Today's Scripture Reading (January 11, 2022): Deuteronomy 10
There has to be something that
each side can offer that the other side wants or needs in every agreement. It is the background to every diplomatic endeavor
and the
foundation of every interpersonal
disagreement. If you have nothing I want or need, you will find it hard to deal with me. And that is the way it
is on an international stage, just as it is on an interpersonal level. To get the
deal, you have to possess something that someone else wants.
It is also the basis for our capitalistic system.
Goods and services are sold based on supply and demand. And prices are set, and they are lower when supply is higher than the
demand, and prices are higher when the demand for a product outstrips the
supply. (Gas
prices are often a good example of this phenomenon.)
There is an adage that everyone has a
price for which they can be bought. Maybe that is true, but the reality is that
the only way anyone can be purchased is if someone has something that the one
being bribed or the seller wants. During the Crusades, the currency was often the
forgiveness of sins. Warriors from Europe went on journeys to fight in the Holy Land with the promise from Christian priests that all of their sins, including the past, present, and future sins, would be forgiven if
they went. The Crusaders believed that they had made an agreement with the
Almighty, a bribe that meant that they would not have to worry about sins
committed as long as they went to battle against the infidels in the Holy Land. The assumption seemed to be that what
God desired more than anything else from his creation was that the Christians would be in control of a small piece
of land on the East side of the Mediterranean Sea. When you think of it, it
seems to be a silly proposition. The Crusaders committed sins, not just against Muslims but also against Jews and
Christians alike, and anyone else who the Crusaders felt stood in their way of
completing their portion of the bribe.
But the Crusaders had believed a lie. God shows no
partiality and accepts no bribes. And if our minds struggle to get around this
idea, maybe we should approach it from a different angle. What is it that we
possess that God wants or that he doesn't already have? And the answer is nothing; absolutely everything
that we think is of value, God created. We have to return once again to the
words of Micah. "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require
of you? To
act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"
(Micah 6:8). The only bribe that God is willing to accept is a life lived well,
one that considers the plight of the poor and weak, that extends mercy to those
who need it, and is willing to simply walk humbly with him. These are the
things that God wants from us. We are, and always have been, nothing more than
beggars asking for a crust of bread and sinners in great need of the grace of
the one who created us.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 11
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