Prayer

Shepherd of Israel,
may Jesus, Emmanuel and son of Mary,
be more than just a dream in our hearts.
With the apostles, prophets, and saints,
save us, restore us,
and lead us in the way of grace and peace,
that we may bear your promise into the world. Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 96

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
² Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³ Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
⁴ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹ Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;^[a]
tremble before him, all the earth!

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.”

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²     let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
¹³     before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Meditation

Jesus comes with equity.  It is the way that He judges.  He is creating for Himself a new people but in coming He does not come with equality or fairness.  He comes with equity.  Each person in their uniquely God created self will receive Christ in just the way they need too in order to obtain the salvation and righteousness they need.  Jesus is the way to the Father but He is not staid or ridged.  Jesus knows that each one of us needs an encounter with Him at our level.

In the in between, the now and not yet, we can compare and contrast ourselves with others all day long. Yes it is good to gain empathy.  Yes it is good to meditate on how others perceive the world around them but we cannot assume that someone’s path is better or more accurate or that ours is better our more accurate.  The Truth, that is Jesus, judges with equity.  He knows what we need and knows how our story needs to be written.  Our position is one of worship.  He does not compare and contrast us with others.  “I have given everyone an equal chance.”  He hasn’t because He is not about being fair.  He is about pursuing us with full out abundant love just exactly how we need it.  That is why He came as a human, being born as a baby.  He is experienced with the injustice of fair.  He pursues and judges with equity.