Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, June 28, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Okay. Just need to call out the irony here. Anyone who commits violence should be put to death. Um. Does no one else see the problem here? And not only those who commit violence, but even if you curse your parents—which is hardly violent—you will be met with…violence. Yeah.
Again, I sometimes have to shake my head when I read through these laws of Moses. (I refuse to refer to them as God’s laws. I refuse to believe God would pass down laws that endorse slavery, condone capital punishment, and treat anyone other than a man as property. They are the laws of Moses. The man.)
It is important to read and understand these laws, though, and struggle with them, inviting Christ into the conversation to recognize where our past harms still lead to injustice today, and to discern what God is calling us to in addressing these things.
Why is it important to me to read and understand the troubling side of my religious tradition?