Death is a taker, not a giver. The taking it has done this week in Boston, and last night in West, TX, have made me sit weeping in my car for the moms, the spouses, the kids who are reeling in the aftermath.
Always receiving, but never giving, salt seas are dead too.
Dead and briny, like the tears in Boston and West after the taking.
Salty and barren like a little ghost town once called Sodom.
Sodom. We always peg it for its sodomy. (Ever wonder where the name came from?) Yes, Sodom had sexual sin, but that was not the crime that fit them for destruction.
The crime was taking-without-giving.
They hoarded wealth like a salt sea hoards water.
Small-town Sodom was full of gluttons. It was full of excess, of waste, of shutting eyes to the poor and plugging ears against compassion that would cost them comfort.
I had never known this, never realized that this was why God destroyed it, but there it was, in the middle of a rant against Israel, (who apparently was worse than Sodom!):
Sound like any place you know?
I'm not bringing this up so I can stand on my soapbox against America's wealth, her ease and prosperity, or her greed. No, I'm bringing this up because I'm guilty.
I have shut my eyes. I have closed my ears. I have snapped my checkbook closed too many times when I knew He would have counted it as a personal gift to Him.
When I receive without giving, I am like like a salt sea: deader with every drop.
"Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (Matt 25:45) - Jesus
He, the Ultimate Giver, is supremely alive.
I received and began to live. Now when I give, His life is expressed sweet, full. I have life to the full.
As I was chewing on the passage in Ezekiel, I started journaling a prayer out of desperation and frustration with how similar I was to Sodom. This poem was the result.
Rescue me from wealth
the consuming
and grasping
and wasting
of things
unnecessarily bought
and garaged
and shelved
while their bellies bloat.
Save me from success
the endless striving
comparing
and lifting
of self
unconscionably proud
discontent
and anxious
lest the accolades stop.
Ransom me from passion
for those worthless
and emptying
pursuits
unbearably hollow
preoccupying
distracting
from the Life that truly lives.
Always receiving, but never giving, salt seas are dead too.
Dead and briny, like the tears in Boston and West after the taking.
Sodom. We always peg it for its sodomy. (Ever wonder where the name came from?) Yes, Sodom had sexual sin, but that was not the crime that fit them for destruction.
The crime was taking-without-giving.
They hoarded wealth like a salt sea hoards water.
Small-town Sodom was full of gluttons. It was full of excess, of waste, of shutting eyes to the poor and plugging ears against compassion that would cost them comfort.
I had never known this, never realized that this was why God destroyed it, but there it was, in the middle of a rant against Israel, (who apparently was worse than Sodom!):
"...this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. ...So I removed them." (Ezekiel 16:48-50 ESV)
Sound like any place you know?
I'm not bringing this up so I can stand on my soapbox against America's wealth, her ease and prosperity, or her greed. No, I'm bringing this up because I'm guilty.
I have shut my eyes. I have closed my ears. I have snapped my checkbook closed too many times when I knew He would have counted it as a personal gift to Him.
When I receive without giving, I am like like a salt sea: deader with every drop.
"Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (Matt 25:45) - Jesus
He, the Ultimate Giver, is supremely alive.
I received and began to live. Now when I give, His life is expressed sweet, full. I have life to the full.
As I was chewing on the passage in Ezekiel, I started journaling a prayer out of desperation and frustration with how similar I was to Sodom. This poem was the result.
Rescue me from wealththe consuming
and grasping
and wasting
of things
unnecessarily bought
and garaged
and shelved
while their bellies bloat.
Save me from success
the endless striving
comparing
and lifting
of self
unconscionably proud
discontent
and anxious
lest the accolades stop.
Ransom me from passion
for those worthless
and emptying
pursuits
unbearably hollow
preoccupying
distracting
from the Life that truly lives.
I like this. Awesome poem!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the convicting reminder.
Ashley
Thanks Cherise for this convicting and very relevant post. When I first read these words from Ezekiel on the sins of Sodom, I found it very interesting that homosexual behavior was not on the list. Most in the American church if asked what was the great sin of Sodom and Gomorrah would no doubt say it was destroyed because of the rampant homosexuality there. Yet, when God reminisces about why He destroyed Sodom it was because of sins of "omission" rather than comission. I don't even know if these sins are considered sins in the American church. Gluttony is encouraged (have you seen the meals at Pine Cove?), prosperous ease is the definition of the American dream, and the poor and needy should help themselves because its their fault their poor in the first place (I need sarcastic font). Anyways good word.
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