June 28, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 4, 15, 48
Numbers 16:36-50
Romans 4:13-25
Matthew 20:1-16

II. Selections
Psalm 4:4
When you are disturbed, do not sin;
ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Selah

Numbers 16:48
Aaron stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stopped.

Romans 4:13
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Matthew 20:13
" ...But [ the landowner] replied to one of [ those who had labored all day], 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? ... '"

III. Meditation: Through faith, not law, the promise comes

I think of you as God of mercy,
not God whose wrath at complainers
must be placated, lest you slay
thousands with the plague.

(According to the psalmist,
when disturbed we should not sin,
but ponder it on our beds
and be silent.)

I have to admit, it is a powerful image
to think of Aaron standing on the line
between the living and the dead,
attempting to appease you.

But swinging a censer in your face
to calm you down
hardly seems the way
to go about it.

For legalism is not your style.
The last to find you
is at least as welcome as the first;
through faith, not law, the promise comes.