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Bible Readings for Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

– The Week of The 15th Sunday After Pentecost *Click on each bible passage to expand the text. Psalm 28 1. [Of David.] To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

2. Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

3. Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who are workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts.

4. Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward.

5. Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, or the work of his hands, he will break them down and build them up no more.

6. Blessed be the LORD, for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.

7. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

8. The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9. O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever. Judges 16:23-31 23. Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.”

24. When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.”

25. And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, and let him entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars;

26. and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.”

27. Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed.

28. Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

29. And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.

30. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life.

31. Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years. Matthew 9:2-8 2. And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

3. Then some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

4. But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

5. For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

6. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he then said to the paralytic– “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.”

7. And he stood up and went to his home.

8. When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever. – Psalm 28

When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings. – Matthew 9:8

Sin and Sickness

In ancient Palestine, the condition of one’s health and their state of sin were directly and inexorably connected. Disease and mental illness were the direct result of sin, or so the rabbis taught.

What a poor and pitiable condition for a society! Instead of teaching tenets of compassion that would lay a foundation of care and empathy for the sick or disabled, instead they inculcated a instinctive derision, a built-in prejudice against those that hadn’t received a fair shake in life.

Instead of, “Oh, no! We must make our paralyzed brother’s life as good as possible”, you would have heard, “Let him work out his own way, for he brought this upon himself.”

Shame on a society that blames the weak and low for their struggles. Even those in prison were often driven there by circumstances of their lives: the molested daughter turns to drugs and is arrested for possession. The addict who kills for money. The molester who was molested himself. The murderer who was abused and neglected by his mother.

All of these circumstances were created by a society that then blames the victim/perpetrator for their “bad choices”.

But, it’s easy to point a finger… until it’s pointing at you.

Modern Advancements?

Good thing we’ve advanced to be a more compassionate society today, right?

Wrong. We’re even worse.

2,000 years ago, the vast majority of the world population lived the life of a peasant – sustenance living and no more - whereas today, the majority of this country lives in relative splendor, far greater than sustenance living. And yet it in America, the richest nation in the history of the world, that you hear the public crying out for this:

Blitzer: “Are you saying that society should just let him die?” Audience: “Yes!”

Yes?

Yes??

There were folks there that night that screamed “YES!” and cheered the question that society should let the less fortunate die. Ironically, Ron Paul’s answer was “no” and then he went on to outline how it is society who should care for the less fortunate. But there are those in this country that do not understand this.

I agree that an able-bodied, healthy, gainfully employed thirty-year-old should carry health insurance. I do. But should we really be comfortable demanding death as a consequence for stupidity? I assure you, that some of those who yelled “yes” that night ate too much red meat, or pork. Or smoked. Or drank too much. When their “health chickens” come home to roost, do you suppose they would still be so willing to levy death for stupidity?

I assure you, they would not.

This is the only point God was trying to make through Yeshua. We have the human authority to forgive sins, and to forgive stupidity.

Yeshua’s peers thought disease was the result of sin. So he showed them how to forgive sin and therefore have the agency to cure disease. Today, society thinks disease is the result of poor choices, aka stupidity, so Yeshua now shows us how to forgive stupidity.

This is the cure for stupidity:

John 13 34. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Matthew 7 12. So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Someday you will do something extremely selfish and stupid. Would you want society to say, “Let them die”?

No, you would not. Therefore, you must give that charity and grace to other stupid people now, so that you will have set precedent for your own day of need down the road.

We must love others as Yeshua loved us.

Yeshua never said, “Let them die.”