27 April 2010
Psalm 45; Exod. 32:21-34; 1 Thess. 1:1-10; Matt. 5:11-16

Aaron disappoints as a high priestly representative of the people, blaming them for his own sin and failure of leadership and then ultimately denying his complicity in the creation of the idols, “So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off ‘; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Really, is that what happened? What actually happened was he took an engraving tool and fashioned these calves before throwing the gold into the fire, his guilt was as great as their own, his sins needed to be atoned for as well as theirs, he could not claim righteousness. Here, the Levites rise to the occasion, defending the honor of the Lord. It seems, based on the parenthetic in verse 25, that the Israelites conduct was seen by “their enemies.” They are to represent Him to the world and Moses knows that this is a serious transgression and the Levites rise to the defense of the Lord, even to the extent that they are willing to kill friends and brothers for the sake of the Name of the Lord. Moses makes intercession for the people but the judgment is sealed on those who have sinned and the Lord can no longer be among them.

Being reviled and persecuted on account of Jesus is not something that we experience day to day in America. There are regularly letters to the editor of our local newspaper bashing Christians but I don’t have to read them. No one has reviled me personally for my faith nor have I been persecuted. This, however, does happen all over the world, Christians are rejected and ostracized by their families and in some cases put to death for their faith. We need to pray daily for those whose faith puts them at risk of persecution, prison and death. We need also to recall that we are to be salt and light in our communities wherever we go, to the grocery store, the gym, restaurants, libraries, athletic competitions, etc. There is a distinctively Christian way of being, the way of love, and wherever Jesus went, people, often the worst sinners, were drawn to Him.

Here Paul tells the Thessalonians that this distinctive lifestyle was part of the Gospel he preached among them, they saw what sort of people he and his team were as they ministered among them. Paul encourages them in their imitation of him and his team and tells them that they then proved to be examples for others in the region. We are to stand up and stand out for Christ. Rodney Stark, a sociologist studying the growth of Christianity in the first centuries after the death of Jesus, has found that by their example of caring for others Christians showed a different way of being that was attractive to those around them and accounted for a major portion of the church’s growth. How could we do the same in our time and in our place? Who needs us to care for them in our communities and how can we as a community reach out to them?

My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.