Prayer: LORD, you go before us and call us by name. Guide us to do your will. Amen
Reading: Isaiah 45: 1-7 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: I wish our reading today stopped at verse 6 because 7 really threw me. That verse from link above in the NRSV reads, “I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the LORD do all these things.” First off, what is weal? From the context of the phrase before and the contrast of light and darkness, it sounds like weal is the opposite of woe. Okay, so far so good except that then it is also sounds like the LORD is the origin of both good and bad. Which then leads to the thought that if God is the cause of everything that happens, does that mean God causes evil to happen? So, let’s look at verse 7 in the NIV Bible. “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.” Well, at least now I have a better idea of what weal is – prosperity. Uh-oh. That is a word that can spin people up about how much God is in charge of people being prosperous. Now, before I go looking for my King James or Good News Bible for other wordings, it is time to remember GOD is not the CAUSE of EVERYTHING that happens. Human beings may still act against God’s will. God is not here seen as the origin of moral “evil” or sin. At least that is how it is explained in the side notes of my Bible. I am okay with that. And after all that wrestling, I go back to reread all the verses again and these words stand out now: “I will go before you…" (v. 2) “I call you by name…” (v. 4) “I am the LORD…” (v. 6). I am very okay with that. --Ruth Gates
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