ONE GOD AND FATHER OF US ALL

“Then the LORD called to Moses and said,
‘Thus shall you tell the Israelites:
You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians
and how I bore you up on eagle wings
and brought you here to myself.
If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’” Ex 19:5-6

How fatherly is God toward the Israelites as they are fleeing enslavement and journeying almost aimlessly through the desert toward the unknown! God tells them through Moses: Remember how I protected you and “bore you up and brought you here to myself.” And all God asked of them was that they (and we) enter into a covenantal relationship with God, that they trust this awesome, wise, loving, protecting Father of Fathers.

And then God even sent His Son.

“At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.’ Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness” Matthew 9:36 – 10:1

As we celebrate Father’s Day, let us remember the Father of all Fathers whose “special possession” each of us is.

THE CHOSEN

Many of you have told me of your experiences watching the Angel Studio’s Series, The Chosen, and how that has supported and further your understanding of Jesus and his possible  interaction with his disciples. Thanks to your sharing, I, too, am profiting from watching the series.

Here is a scene from the Season Two, Episode 8, The Mountain in which Jesus has taken Matthew, the tax collector, to a plain overlooking the disciples’ camp, in order to work on Jesus’ upcoming Sermon on the Mount. An insight I gained from the sections 19:10 – 23:35 is how we, like the Israelites listening to Moses and Matthew listening to Jesus, sidestep the message being delivered to us, probably so that we don’t have to change our current comfortable way of thinking and going about our everyday living – our wandering in the desert. Surely this is not “hearkening to God’s voice” or “keeping God’s covenant” – our marriage-contract-like agreement to live a life devoted to God.

Here is a link to this Season Two, Episode 8 video. Slide forward to play minute:second 9:10 – 23:35. What do you “hear” Jesus and Matthew saying?

Also look at 30:40 – 34:09 –  Jesus awakens Matthew to tell him that he has come up with an opening for the Sermon on the Mount. It is a map indicating where people should look to find Jesus. What is God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) revealing to the true you as you listen?

(Spoiler alert: The map showing where Jesus can be found is the being with the current day disciples and the people they are serving.)

Happy Father’s Day.

Sister Loretta