Does God Matter? - Righteous

I originally wrote this as an article for the Family Life (the news letter for the Church of Christ in Falls Church, VA.) on Sunday, June 21st 2020 but I feel it has a message for everyone during the Covid-19 virus pandemic. 

A few weeks ago I wrote an article discussing the question of “Why god matters?”  This question is

one we all struggle with in the dark times of our lives.  In my attempt to answer this question it struck me that a god doesn’t matter but the LORD does matter.  The LORD matters because HE is an actual being with a personality, motivations and desires.  We meet the LORD in the Bible and we see HE is righteous, creative and loving.

We see the LORD’s righteousness in action at the time of Noah.  The unrighteousness and sin of humanity had become so bad the LORD couldn’t allow it to continue.  As the LORD observed the

world, one righteous man was found.  Instead of destroying everything, the LORD creates a way for Noah and his family to survive the coming flood.  The LORD acted out of righteousness, justice and mercy not anger and spite.

The LORD knows what is truly right or wrong and expects humanity, especially the LORD’s people, to behave in the right way.  The LORD also expects humanity to be merciful and just.   By following the commands and laws in the covenant, the people of Israel were living in this righteous way.  The laws and commands were also designed to create communities that were righteous and just for all.  The weak, poor, widows and foreigners are taken care of specifically in the covenant.  In fact, Israel is condemned on a number of occasions for mistreating the weak, poor, widows and foreigners!

If we are living a life that reflects the righteous life of the LORD we need to look at the commands Jesus gives us.  His commands are simple: we are to love the LORD and love our neighbor and as ourselves.  We love our neighbor when we speak out against injustice.  When we see a neighbor hurting out of love we acknowledge that hurt.  If we see a neighbor mourning out of love we comfort them.  By acting in love we are showing love to the LORD and living in a righteous way.

We may be acting in a righteous way but that does not make us righteous.  Nothing can make us righteous but the blood of Jesus.