Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Thus says the Lord

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Reflecton on 30: 21

Thus says the Lord:
His leader shall come from Jacob
and his ruler shall come from his kin.
When I summon him
he shall approach me.
You shall be my people
And I shall be your God.


The phrase “Thus says the Lord’ strikes me as being very powerful. When I hear it I want to sit up and listen.

 
It reminds me of that E.F. Hutton commercial. There would be some kind of function, abuzz with activity, a piano player, glasses clinking and dozens of conversations going all at once. The camera zooms in on one of the conversations and a man says “My broker is E.F. Hutton and E.F. Hutton says…” And everything stops. There is complete silence in the room – everyone wants to know what E.F. Hutton has to say.

 
“Thus says the Lord.” Who takes notice when God speaks? Do I? Do I notice all the different ways God calls me to pay attention?
 
The homeless cry out, “Thus says the Lord, pay attention to me!”
The hungry cry out, “Thus says the Lord, feed me!”

The grieving cry out, “Thus says the Lord, comfort me!”

The war weary cry out, “Thus says the Lord, give us peace!”

The prisoner cries out, “Thus says the Lord, set me free!”

The abused, the addicted, the elderly, the orphan, the ridiculed, the outcast, the lonely, our own families all cry out, “pay attention to me.” Do we?

Unlike the E.F. Hutton commercial the world does not grind to a halt to listen to what the Lord has to say. Why? Because feeding the hungry won’t fill our own bellies, and listening to the poor won’t help our own bank account grow.

God is calling – it is a summons. A summons is not a take it or leave it proposition. It must be answered. We can respond either in the affirmative or the negative. It is our choice to make.

But it seems that from this scripture passage God has full confidence in us to respond properly. We need to have the courage and confidence to listen and respond to God’s call in the people who cry out to us in their need.

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