For Such A Time as This – May 19, 2021 – Jennifer Quijano West

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,
 
Joys and Concerns
We celebrate the life and faith of Mary Wolfe who passed away yesterday afternoon.  Let us hold in thought and prayer her daughter Sue Collins, Sue’s husband and children, Russ, Mike and Peter, and Peter’s wife and son, Amy and Tyler.
 
If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text, or email it to me.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with Pastor Bill that week by Thursday evening. 
 
See this Saturday’s “Weekly Update” email for any new prayer concerns.
 
Thank You:
To all who call others to check in on them and to share our emails and devotions.
 
Today’s Devotion:
“Compelling Vision” is our denomination's effort to identify a shared vision that can foster unity in the midst of great diversity and dividing differences.  A thirteen session Bible Study has been developed to under gird this statement.  We are using pieces of the Bible Study in our weekly devotion email.
 
Today’s reflection was written by Jennifer Quijano West, who is a high school Chemistry and Physics teacher and member of the Brooklyn, First Church of the Brethren in New York. Jennifer graduated from Brooklyn College and Bethany Seminary and enjoys working with youth and young adults.
 
Shalom, Dennis
 
Compelling Visions Statement
Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.
 
Session 7 – Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer
How do we understand Jesus as Redeemer?
 
Scriptures - Exodus 6:6-8; Colossians 1:13-14
 
Reflection – Jennifer Quijano West
The Easton's Bible Dictionary defines Redeemer as one who has “the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs.” The Hebrew Bible referred to such a person as “go’el,” the one who “go’al” or redeems. The word for redeem or redemption appears about 149 times alone in the First Testament and is an essential theme in the Israelites history. A “go’el” was one who would serve as a protector in four main aspects illustrated and named in scripture.
 
• A redeemer is one who would care for a slave and restore their freedom (Leviticus 25:48).
• A redeemer is one who would care for the weak and the vulnerable (Proverbs 23:11; Jeremiah 50:34).
• A redeemer is one who would step in to care for a widow or an orphaned child (Ruth).
• Finally, a redeemer is one who often offers blood as atonement for sins (Leviticus 17:11).
 
In the First Testament it is clear that God or YHWH serves as this redeemer as Israel is redeemed from Egyptian bondage, exile, and as their sins are atoned through the shedding of sacrificial blood (Exodus 6:6-8). Hundreds of years later we can see that these illustrations of God as Redeemer directly foreshadow the life, ministry and death of Jesus as he restores justice, cares for the weak and vulnerable, tends to the children, redefines roles in marriage and social power dynamics, and lays down his own life.
 
In the Second Testament, the book of Colossians, we encounter a church community who has fully accepted this message of hope and deliverance through Jesus Christ, but Paul writes to them from prison to encourage them on the next phase of their spiritual journey and prays for their understanding and wisdom. Here the church at Colossae is being constantly pressured by the predominant religions of the time, Greek Polytheism and Judaism via the Torah, and Paul wants to encourage them to stay steadfast and dedicated to Jesus’ mission. “The Messiah is in you all, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
 
Paul encourages the young church to keep living into the new humanity, ordained by Jesus to be merciful, generous, forgiving, and loving. He redefines the roles of the household—wife and husband, parent and child, slave and master. He provides an outline for them to reshape their Roman ways into the ways of the Redeemer who embodies a love that is self-giving. He reminds them that a life following Jesus means no part of human life goes untouched from his merciful and liberating rule. He has now experienced their suffering, their temptations to compromise their beliefs and morality and even the social dynamics of power.
 
Paul’s plea to the church at Colossae through Jesus’ example echoes God’s own actions as redeemer to care for the freedom of the slave, care for the weak and vulnerable, care for children and family, and bring justice to those who have been wronged. It is in Colossians 1:13-14 that we are again reminded that God has redeemed us from darkness and has brought into the Kingdom where sins are forgiven and justice restored. Paul reminds the church that they can be a new creation in their present time. I believe these words reverberate to us now in our present time. We must continue to represent God’s redemptive love, in all we do as a body in Christ, our Redeemer, and hold steadfast to our joined vision as God’s Church. Amen.
 
Sending
Reflect on the similarities and differences between the Church of Colossae and the Church of the Brethren. Keep in mind the four aspects of the redeemer that Jesus embodied. How can the church act as the hands and feet of Christ to the next generation, and what things should we focus on as a denomination that worships Jesus Christ, our Redeemer?