Hello, my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker AThis is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.
Speaker AIn a bit I will read the New Testament lesson selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.
Speaker AThe reading is understandable.
Speaker AI use the message version Relatable.
Speaker APlease listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.
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Speaker BHere's today's reading and we're reading from Hebrews 11:23 28 from the Message by an act of faith, Moses parents hid him away for three months after his birth.
Speaker BThey saw the child's beauty and they braved the king's decree by faith.
Speaker BMoses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house.
Speaker BHe chose a hard life which with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors.
Speaker BHe valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead.
Speaker BAnticipating the payoff by an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt.
Speaker BIndifferent to the king's blind rage, he had his eye on the one no eye can see and kept right on going.
Speaker BBy an act of faith, he kept the Passover feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them.
Speaker BWell, my friend, thanks for making a little space in your life for you and I to have a conversation about this scripture today.
Speaker BAnd just glad that you're here about the story about Moses and faith.
Speaker BIt says that Moses parents braved the king's decree and Moses then grew up and refused the perks of the empire because he chose solidarity with the oppressed.
Speaker BHe lived for a future that others could not see and he kept a ritual Passover, which is important, that trained the community to remember liberation as a story they belonged to, not just something that they heard.
Speaker BSo let's take this passage and let's get into some teaching points.
Speaker BI like to call them points to ponder from a progressive point of view.
Speaker BThe first point to ponder is that faith protects life, especially when the laws don't let me Go a little further.
Speaker BMoses parents practice civil disobedience to save a child targeted by policy.
Speaker BThat's not private piety now.
Speaker BIt's public courage.
Speaker BProgressive faith says God's yes is for the vulnerable, even when the paperwork says otherwise.
Speaker BToday, that can look like advocating for safety and dignity for migrants.
Speaker BFor people who are immigrants, it can mean advocating for black and brown neighbors facing over policing or persecution by ice.
Speaker BIt could mean LGBTQ youth under hostile policies or patients navigating insurance labyrinths while in treatment.
Speaker BIn my weekly podcast for people impacted by cancer, I hear it all the time.
Speaker BSometimes the holiest thing you can do is help someone bend an inhumane system toward mercy.
Speaker BThe second point to ponder.
Speaker BFaith chooses solidarity over comfort and uses privileges and uses privilege for liberation.
Speaker BIt says, quote, he refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house.
Speaker BClose quote.
Speaker BAbout Moses.
Speaker BSo Moses defects from the empire not because suffering is inherently holy, but because justice matters more than comfort.
Speaker BFor many of us, privilege shows up as time or money or access or a voice in rooms that decide outcomes.
Speaker BAnd faith doesn't pretend we don't have it.
Speaker BFaith leverages it, funneling resources, attention and protection toward those who've been denied those things.
Speaker BIt's the difference between cheering from the stands and getting on the court or getting on the field.
Speaker BYou know, I'm a fan of the Colts and Pacers and the Fever and Indiana University football and and I love it.
Speaker BI liked but there's something watching that there.
Speaker BBut the engagement of people in the field makes all the difference.
Speaker BSee, the Christian life sometimes has less tickets and more full court press.
Speaker BThird thing, faith keeps living towards the unseen and trains our imagination with liberation with liberating rituals.
Speaker BIt says here he had his eye on the wand.
Speaker BNo eye can see.
Speaker BHope isn't fantasy.
Speaker BIt's moral imagination that keeps us moving.
Speaker BWhen results lag, pass will reform.
Speaker BTo people who remembered we were enslaved.
Speaker BGod brought us out.
Speaker BNo one gets left behind.
Speaker BOur rituals, weekly worship, shared meals, quiet prayers, even silly family rituals and laughter all matter.
Speaker BThey are a different story than the one that the regime or the empire tells.
Speaker BSo when my granddaughters have a giggle fit, it's a little Passover time in and of itself.
Speaker BA practice of joy that says grief and problems can be coped with and headlines and politics don't get the last word.
Speaker BLet's talk about an action step.
Speaker BChoose one concrete way to leverage your comfort or access for someone in the margins.
Speaker BFor us as be an advocate, call or email with some local official, your congressperson, or someone about a justice issue.
Speaker BIt may be immigration or patient protection or tenant rights, housing issues, inclusive or exclusive school policies.
Speaker BA number of things that you can do Another thing another a thing you could do is to accompany be with someone who's going through a crisis.
Speaker BIt might mean a ride or a meal, a cup of coffee or child care or being with someone who's navigating treatment, some sort of a crisis.
Speaker BBe present Another a thing to do is allocate give to a fund your time, energy, service your money for mutual aid or some clinic serving the uninsured.
Speaker BAnother a thing is amplify Use your platform, whatever it is, in your household, your church, your business, however small, to tell a liberation story that needs to be heard.
Speaker BBe specific about it and make it known.
Speaker BThink faith become visible in calendars and budgets.
Speaker BAll right, we're gonna have we're gonna close with a prayer in just a moment.
Speaker BBut I did want you to know that we have a have a resource for you to help you with your own home prayer life.
Speaker BIt's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.
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Speaker BLet's pray.
Speaker BGod of the unseen and the everyday, give us the courage of Moses parents when policies harm the vulnerable.
Speaker BGive us Moses backbone to choose people over perks.
Speaker BTrain our imagination with joy and justice until hope feels like muscle memory for friends who are facing adversity like cancer.
Speaker BGive strength for treatment and rest for the caregivers and a laugh that sneaks in when no one expects it.
Speaker BFor our city and for the people we care about.
Speaker BTeach us to love what you love and to move our feet toward liberation.
Speaker BKeep our eyes on the one no I could see on our hands busy with the work your love requires.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker AMy friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.
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Speaker AThanks much.
Speaker AMy name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your daily Bible Refresh.
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Speaker ARemember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.
Speaker AHis merciful love hasn't dried up.
Speaker AIt's created new every morning.