INTRO/REVIEW
Community Begins With God
The community of the Triune God will be our basis for understanding perfect community.
Godly Community Expresses
1. Joyful Love
2. Humble Unity
3. Mutual Generosity
4. Honesty and Understanding
5. Fruitfulness
Godly love in community is an outward focused love, a love that includes anyone who would receive it.
The Community of God Creates Community
1. God created mankind in his image
2. God created humans to be fruitful
In the beginning, God created from his community a community that had seeds of more community.
The Community of God Redeems Community
1. Godly Community is Horizontal and Vertical (Including God and people)
2. Without God, Natural Community is Selfish Idealism, and Ends in Hostility
3. God Restores Peaceful Community In Jesus
ABRAHAM AND SARAH – THE BEGINNING OF GOD’S COVENANT COMMUNITY
God Plants Community Through His Covenant
Our Faith, Shown in our Obedience, Receives the Seed God Plants
1. God promised Abraham and Sarah that he would make them a nation and give them a land.
2. Abraham and Sarah obeyed God by leaving their home and going to the land he showed them.
God Blesses the Entire World Through His Covenant Community
Jesus IS the Seed of the Covenant of God’s Community
1. God promised that the entire world would be blessed through Abraham’s family
2. By faith in Jesus, we are Abraham’s family
3. God blesses the entire world through us
Through Us, God Spreads the Seeds of His Community to the World
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The Law – God Directs Community
When asked about the law, Jesus answered that the entire law and the prophets, the whole of Hebrew scripture, was summed up in two commands: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. This is when he told the story of a good Samaritan, a foreigner who gave aid to a Jewish man in need. Jesus said this man was the neighbour, and his act was the love that the law is talking about.
Scripture tells us that Jesus came to fulfill the law. This is why, In Christ and through faith, we are no longer bound to the law as our gateway to God. It is our faith, not our works that justify us. When we look at the law now, we look backwards through the cross. It is no longer a stumbling block or a burden. But what we are able to see when we look at the law from this side of Jesus, is God’s first directions of his covenant community. He intended his community to be a blessing to the entire world.
Today, through Jesus, we are part of that covenant community. How do we love our neighbour, even strangers, even people who are outsiders to us? The law given to God’s covenant people can give us clues as to how God intended for his people to live as his agents of blessing to the world.
God’s Covenant Community – A Blessing to the Whole World
The clear direction of God to his covenant community through the whole of the Hebrew scriptures reveals a pattern of God’s intention for how Godly Community is to love God and their neighbours.
Godly Community Blesses the World Through
1. Prayer and Intercession
2. Generosity and Mercy
3. Proclamation and Justice
From God’s first words to Abraham until the Israelites receive the Ten Commandments at Sinai, we see the children of Abraham being tremendously blessed, prospering wherever they go, and seeking the prosperity of all those they encounter. Isaac makes peace with the Philistines in his land. Jacob provides generous aid for Laban.
Prayer and Intercession – Intercession means to pray as a mediator, going to God on someone else’s behalf. Abraham was chosen as a prophet of YHWH, representing God to the people of the world. But was also and intercessor, praying to God on behalf of and for, the healing and wholeness of the people of the world. Abraham patiently and boldly intercedes for those who will perish at God’s hand in Sodom (Gen 18). On behalf of the wicked, he prays to God for mercy (note – God’s man of faith has a posture intercession to God for the Sodomites). Abraham also intercedes for Abimelech, the Philistine King. God answers Abram’s prayer, and heals Abimelech and his entire household (Genesis 20).
In Egypt, Pharaoh asks Moses many times over to pray to YHWH for mercy for him and for his people. Every time Moses prays for Pharaoh and for Egypt, God stays his hand of judgment. In the desert, Moses would continue to intercede on behalf of the Israelites, again praying for mercy, and again seeing God answer his prayer for the people.
Generosity and Mercy – Joseph’s story is a great example of God’s blessing on his people blessing the world through them. . Everywhere Joseph goes, he is blessed, and the blessing of God in his life brings prosperity to everyone around him, no matter the circumstance, even as a slave. Even in jail.
Joseph, Abraham’s great grandson, was sold into slavery by his brothers. His master was blessed by having God’s man as a slave, and promoted him. From here, Joseph ended up in prison. He quickly became the overseer of the prison because of the blessing of God. From jail, the favour of God gave Joseph the ear of the highest ruler in Egypt. Joseph’s wisdom causes Egypt to be blessed. Through Egypt under the wise and righteous rule of God’s chosen man, many people in surrounding nations are provided for during a severe famine (Gen 40).
(Genesis 39:2-5, 20-23
2 The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.)
Proclamation and Justice – God’s blessing followed his covenant community, and was generously shared with the neighbours and strangers around them, but it did not come at the cost of compromising justice or truth. Joseph boldly proclaimed God’s words though it cost him his family, and eventually landed him in jail (when he acted in integrity and refused to sleep with his master’s wife). In jail, his bold integrity in sharing God’s word is what promoted him to speak to the Pharaoh.
It was because of Pharaoh’s obedience to the word of God in Joseph’s mouth that Egypt was blessed. Four hundred years later, it was another Pharaoh’s disobedience to the word of God in Moses’ mouth that caused Egypt’s destruction.
Godly Community Blesses the World Through
1. Prayer and Intercession
2. Generosity and Mercy
3. Proclamation and Justice
Joseph’s story of redemption mirrors the story of all of Israel 400 years later when God dramatically rescues them from slavery and oppression in Egypt.
The Cry of the Oppressed - Exodus 3:9-10 - And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” This cry is the same one that God heard when he said to Cain that the blood of his murdered brother Abel cried out to him. This is the same cry that Hagar and Ishmael made in the desert when they were banished by Sarah and Abraham, and God heard them, too.
After Egypt, God reminded his covenant people over and over that he heard their cry, and redeemed them. To Moses, he was “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. To the Israelites after Moses, he was “God who brought you out of Egypt”. He was their creator through Adam, his covenant was through Abraham, but from Egypt, he was their redeemer. (The God who brought you out of Egypt – (Exodus 13:91, Exodus 16:6, Exodus 16:32, Exodus 20:2, Leviticus 19:36, Leviticus 22:33, Leviticus 25:38, Leviticus 26:13, Numbers 15:41, Deuteronomy 4:37, Deuteronomy 5:6, Deuteronomy 6:12, Deuteronomy 8:14, Deuteronomy 13:5, Deuteronomy 13:10, Deuteronomy 16:1)
It was this introduction that he gave to the people of Israel at Sinai when he gave them the law.
Exodus 20:2 - I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
430 years after God’s first words to Abraham, his intention for his people had not changed. He had chosen and redeemed them for a purpose – they would continue to love their neighbours through intercession, mercy, and justice. The rest of the Hebrew Scriptures show us how God’s Covenant Community succeeded and failed in living this reality in the world.
(Those of us brought up in Sunday School may easily remember the stories of the Old Testament as hero stories of war and conquest. God’s chosen people were the good guys, and everyone else was evil and ripe for God’s judgment at the hands of his righteous people. Outside of the Sunday School crowd, the most we may hear about the Old Testament law is a few verses lifted out of context by hateful fundamentalists, or strange and obscure verses about what not to eat or wear or poop on, taken equally out of their context in order to make the fundamentalists look foolish. The reality of the history of the Law and the Israelite people is far more nuanced, and far more beautiful.)
The Hebrew scriptures are a great romance. The Law at Sinai was a renewal of God’s Covenant with his people, a proposal of sorts. Throughout the rest of scripture, YHWH woos his chosen bride, gifting her with great blessing and prosperity, patiently calling her back when she wanders, partnering with her against her oppressors, and challenging her to be righteous.
The prohibitions of the law are quickly remembered. Do not steal. Do not covet. Do not lie. Do not murder. Going further than this, God also did give direction to the Israelites as to what they could eat, what they could wear, and who they could do business with. At first glance, we see rules that would guide civil behavior in a healthy community, but there was more. In the multiethnic and polytheistic world of Canaan, this law effectively set the people apart from their neighbours. It was hard to hang out with the Hebrew people if you were not Hebrew yourself. It was this separation that kept the Hebrew people unique from all the other cultures surrounding them. It was God’s intention that they be his people, living uniquely for his purpose. The Israelite’s knew this, and they were glad for their relationship.
But there was a great deal more to the story of the Israelite people than keeping edge. God intended for his people to be a just society. In a world of oppression, abuse, and hedonism, where people could worship God through ritual sex or child sacrifice, God’s people were to be a counter-cultural beacon of peace, prosperity, justice, and righteousness.
Exodus 22:21-27
21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
22 “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
25 “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, 27 because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Prayer and Intercession – The Psalms, a book of prayers of God’s people, are filled with pleas of the righteous on behalf of the poor and oppressed. The law of God’s people was incredibly just for the poor, the orphan, and the widow. All throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God calls his people to do justly for the poor among them, and he chastises them severely when they act unrighteously.
Leviticus 23:22
" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "
Deuteronomy 24:21-22 - When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
Generosity and Mercy - For the land that was divided between the tribes of Israel, God also placed restrictions to make sure that land ownership would never create great disparity of wealth between families. Every generation, a family’s land was to be returned, and their debt canceled. Other societies would see Israel, and know their God was generous and merciful.
God’s people were to deal justly with foreigners among them as well. "For the Lord your God is . . . the awesome God who does not show partiality . . . . He brings about justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. Therefore, show your love for the stranger" (Deut. 10:17-19). Israelites were to care for the traveler or alien in the land because they had once been strangers in the land of Egypt. They were not to oppress strangers, because they had been oppressed in Egypt. They were to promote justice for the poor because YHWH God loves justice (Psa 146:7). God’s people took care of the most vulnerable among them because YHWH "supports the orphan and the widow" (Psa. 146:9). To the foreigners around and among them, they were to display the goodness and mercy of God.
(Non-Israelites were to be included in religious ceremony and worship. (Ex 23:12, Num 9:14, Num 15:14, Josh 8:33)
Non-Israelites were to be included in the same social justice programs as the Israelites. (Lev 19:10, 23:27, Deut 24:19-21, Lev 25:47-50 - they also received some of the tithes of the Israelites - Deut 14:29, 26:12)
Non-Israelites were to be included in the same system of law and justice as the Israelites. (Num 35:15, Josh 20:9, Deut 1:16, 24:17, Lev 24:22, Num 9:14, 15:16,29)
They had to receive fair wages. (Deut 24:14)
AND God made it very clear that the Israelites were not to oppress the non-Israelites among them. (Lev 19:33,34, Deut 10:17-19, Deut 24:16-18)
God also makes it clear that the land the land they lived on did NOT belong to the Israelites, but to God, and that God has a purpose for them being there.
Leviticus 25:23-24 - " 'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land."
When the land was divided among the tribes of Israel, God told them that the land was an inheritance both for them and the foreigners living among them(Ezekiel 47:21-23). )
At the best of times, God’s people were a prosperous nation, and lived as God intended, redeeming the land, and displaying his goodness. The Queen of Sheba noticed the wealth and prosperity of Israel when Solomon was King. During her visit, she said this to King Solomon:
1 Kings 10:9 - Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.
(The word “righteousness” in this passage is a translation from the Hebrew word “tsedakah”, and is a very important one to the Jewish people. We tend to think of righteousness in fairly mathematical terms. It means to do right things. Someone who does right things is righteous. Someone who does wrong things is unrighteous. Theologically, we see two types of righteousness in the New Testament. Romans says we are made righteous because of Jesus. This is right being – a legal reality we receive through faith. 1 John 3:7 says that if we act righteously we are righteous. This is right doing – a practical reality that manifest every day through God’s Spirit in us.
But how do we be righteous? What are these righteous things that we do? The Jewish people asked these same questions, and by a thorough knowledge of their law, they knew well what it meant to practice “tzedekah”. For the Jewish people, tzedekah, or righteousness, explicitly means generosity and justice for the poor and needy.)
The Jewish people believed that the purpose of wealth was to provide opportunity to participate in God’s acts of righteousness, or tzedekah in the world. Every member of the covenant community was required to give to the needy, including the poor who would give from the tzedekah they received. (If you refused to give, you could be flogged, and your property could be seized and given to the poor. Essentially, this became a tax. Usually, it would be about ten percent. This was only part of the financial obligation of members in the community, besides the tithe that went to the priests, and their sacrifices.)
The culture of generosity extended past finances, gleanings, and forgiven debt. Israelites were taught to personally and practically serve their neighbours and meet their needs. This included bringing peace between people, hospitality shown to travelers, inviting the hungry to share family meals, visiting the sick and elderly, attending the dead to burial, and celebrating any marriage, or other family milestones in the community. Giving money could be done only with one's possessions while true compassion required the giving of oneself. Money could be given only to the poor while compassion could be extended to anyone.
(In 325 B.C., the High Priest Simeon (called the Just) acts of compassion, study of Torah, and worship as the three distinguishing characteristics of being Jewish. To deny the responsibility to the poor was to deny God.)
The attitude behind giving to the needy and seeking justice for the oppressed was that all possessions, lands, and goods ultimately belonged to God. The wealth given to the poor was already theirs, given to them by YHWH. The justice that was sought for the oppressed was already theirs, given to them by YHWH. God’s people were simply privileged to participate in God’s work in the world.
Psalm 103:6 - The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
So too did God’s people.
Proclamation and Justice - The age of Kings did not last long for the Israelites. Sometimes, they would cease to act as the righteous and just people that God intended them to be. Every time, God would send his prophets who would weep and mourn for their sin, and call the people to repent and do justice again for the poor, the fatherless, and the widow (see the scripture passages at the end of the text).* For many years the people of Israel had to question their identity as they lived with foreign nations occupying their lands. They had to rediscover what it meant to walk justly among their neighbours, now that their neighbours were the ones with power, and they were the foreigners among them.
Through his prophet Jeremiah, God speaks to his people exiled in Babylon. Like he had for Joseph in prison, God still intended to bless his people, and through them, show his goodness to the entire world.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Like Joseph, whether God’s covenant community were in power or in slavery, prospering, in jail, or in exile, God’s intention for them remained the same. God’s people were to be intercessors, a kingdom of priests ministering mercy and proclaiming justice to the nations of the world. In this grand romance, God chooses to use people, even broken people, even stubborn people, even enslaved people and oppressed people, to show to the world his goodness and his righteousness, his justice and his grace.
Godly Community Blesses the World Through
1. Prayer and Intercession
2. Generosity and Mercy
3. Proclamation and Justice
(Next Week – God Enters Community)
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*(Micah 2:1-3
Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning's light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud a man of his home,
a fellowman of his inheritance.
Therefore, the LORD says:
"I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
Jeremiah 7:4-8
Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
Zechariah 7:8-14
And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
"But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry.
" 'When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty. 'I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.'"
Isaiah 1:15-17
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood;
wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds
out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.)
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