War On Terror
A reading for Wednesday, December 16, 2015: Psalm 107.
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;" Psalm 107 reminds us over and over again that this is who the Lord our God is. Our God is good and his steadfast love (hesed) endures forever! Our God is the one who saves us. There is no other way.
I know you are afraid, but we cannot be led by our fear and self-preservation. Those that are enemies to peace thrive on such things, even to their own peril. Chaos comes from darkness and fear, as it was in the beginning, and God said "let there be light and there was light." From the beginning, our God was saving us from fear and from chaos.
The truth is we are indeed fighting a "war on terror," and we who trust in God have a mandate in how we will engage the enemies of chaos and fear. Now is the time for us to lead. There is no other way. If we fight terror in another way, we will never defeat it and we will continue to fight it again and again. If we operate out of fear, we have already lost.
The Stated Clerk of the PCUSA said it this way, "The way to end terror is to prove that those who demonize us are wrong. We are not a heartless secular culture. We must witness to the Gospel with generous hospitality. To hide in fear is a mistake. Fear is the ammunition of terror. Hope is the best defense."
The way to fight terror and chaos is to live fully Psalm 107. Put your trust in God as many others have. In our trouble, we must cry out to the Lord, and God will bring us out of our distress. Our God is the one who saves all. We hope in God who calls us not to fight terror on the terms of the enemies of peace, but to wage witness to the Gospel in all we say and do. God will deliver us from our fear.
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;"
We are not a people hunkered down in the fear of terror, but a people fully engaged in the hope of our God. A people not lured into the chaos of conflict, but a people grounded and saved by the love of Jesus Christ. We are God's people. Let's act like it...
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;" Psalm 107 reminds us over and over again that this is who the Lord our God is. Our God is good and his steadfast love (hesed) endures forever! Our God is the one who saves us. There is no other way.
I know you are afraid, but we cannot be led by our fear and self-preservation. Those that are enemies to peace thrive on such things, even to their own peril. Chaos comes from darkness and fear, as it was in the beginning, and God said "let there be light and there was light." From the beginning, our God was saving us from fear and from chaos.
The truth is we are indeed fighting a "war on terror," and we who trust in God have a mandate in how we will engage the enemies of chaos and fear. Now is the time for us to lead. There is no other way. If we fight terror in another way, we will never defeat it and we will continue to fight it again and again. If we operate out of fear, we have already lost.
The Stated Clerk of the PCUSA said it this way, "The way to end terror is to prove that those who demonize us are wrong. We are not a heartless secular culture. We must witness to the Gospel with generous hospitality. To hide in fear is a mistake. Fear is the ammunition of terror. Hope is the best defense."
The way to fight terror and chaos is to live fully Psalm 107. Put your trust in God as many others have. In our trouble, we must cry out to the Lord, and God will bring us out of our distress. Our God is the one who saves all. We hope in God who calls us not to fight terror on the terms of the enemies of peace, but to wage witness to the Gospel in all we say and do. God will deliver us from our fear.
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;"
We are not a people hunkered down in the fear of terror, but a people fully engaged in the hope of our God. A people not lured into the chaos of conflict, but a people grounded and saved by the love of Jesus Christ. We are God's people. Let's act like it...
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