Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, May 17, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The rest of this passage is icky. Paul is trying to make a point, but in doing so, he upholds the anti-woman, patriarchal notions of the acceptability of sexual slavery. So I’ll just shamelessly pull this sentence out of context and hold it up as a proclamation that all God’s children (and that’s everybody!) should be free from slavery. Not just slavery to sin, or addiction, or whatever personal demons we struggle with. But real, actual slavery and oppression of any kind.
And if this is so, it should be a priority for all who claim Jesus as their ruler and redeemer to end slavery and oppression wherever it happens. And, oh, it happens. To this day. All over the world. Even in the U.S. And if you broaden the idea of slavery to include any sort of oppression, it’s rampant worldwide. For freedom Christ has set us free—free to work for the freedom of all people. Let’s get to work.
How can I take action to use my freedom in Christ to advocate for the freedom of others?
![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)
