Live Justly, Love Mercy

In this period of the year, many churches are reflecting on the time when by Scripture and tradition Jesus was most representative of man in carrying our sins to death.  The cross is covered, and the message culminating in a period during which God was absent from man form until resurrection.  

Many don't understand why this took place.  And, many do not accept that any man's death could satisfy debt and why it would even be necessary.

Recall that when Moses was coming into the presence of God, he was told to cover his face, because if he saw God's holiness he'd die.  Why would that be necessary?  To understand this, you must look to justice.  

I'm sure many of you have had others wrong you in some major ways.  I know I definitely have.  Our hearts cry out for the balance of justice.  That's the basis for our own justice system in every country.  There must be a consequence for those actions to make up for the evil that was done.  Humans naturally fear a day of judgment for their sins, because how can they look upon the face of God with things done to God's creatures.

Meanwhile, God is over there wanting to connect with God's children in love.  How can the two be reconciled?  How can God be present with those God loves, and how can man face God?  So, God designed a system where the debt for every single was laid upon God.  Then, anyone that repents and accepts that payment has that debt covered.  Any victim can point to Christ as the payment and walk in to God without fear.

This act does not mean no debt was due.  Just like Jesus being unworthy of audience with God during the sacrifice, we are unworthy without God.  

So.. my message would simply be this in this week, as Scripture says itself.  Do justly , because you love mercy and being unworthy live worthy lives based in gratitude and love and not by command.  Personally, that is a sum of faith to me.

Protected

I was answering questions in a group, today, and they asked what we wanted to be when we were young.  People put teacher, nurse, various superhero names, and I put cop.  Oddly, none of the accountants in our group put accountant, which is hilarious.  But, yeah... I watched all the Police Academy movies, wore a Miami Vice half sleeve shirt like Don Johnson, watched Magnum PI, Equalizer, Chips, Lethal Weapon, and many many other cop movies and shows.  Even as I have empathy, I've always had a need to balance it with justice for those wrong.  It would also inspire me to join the military and consider being a lawyer.

Today, I was thinking of another threat from which people need protection... one that I think has slipped from modern minds, because the last big example of it is decades old.  Do you remember the Enron scandal?  Enron was a Texas company that hid its debt from investors.  When it collapsed, a HUGE number of retirement funds of older people and more lost huge sums of their money.  Similarly, a man named Bernie Madoff schemed thousands of people out of money in a ponzi scheme and defrauded accounting.

The trend of late is to attack the government as bad and desire less of it.  However, these and others in my mind show it might, actually, need to be expanded.  I've put some government links to things you already use on the side panel of my blog, but the defense of people from those that would cheat to get rich at the expense of others is also a very worthy cause.  And, I'm very glad to support it.