June 25, 2008

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

II. Selections
Psalm 4:8
I will both lie down and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.

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

Romans 4:17b
...in the presence of the God in whom [ Abraham] believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Matthew 20:15
" ' ...Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' ... " [ The landowner to the laborers in the vineyard]

III. Meditation: To stand between the dead and the living

To those who do not deserve generosity-
ourselves included- you are generous;
but when you show compassion to others,
we become envious. Forgive our envy.

Your compassion does not fit the picture
of an angry God who with the plague
slew thousands for questioning authority;
but you did send one to stand between
the dead and the living. Through him
you give life to the dead and call into
existence the things that do not exist.

Because of him we can lie down and sleep
in peace, for you make us lie down in safety.