Living in the Spirit
June 6, 2015
Scripture Reading: Mark 3:20-35 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. –Mark 3:23-35
A lot of people consider Abraham Lincoln the source of the phrase, a house divided against itself cannot stand, but he was paraphrasing our scripture for today. I, too, borrowed it for the title of my book but made the word house plural, Houses Divided. I wrote about the fractures that exist among the houses of God in our land today. I believe it is a source of great grief for God who called us to oneness.
Unless we figure out how to be one we will never overcome the world’s madness. I believe oneness is impossible without wholeness within each of us and wholeness within each and among all the houses of faith. So much of the strife in the world is the result of competition for the souls of people. Jesus calls it Satan in our scripture today, I think of it as evil. It is like a parasite that drains the energy from its hosts eventually destroying it even while making it appear full of life.
Jesus’ message to us in his coming to us is that the only thing that can overcome such a destructive force is the love of God. We cannot legislate evil away and we cannot kill it. We can facilitate its demise by loving God and loving like Jesus loved. The final verse (33) in John 16 which proceeds Jesus’ prayer for us in John 17 where he calls us to be one, gives me great hope: I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’
In Jesus Christ we have received the answer to the age-old mystery of what to do about evil, God’s love. We just need to live it.
Prayer: O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God; Hold us, who wait before Thee,Near to the heart of God.* Let your Spirit fill us and guide us in the ways that we are to live your love. Make us whole; make us one. Amen.