July 18-19
“He had no beauty to attract us to Him.” Isaiah 53:2
From the very beginning of time God made all people equal and in His image. He also gave us choice – the power to accept, or reject. A choice the powers that be exercised to the full, resulting in the death of Christ on the cross. On the cross the outward beauty of Christ had become an ugly, gory sight and He became an object of scorn and derision. Yet, Calvary was the most awesome scene, and over the centuries, has been the source of hope and comfort for the downtrodden and outcasts of our society. The cross empowers marginalised people everywhere – people, who in a world that worships perfection and success, are tagged as spongers, nerds, and losers. We all know them, we rub shoulders every day, whether they be sick, disabled, homeless, addicts, or one of the many people today surviving on handouts from food banks to feed their families. People like Christ on the cross, suffering unspeakable physical, emotional and psychological pain.
Nancy Eisland writes: “I saw God in a sip-puff wheelchair, that is, the chair used mostly by quadriplegics, enabling them to manoeuvre by blowing and sucking on a straw-like device. Not an omnipotent and self-sufficient God, but neither a pitiable suffering servant. In this moment I beheld God as a survivor, unpitying and forthright. I recognised the incarnate Christ in the image of those judged 'not feasible,' 'unemployable,' with 'questionable quality of life.' Here was God for me.”
('The Disabled God: towards a Liberatory Theology of Disability,' 1994. p.89)
Paradoxically, the cross reflects strength, not weakness, as do those disenfranchised and rejected by society. May we have the compassion of Christ, see each other through His eyes, and love our neighbours as ourselves.
Bryn has chosen a wonderful song for today, - “I Will Serve Thee”, presented by The Booth Brothers. Click on the picture to listen.
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Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
