those he once counted as friends) will not ultimately triumph! He looks forward in faith to the day when all wrongs will be righted and he will be set in the presence of God forever among a faithful people, a perfected community!

This is the vision we need in order to keep on pressing into community even when we get hurt or we are the ones who do the hurting. We need a vision of the love God has shown to us through the cross of Christ!

Jesus loved us, even as we raised our heels against him. In John 13:18, Christ actually quoted this Psalm in reference to Judas. Yet, he still washed Judas feet and went to the cross out of love for the one who betrayed him.

Broken Christian community is the only kind there is… and we each contribute to it’s brokenness. When we are loved by this community, and we love the community back… we put on display the love of Christ… we love like a cruciform community.
 

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