Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 22 Listen: (4:58)
Read: Philemon Listen: (2:52)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 22.2-12

2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil. 6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. 9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. 12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Matthew 5.14

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Reflection: What Kind of City on a Hill?

By John Tillman

In 1630, Puritan John Winthrop referenced Jesus’ “city on a hill” image (Matthew 5.14) in a famous sermon while sailing to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Since then, many politicians, including presidents Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama, have quoted Winthrop, identifying the United States as a “city on a hill.”

There are some problems with this.

One is that Jesus never intended “city on a hill” to apply to any nation. Not Israel. Not Rome. Not the United States. Winthrop also didn’t intend a political application. He focused on the Christian community they intended to build.

Another problem is leaving out part of the message. Politicians use the image to inspire hope and to advocate for a better “city” for all people. That’s not bad. It’s a good thing when politicians lead with hope and inspiration rather then fear and intimidation. However, Winthrop’s “city on a hill” included admonition, not just inspiration. It included a warning, not just a pretty picture.

Being a city on a hill is not about patriotism or pride. In a city on a hill, whether we become righteous or wicked, God and the world are watching.

In Ezekiel 22, God watches and describes Jerusalem. What should be a shining city on a hill is a city of darkness, blood, and dross. What kind of “city on a hill” do we live in? Bright and righteous? Or dark and bloody?

Being a “shining city” begins with repentance, and repentance with seeing what God sees.

Pray solemnly through the following list of what God saw in the city of blood and dross:

Shedding blood (v3)
Making idols (v3)
Abuse of power (v6)
Contempt for family and parents (v7)
Oppressing the foreigner (v7)
Mistreating the vulnerable (v7)
Despising what is holy (v8)
Despising the day of rest and worship (v8)
Spreading slander that causes bloodshed (v9)
Benefiting from evil and idolatry (v9)
Lewdness, sexual abuse, promiscuity, and perversion (v9-11)
Taking bribes to do harm or shed blood (v12)
Financially abusing or unjustly profiting from the poor (v12)
Extortion from neighbors or community (v12)
Forgetting the Lord (v12)

Don’t lose hope. Christ’s shining city is not a country and is not built by winning elections or serving a political party. The city we build affects this world, but is not of this world. You are the shining city. But remember, the silver goes through the furnace too.

Let God melt away deeds of dross so the world sees their opposites shining among us. Be Christ’s shining city.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man will declare himself for him in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who disowns me in the presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.” — Luke 12.8-9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Come Out of Babylon

Babylon thought itself to be a light to the world…Do we, as Christians from around the world, think of our own nations in this way?

Read more about Ready to Exit the Desert

May we leave sin and doubt in the desert, crossing the Jordan toward God’s calling to be his city on a hill.