Good Friday, April 19, 2019
Isaiah 1:16-18                   
Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
    says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
    they shall be like wool.

New International Version (NIV)
                 Have you ever been picked for jury duty?  Our youngest son recently returned with his wife to Houston from Arkansas.  Almost as soon as he started his new job he was called to jury duty.  He was picked to serve on the panel.  For two and a half days he was called upon to consider the evidence about whether a person was guilty of a crime.  This experience is a right and responsibility in our country.  He took it seriously.

                The Lord summoned the heavens and earth as a jury to adjudicate his complaint against his rebellious children (1:2-3).  Though he had disciplined his children, they would not listen.  God particularly contends with their token sacrifices.  They continued to worship as they continued to sin by taking advantage of their neighbors.  They failed to care for the fatherless and widows.  God found this false worship to be meaningless and burdensome.  Hands covered with the blood of mistreated people should not be lifted in prayer.  “Going to church” did not atone for their mistreatment and neglect of their neighbors.

                Good News:  God still offers us the opportunity to repent.  We cannot separate our love for God from our love for neighbor.  As one confession puts it, “We have not loved you with our whole heart.  We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.”  God invites Israel to prepare for worship by turning from sin and caring for the fatherless and the widow.  On this Good Friday, as we hear God’s voice, let us not harden our hearts.  “’Come let us reason together,’ says the Lord. . .”  Do we want to be forgiven?  Then let us turn toward God and return to him.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God takes away all of our sins.  Receive his forgiveness today and find yourself whiter than snow.
Pray with me:    
Father, like Israel of old we have often rebelled against you.  Our liturgies and songs and sermons do not cover up the reality of our choices.  Forgive us for forgetting the fatherless and neglecting the widows.  In our city children live with no security about their next meal.  Thank you for inviting us “back to the table.”  We  turn from our sin.  We seek justice for the oppressed.  We come not in our own merit but through the precious blood of your only Son shed for us on the cross.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.  
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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