Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, August 3, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Again, Paul is overreaching. He is taking a human social construct and ascribing its characteristics to God. This is an example of creating God in man’s image. It can’t be done. Yes, metaphors are hugely helpful in understanding the nature of God’s love and God’s will for us. But you have to be extremely careful about it.
God is a mystery that invites us to continue seeking and learning and growing into relationship with God. When we apply our own human ideas to God, we can justify all sorts of bad behavior, including the oppression of women in marriage relationships.
Instead of trying to interpret God through a human lens, how can we read scripture through the lens of Christ’s liberation and call to flourishing of every single human being?
Gracious God, relieve me of my need to define you in my own terms, so that I can let You be You and heed your call to work for the flourishing of all people. Amen.
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
