Scripture: Genesis 21:8-21 and Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 • Jeremiah 20:7-13 and Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18 • Romans 6:1b-11 • Matthew 10:24-39
"His
eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches over me." Words from a
favorite hymn. In this week's scripture, from Hagar's despair over her
son, Ishmael, cast out in the desert and death of her son looming, to
Jeremiah's lament, to Jesus telling the disciples that God cares for
them as he sends them out to take his message of love and forgiveness to
a hostile world, we learn that God sees, hears, is present, and
provides. God knows when every sparrow falls, and every hair on our
heads is counted, Jesus tells us. And what about that hostile world and our greatest fears? How is God with us? What does God's peace mean for us? Read Debie Thomas' essay, "What to Fear."
In "Sent," The Rev. Joslyn Ogden Shaefer says Jesus sends out his disciples to interrupt the world-as-they (we)-know it with new possibilities for healing, wholeness, truth-telling, and repaired relationships.
There
will be storms and battles, but, thanks be to God, through Christ,
there will be victory, even victory over death. Read "Ishmael: God Hears and Sees," by Dan Clendenin and "Facing battles with the promise of victory," by The Rev. Canon Frank S. Logue.
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