Mercy Triumphs over Judgment #LectioCast

This week the lectionary hovers around the beauty—and necessity!—of God’s forgiveness. Mercy triumphs over judgment, and demands that we become a different kind of people as well. Hosea 1:2-10 A favorite Christian praise song illustrates the stark judgment of God and also, in the end, the triumph of mercy. Psalm 85 A song the echoes… Read more about Mercy Triumphs over Judgment #LectioCast

This week the lectionary hovers around the beauty—and necessity!—of God’s forgiveness. Mercy triumphs over judgment, and demands that we become a different kind of people as well.

Hosea 1:2-10 A favorite Christian praise song illustrates the stark judgment of God and also, in the end, the triumph of mercy.

Psalm 85 A song the echoes Hosea by celebrating God’s past actions of turning from anger and judgment and looking for God to to do it again.

Colossians 2:6-15 Paul takes a deep dive into our identity as those who are in Christ. Death to our old humanity marks our union with Christ as our sins are forgiven and we are freed from hostile powers. And God says to us, “Yes, you are my people!” even as he said to Israel.

Luke 11:1-13 Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer puts us on the hook for our economic life when it comes to our receiving spiritual life from God. And God does want to give us us spiritual life—by God’s own Spirit.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA. He is also serving as pastoral director for the Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, will be out soon. He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.