Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, June 12, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
In God’s reign, there is peace. Not a lot of earthly kings can claim this, and most of those whose nations enjoyed a level of peace did so at the expense of freedom. The Romans, for example, were notorious for killing anyone who presented a potential uprising against them. In this Micah text, the focus is on peace as the lack of warfare. But peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. Which means that the oppressed, the downtrodden, those in need, the marginalized—these will all be fully liberated in God’s reign, and every one of us will accept and love every other one of us, no matter what. When we pray “Your kingdom come,” are we ready for this kind of radical welcome?
How do I benefit from the oppression of others? How do I envision a world in which everyone is fully equal?
