Tag Archives: Dealing with Evil

Due to COVID

Living in the Spirit

November 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18)

The Lord swore to David a sure oath
   from which he will not turn back:
‘One of the sons of your body
   I will set on your throne.
If your sons keep my covenant
   and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, for evermore,
   shall sit on your throne.’

For the Lord has chosen Zion;
   he has desired it for his habitation:
‘This is my resting-place forever;
   here I will reside, for I have desired it.
I will abundantly bless its provisions;
   I will satisfy its poor with bread.
Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
   and its faithful will shout for joy.
There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
   I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
   but on him, his crown will gleam.’ –Psalm 132:11-18

The rich history of God’s people carefully carried forward in scripture is a blessing to all who read it. The stories carefully blend God’s personal relationship with each of God’s children while encompassing the oneness God desires for all creation, from loving our near neighbors to those found at the ends of the earth. Most Christians see the above scripture as foretelling the coming of Christ, God with us. The One who sees clearly by the light of God’s lamp and thus is the One we can follow without fear. His light guides us.

I have been surprised to find lexicon-driven scriptures regarding the coming of Christ before Advent. Maybe I have not been paying attention in the past. Perhaps, due to COVID, we are all anxious for good news. I grow weary of that phrase “due to COVID.” We are now being told COViD will most likely become endemic, with us forever ranked in severity somewhere between the common cold and the flu, adding another annual booster shot. Evil, too, is endemic, never going away and always being in the way to distract us from fulfilling God’s vision for all. We build up antibodies to evil by maintaining a close, loving relationship with God.  We reduce the impact of evil in our world by spreading the good news of God’s love and grace provided through Jesus Christ.

Prayer: O Come, O Come Emanual and ransom the whole world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Dealing with Treachery

Ash Wednesday

February 17, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. –Psalm 25:1-5

If—by Rudyard Kipling is good advice for all people. It certainly is appropriate for times such as these.  It is posted below if you want to read it. I memorized it in grade school, and it floats through my mind occasionally now. The first phrase, If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, crossed my mind when I read the scripture for today.

I must confess some of the Psalms of retribution make me uncomfortable. I would like to think I am above such resentments. Wanton treacherousness does exist in our world. Truth has become what can be repeated the most by many sources, dubious though they may be. Yet, freedom of speech is a bedrock of the USA democracy.

So, I thank God for being there for me when I need to rant and rave about some injustice I have observed or mistreatment I have perceived. I probably would never publish those words. Yet, I think the Psalms of vengeance and retribution permit us to take our frustrations and fears directly to God. When we turn them over to God and God cleanses us of their uselessness, God transfers that energy into resilience for doing justice and seeking God’s righteousness, enabling us to keep our heads when others are not.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, thank you for hearing us out when we are frustrated and do not know how to deal with wanton treachery. Channel our emotions into positive work toward justice and righteousness throughout our world. Amen.

If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;  
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;  
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;  
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same;  
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,  
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  
    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,  
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, 
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Dealing with Fame or Disdain

Discipleship

January 31, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

How does one live with fame or authority? We have watched many gifted people cave to the trappings of fame. Some turn to drugs or suicide in response, others become overbearing and dictatorial, and some are converted to idols. Jesus was schooled in handling fame when he was led into the desert after his baptism.  Mark mentions this experience briefly, Mark 1:12-13, And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 provide more detail. Jesus is tempted by the devil three times, and his responses were the guidance he would follow in his ministry when he was overcome by fame and when he was despised and rejected. The guidance is good advice for us today.

  1. The devil encourages turning stone into bread— Jesus responded that people do not live by bread along addressing greed.
  2. The devil promises that if Jesus worshipped him, the devil would give Jesus authority—Jesus replied that he would worship the Lord your God and serve him only, addressing lust for power.
  3. The devil said, throw yourself off the mountain and see if God would save you—Jesus said it is written not to put God to the test, affirming the faith-recognition of God’s eternal love.

Prayer: God of Love, forgive us when we are tempted by fame or the pressures of disdain. Keep our focus on your love and your vision of a world ruled by your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Serving God Not Wealth

influence-worldLiving in the Spirit
September 18, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 16:1-13

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ –Luke 16:13

Pretty straightforward, don’t you think? It is a lot easier said than done. “The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in The Fellowship of the Ring. We must live in the world but not be of the world. Jesus prayed in John 17:15-17, I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Who or what rules our lives? How many decisions do we make just to get alone? When does that matter? At what point do we slip over that invisible line from being in the world to being of the world? And what is this “world” anyway? The Greek word translated as “world” in John 17 is kosmos meaning something ordered*. Our physical world is “ordered” by gravity, by the alignment of the planets, stars, and the moon and God said that it was good (Genesis 1). There are social, cultural orders to the world that may be good, bad, or even neutral. Strong’s calls them worldly affairs*. Making our way through these orders requires us to discern what is and is not of God. Jesus prays that we be protected from being led into evil. Here the Greek is described as evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful**. I think of evil as not being in synch with God, anti-love.

We have to love ourselves enough not to get caught up in evil, and that shows forth in our lives through our love of our neighbor.

Prayer: Order our lives, Lord, make us whole make us one as we partner with you to overcome the world. Amen.

*From Strong’s Concordance see at http://biblehub.com/greek/2889.htm
**From Strong’s Concordance see at http://biblehub.com/greek/4190.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.