Hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lesson selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

The reading is understandable.

I use the message version Relatable.

Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.

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Here's today's reading.

We're reading from Romans 11:2, 10 from the Message the Loyal Minority.

Does this mean then that God is so fed up with Israel that He'll have nothing more to do with them?

Hardly.

Remember that I, the one writing these things, am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham out of the tribe of Benjamin.

You can't get much more Semitic than that.

So we're not talking about reputation.

God has been too long involved with Israel, has too much invested to simply wash his hands of them.

Do you remember that time Elijah was agonizing over the same Israel and cried out in prayer, God, they murdered your prophets, they trashed your altars.

I'm the only one left.

Now they're after me.

Do you remember how God answered that?

I still have 7,000 who haven't quit, 7,000 who are loyal to the finish.

It's the same today.

There's a fiercely loyal minority still.

Not many perhaps, but probably more than you think.

They're holding on not because of what they think they're going to get out of it, but because they're convinced of God's grace and purpose in choosing them.

If they're only thinking of their own immediate self interest, they would have let go a long time ago.

And then what happened?

Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on their own, pursuing her own self interest, she didn't succeed.

The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue His interest in them and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy, the self interest.

Israel became thick skinned toward God.

Moses and Isaiah both commented on this.

Fed up with their quarrelsome, self centered ways, God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears, shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors and they are there all to this day.

David was upset about the same thing.

So I hope they get sick eating self serving meals, breaking break a leg walking their own self serving ways.

I hope they go blind staring in their mirrors, get ulcers from playing at God.

Well that is the reading my friends about this understanding of the loyal minority and real grace.

I just want to thank you for spending a few minutes today as we explore this, this scripture here.

Because Paul here really is pushing back on the idea that God has given up on Israel.

And sometimes you may think God has given up on us, on our people and that's just not the case.

And he reaches back here to Elijah's season of despair and hears God say that there's still a loyal minority people convinced by grace, not driven by self interest.

Then Paul warns about what happens when religion turns in on itself.

A hall of mirrors he calls us where we can't seem to hear or see beyond our own self serving stories.

Some very important and pertinent lessons to get into here.

So let's get into some points to ponder.

First one is this.

God's faithfulness to Israel means Christians reject arrogance and antisemitism.

Paul insists God hasn't washed divine hands of Israel.

That matters.

A progressive reading of this scripture refuses supersessionism.

That is the harmful idea that the church as in the Christian church replaces Israel and stands against anti Semitism in all forms.

God's covenant fidelity doesn't expire.

For Christians, humility is the only faithful posture.

The loyal minority are people who trust grace and refuse triumphantism.

In family terms, it's like a long marriage.

You don't discard your promises you make in marriage.

When things get complex, you go deeper.

And God's yes to Israel stays a yes point to ponder.

Number two, loyalty shipped by grace, not self interest.

Paul contrasts folks trying to be right on their own and those who let God's interest in them lead the way.

Grace doesn't make us passive, it recenters our purpose.

The loyal minority shows up for the common good even when it doesn't benefit them personally.

Like showing up for healthcare access.

I think of the cancer community that I work with or things like racial equity, creation care, honoring people of all nationalities, living wages, inclusive churches, they all matter.

Here it's quiet resilience more than loud performance like salt and a good recipe.

Grace isn't showy, but everything tastes truer, better enhanced because it's there.

A third point to ponder, escaping the hall of mirrors.

Paul describes self serving religion as blindness and echo Eyes blurred, ears dulled, stuck staring at ourselves.

We know that feeling from our feeds and our social media and so on.

Outrage loops, purity test, cynicism, anger, vileness and the loyal minority though, practices honest self examination and communal accountability with that scripture, lived experience, especially from the marginalized and our neighbor's wisdom.

Interrupt our mirrors.

When I'm hiking on a trail with my wife, sometimes we try to leave it better than we found it.

That is to try to escape, as it were.

The hall of mirrors is like that.

Sometimes you have to leave conversation systems and people a bit better than what you find them.

More seen, more safe, more hopeful.

Here's an action step.

Practice an act of being a part of the loyal minority.

Choose something if you're from the Christian perspective.

Reach out to a Jewish congregation or some other faith, a friend with a simple note that says I'm committed to stand against antisemitism and for our shared belief to flourish.

You might want to volunteer or give some local effort that serves the common good.

A food pantry, a clinic that supports people, immigrant welcome, cancer caregiving.

Many things that you can do or unsubscribe on your social media from some outrage heavy person or organization that is only filled with anger and vileness and replace it with something that's good or something has to do with serving some local service.

A commitment that makes your community better.

Put your choice in writing, schedule it and tell a friend and follow through.

Want to come back and have a prayer here in just a minute, but I just want you to know that we have a free gift for you from the Daily Bible Refresh.

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Let's pray.

God of steadfast promises.

Thank you that our yes is steady even when ours wobbles.

Teach us the humility that honors your faithfulness to Israel and all your people.

Loosen our grip on self interest.

Fill us with quiet courage to serve the common good.

Pull us out of our hall of mirrors out of defensiveness, performance and noise so they can really see and hear our neighbors.

Be close to those walking through cancer and other bad things and to the ones who love them.

Season days with mercy and joy.

Thank you for relationships, for marriages, for wooded trails, for children, grandchildren and things that can help remind us what grace feels like.

Make us the loyal minority today.

Faithful, not flashy, hopeful, not hardened.

Amen.

My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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Thanks much.

My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your daily Bible Refresh.

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Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.