And there is no other

Wednesday, December 16, 2020        (today’s lectionary)

And there is no other

I am the Lord and there is no other.

I’ve been an idolater all my life.  I covet what I don’t have. I think about everything except my Source. I have broken every commandment, and continue to break them by commission or omission. My thoughts and actions turn me away from God time after time after time.

And then I turn back. I wish that I’d say longer, turned toward God. She is the perfect hostess, shares her meal with me, tells me stories, invites the Father in and together we are cozy and warm even when the winds blow winter rain off heaven’s lake.

Let justice fall like dew, that gentle rain down from the skies, and let the earth open and salvation bud forth. I am the Lord, and I have created this.

I never outstay my welcome. They never ask me to go. So why is it that so quickly I tell them that I need to leave? What a crusty-eyed idolater I can be, in such a hurry to get back to my toys. Sometimes the toys don’t work, and I get upset, and I forget to ask God’s help. Sometimes I can’t stop thinking about some new toy, and I need it right now, and nothing’s gonna stop it.

It’s me Yahweh, the creator of the heavens who is God, who designed and made the earth, who established everything in it, never creating it to be a waste but always to be lived in.

God’s patience never runs dry, but I think he’s tired of waiting on me to get my act together. And I also think I never will, get my act together that is. This has been going on for 71 years, one way or another. Maybe God should just fly off the handle once in a while to get my attention.

I am the Lord and there is no other. Turn to me and be safe.

But he’s such a gentleman. She’s such a lady. God loves me perfectly, unconditionally and without doubt. True, the covenant between us is clear; he does ask for all of me. But when I say yes and then turn away and act out, “No,” he says nothing.

I make well-being and create woe. I form the light and create the darkness.

There have been times, my Bible tells me, when God did show his wrath and turned away from those he loved. But it’s been a long time, and Jesus shows us a different side of his Father, the loving side, the forgiving, patient, long-suffering side. “Just watch what I do and do it too,” Jesus says. “I’m here on earth with you. Don’t be afraid. Amazing things will happen when you are not afraid.”

Kindness and truth have met, justice and peace have kissed. Truth has sprung out from the earth, and justice looks down from heaven. The earth has brought forth a Savior. He gives us God’s benefits, and we will find salvation along the way of his steps.

It’s good, Lord, to tell you about how wishy-washy I’ve been all my life. These days I turn toward you more often, and stay a little longer. I hope my efforts please you, but more than that I’m so grateful for your face, turned toward mine always, smiling, watching, loving me.

The blind regain their sight, the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear and even the dead are raised. The poor have the Gospel proclaimed to them, and blessed is the one who takes no offense in me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

(Isaiah 45, Psalm 85, Isaiah 40, Luke 7)

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