(Audio)
For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us;
rather, he has turned the good will
of the kings of Persia toward us.
We can rely on God more than we believe we can. He has not abandoned us though we may feel abandoned. We may well feel like Israel, captive to hostile powers, slaves to governments with no interest in justice or in mercy. We may feel captive to consumerism and the desire for entertainment that leaves no place in our lives for the worship of God. But no matter our captivity, the LORD can give us freedom. The circumstances lead us to believe that we are too far gone. But we are a house that God can restore from the ruins. He can brighten our eyes and give us new life.
He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
We want to try to plan the spread of the Kingdom of God ourselves. In our own hearts and in our missions in the world we are too obsessed with preparation and not enough about the actual doing. Part of this is because we are too insistent that someone is there to cater to our fine-grained preferences that might us go from house to house looking for just the right place.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
Part of our problem is that we are too afraid of rejection.
And as for those who do not welcome you,
when you leave that town,
shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.
We do want our eyes brightened. We do want new life again. So we need to trust in the ability of the LORD to act even in our exile and our captivity. We need to trust his plan is good and that he himself will provide for it. We need to pursue it recklessly, throwing concern for our preferences and our own fears of rejection to the wayside. This is how the restoration happens. This is how the Kingdom is built.
Then they set out and went from village to village
proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
What is a small step we can take toward this goal today? Let's ask Jesus to reveal that to us.
Praise him, you children of Israel, before the Gentiles,
for though he has scattered you among them,
he has shown you his greatness even there.
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