Easter Monday Greetings, All! Occasionally, we feature guest blog entries, and today is one such occasion. Here is a reflection by Pastor Paul Ostrem, Assistant to the Bishop, Southeastern Iowa Synod and ELCA World Hunger leader. During the Lenten season, we read Psalm 107 and Pastor Paul was struck by that reading while worshiping at Gloria Dei in Iowa City. Here is his reflection.<\/p>\n
I almost \u201czoned-out\u201d after hearing verse 2:\u00a0 \u201cLet the redeemed of the Lord say so.\u201d\u00a0 I was abruptly though briefly (thankfully) taken back to the Our-Savior\u2019s-Radcliffe-Haugean-piety days of my youth and perhaps to my equally pietistic days at Waldorf College.\u00a0 \u201cSpeak up!\u00a0 Tell people you are saved!\u00a0 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!\u201d\u00a0 So people got up and gave their testimonies, sounding more pious than many of us knew they were, and I suppose from time to time I tried to do the same.\u00a0 And when the guitars came out, we sang with great enthusiasm in call and response fashion (at least through the first two lines)\u00a0 \u201cI am redeemed by the blood of the lamb!\u00a0 I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb!\u00a0 I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb, filled with the Holy Ghost I am!\u00a0 All my sins are washed away, I am redeemed!\u201d\u00a0 It was true in its own right, I suppose, but last night I realized that Psalm 107 is about a whole lot more once we get past verse 2.<\/p>\n
The Psalm is about God feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, bringing light to gloomy lives, freeing those in bondage, and delivering people from danger and even death.\u00a0 The Psalm speaks, section by section, of all that God does for those wandering in desert wastes, hungry and thirsty, for those sitting in darkness and gloom, for prisoners in misery and in irons, for those on storm tossed seas.\u00a0\u00a0 Each section ends \u201cLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but think about ELCA World Hunger as we moved toward the end of the psalm, verse 35 and following where it speaks of how God \u201cturns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.\u201d\u00a0 The psalm says that God lets the hungry live there and that they establish a town to live in.\u00a0 They plant fields and vineyards and get a harvest.\u00a0 God \u201cdoes not let their cattle decrease.\u201d\u00a0 (God\u2019s Global Barnyard)\u00a0 Here is a picture of God working with the hungry in a way that provides more than relief.\u00a0 This is a picture of God in the work of development, creating a means of livelihood, even community with towns to live in.<\/p>\n
And the Psalm pictures a God who holds those in authority, those in government, accountable to the needs of the poor.\u00a0 Verses 39-41:\u00a0 \u201cWhen they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, he pours contempt on princes<\/strong> and makes them wander in trackless wastes; but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.\u201d\u00a0 This Psalm includes the responsibility of civil leaders in a comprehensive vision of caring for the needs of those who live on the edge and whose very livelihood is threatened. \u00a0Therefore, the work of advocacy accompanies the ministries of relief and development in being a part of God\u2019s mission to the poor and hungry in the world.\u00a0 \u201cThe upright see it and are glad!\u201d (verse 42)<\/p>\n The Psalm ends \u201cLet those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Being wise has something to do with another component of ELCA World Hunger, namely education.\u00a0 Part of that wisdom comes from telling stories of how God is at work even through our efforts in relief, development, and advocacy to care for those most vulnerable among us, how God uses human ingenuity, inventiveness and persuasiveness for the good of hungry people.\u00a0 This is how the steadfast love of the Lord becomes visible in the world, and we are wise if we give heed to it and see it.<\/p>\n Psalm 107 illustrates the acronym READ<\/strong> as a description of the comprehensive work of ELCA World Hunger:\u00a0 R<\/strong>elief, E<\/strong>ducation, A<\/strong>dvocacy, and D<\/strong>evelopment.\u00a0 \u201cLet them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.\u201d<\/p>\n Thank you to Pastor Paul for this great reflection. Do you want to contribute to Hunger Rumblings? Write and let us know!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Easter Monday Greetings, All! Occasionally, we feature guest blog entries, and today is one such occasion. Here is a reflection by Pastor Paul Ostrem, Assistant to the Bishop, Southeastern Iowa Synod and ELCA World Hunger leader. During the Lenten season, we read Psalm 107 and Pastor Paul was struck by that reading while worshiping at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n