Monday, May 12, 2014 (Florence
Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer)
Micah 6:6-8
How do we worship the Lord? What practices help us to be in
relationship with our Lord? Do our Sunday rituals and daily prayers suffice to
bring us into full communion with the Triune God?
The rituals of Old Testament worship included burnt
offerings and animal offerings. As offerings were burnt on the altar, beginning
with Noah, they created an aroma which was pleasing to God and so the people believed
they were calling the attention of God to their needs and requests. Peace (or
fellowship) offerings of animals, which began with Cain and Abel, emphasize the
close communion that the people of ancient Israel had with the Lord. They
could eat the flesh of an animal offering to signify that all was well in the
relationship between the Lord and the Lord’s people. Through the sin (purification) offering
worshippers could receive forgiveness for their sin.*
The prophet Micah tells us that there is something different
which the Lord desires as our worship. It is to live in justice, kindness and
humility. Jesus’ life of works and teachings is a living example of this new
relationship. It is as we shape our life and actions to the justice, kindness
and humility of Jesus that we can truly experience the goodness of the Lord and
show forth God’s glory.
Today nurses around the world remember Florence Nightingale,
the founder and patron saint of modern nursing. She modelled for us compassion
for the people suffering in sick houses, work houses and the Crimean War. Using
her gift in mathematical statistics, she lobbied the government for social
reforms to improve sanitation and health in the British
Empire . Florence Nightingale encouraged her nursing students to
take time for daily bible study and so walk humbly under the guidance of God’s
Word.
What does it mean for us to do justice, love kindness and
walk humbly with our God today? Are there just policies waiting to be developed
and lived out in our community, country and world? What acts of kindness might
we do this week? In which way might God be calling us to depend on heavenly
guidance rather than our own power and will?
“When you walk from
here, when you walk from here
Walk with justice, walk with mercy and with God’s
humble care.”**
May this be true for each one of us.
Elsie Millerd, Parish Nurse
*http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/offerings-and-sacrifices.html
**Linnea Good, “When You Walk from Here,” 1996,
Borealis Music.
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