Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, January 16, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Crafty of the tempter to use God’s words against God. He knew Jesus was well aware of the scriptures and would have known this Psalm. He knew Jesus was no ordinary man and surely God would not let him swan dive off the temple pinnacle to his death. Its far more sinister and insidious to use what seems like truth to try to control others than to outright lie to them. Throughout the history of Christianity countless people have tried to do just that, right up until today when they remove context in order to convince people that God hates anyone other than cisgendered straight white wealthy men and those women subservient to them. Or that God approves violence in God’s name. Or that everyone who doesn’t agree with them is destined to burn in hell for all eternity. “Come on,” the tempter cajoles, “it says right here in scripture that [fill in the hateful rhetoric of your choice.]”
Jesus was smarter than that. He knew that the perversion of scripture in the service of evil was just that—evil. He calls us to the same discernment that allowed him to resist all the temptations in the wilderness, as we navigate the often harsh wilderness of our own lives. God is love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, radical welcome, justice for those who are poor and oppressed. Any attempt to use God’s words to justify something other than these deserves our deepest scrutiny.
Have I ever had scripture directed at me in a way that was not loving?
![Luke 1:26-45 [46-56], Jesus’ Birth Announced](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/ba639a0f-7645-4e7b-9d4c-083348c9af3f/24-12-22.jpg)
![Luke 2:1-14 [15-20], The Birth of Jesus](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/91847d13-4f99-45dd-85fb-eb199f4bd0b8/24-12-24.jpg)
