Own Your Faith

We all quote the verse "love your neighbor as yourself," but do we follow through with it? When we are able and willing to see ourselves in who is the neighbor we will likely treat them with the dignity they deserve. This message delves into how we ought to view and treat the less fortunate and the immigrants among us. Leviticus 19:15-16, 33-35 | James 2:1-9

You've heard the phrase "hurt people hurt people." I once heard a pastor share that "free people free people." This is a profound truth. As we are free in Christ our mission, like Jesus's mission (Luke 4:14-19), is to free others from the bondage of sin and systems of oppression constructed by humanity. Leviticus 19:13 clearly instructs not to oppress our neighbor. We must ask ourselves how are we contributing to the oppression or freedom of others through how we do relationships, how we vote, or how we speak out or remain silent about issues that impact people's lives.

Leviticus begins with a list of rituals that the people of God should enact that dramatizes and concretizes what they understand about God. Those rituals should then translate to ethical living. How Israel was called to live with each other and the stranger/alien/immigrant was an extension or continuation of the rituals that made up their worship. This message looks at God's commands to not steal, cheat, or lie and to not swear by God's name. Jesus in Matt 5:33-37 says to not even take an oath at all. Let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no" be "no." In other words, if you have integrity there is no need to swear or make an oath, just keep your word.

Yahweh built into the Mosaic law making margins for those who are vulnerable in the community. Do we as individuals and collectively as a nation build grace into the margins so that all would share in the blessings of God; that the shalom of the community is experienced a reality.

God's love is an otherworldly kind of love. It is out of God's holiness that God loves the way God does. Justice is a central theme in Scripture, especially the Old Testament. Justice is how God loves the vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed in society. Justice is a holy love. Leviticus 19, in the midst of the Holiness Code in that book, describes the imperative of being holy as God is holy and then describes right living with one's neighbors. This is also what holiness looks like, how we love and embody justice.

Peace (shalom) is the heart of God. Justice is the mission of Christ. It is the advocacy for and execution of justice in society that allows for true peace and wellbeing (shalom) within creation. The two are not mutually exclusive. Jeremiah gives the people of God hope while they are in exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:11). Isaiah (Isaiah 58) confronts the people of God because their fasting (worship) doesn't match their actions (injustice). When we know justice we'll know the peace of God.

God's law demanded that Old Testament Israelites paid restitution plus 20% for what they unlawfully took from a neighbor. In the NT Zacchaeus (Luke 18) expressed the same OT attitude and Roman law to pay back restitution plus four times what he took from the people by fraud as a tax collector. What does that look like today? Does that apply in group dynamics or when an institution wrongs a person or group? Let's look at what it means to "make things ALL the way right."

Numbers 5:5-8 | Leviticus 6:4-8 | Luke 19:1-8

God doesn't just expect us to have personal ethics that are fair and just reflecting his character. God also expects a community or nation who claims to be a Christian community or nation to reflect God's character as well. One way to see that is in the laws that are written. Laws "do not change people's hearts, but they regulate behavior" ~ ML King. Laws have the capacity to cause conditions that people live in. God's laws only produce life. Isaiah 10:1

Seeking God should be more than just what we do in our times of personal piety (prayer, meditation, solitude, worship, etc.), but it is also when we engage in the things that matter to God like justice and compassion. Isaiah 1:7 clearly tells us to "seek justice." Those are spaces we will encounter God. Jesus said "whatever you do [or don't do] to the least of these you do [or don't do] to me" (Matthew 25). Seek God by seeking justice. Isaiah 1:17

Ines takes us on a journey through the parable of the Samaritan man to illustrate what love in public looks like. She challenges us to not be like the priest and Levite and walk away from the wounded, but to model the Samaritan man and enter the space of the "other" and be willing to pay the cost to assure their full healing. This is where justice happens; in public, in uncomfortable spaces, and where it costs.