{"id":16847,"date":"2021-04-10T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotion-10th-april-2021"},"modified":"2021-04-10T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T05:00:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-10th-april-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-10th-april-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion 10th April 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday 10th April<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Can we take oaths in God\u2019s name then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exodus 20: 7<\/strong><\/p>\n

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January President Biden and Vice-President Harris took oaths of office ending \u201cso help me God\u201d. Both also rested a hand on chosen Bibles to underscore the solemnity of their oaths. This is a tradition, despite the strict separation of State and Church in the USA.<\/p>\n

In Exodus the people were warned against wrongful use of God\u2019s name, not against using God\u2019s name at all. So when could they call on God\u2019s name and God\u2019s power, for the name of God is powerful? Disclosed to Moses in Exodus 3.13-20 as \u201cI AM\u201d or alternatively interpreted as \u201cI will be what I will be\u201d the name shows that God\u2019s freedom could not be constrained. God chooses to be present in the name and trusts fallible human beings to use it rightly. God\u2019s name was to be used by Israel alone, for blessings, solemn undertakings and, sometimes, overcoming enemies. Improper use would be in lying, bearing false witness, or trying to bind God to human purposes. Breaking the duties of a promise taken under oath invoked divine punishment. \u201cSo help me God \u2013 you can punish me if I fail.\u201d How many violent intentions have been carried out to their conclusion because of a promise made in fear of God?<\/p>\n

The early Church was clear on the point of not using God\u2019s name for oaths. Matthew 5. 33-37 and James 5.12 state \u201clet your \u2018Yes\u2019 be yes and your \u2018No\u2019 be no\u201d: integrity as a Christian and as a human being was enough, without bringing God overtly into the matter. The divine was already present in a life lived in reliance on God.<\/p>\n

So when encountering systems of justice Christians should perhaps choose to \u201csolemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm\u201d the truth of their testimony rather than swearing by Almighty God.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong>
God who is and will be,
source of truth,
expression of complete integrity,
give us the courage to face whatever must be endured
relying on you
so that your name will be known
whether we use it or not.<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday 10th April Can we take oaths in God\u2019s name then? Exodus 20: 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Reflection In January President Biden and Vice-President Harris took oaths of office ending \u201cso help me … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “URC Daily Devotion 10th April 2021”<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}