Eastertide
May 27, 2014

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:8-12 

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.— 1 Peter 3:8-10

 I must confess I am a diehard NCIS fan. I recently watched a recorded rerun of a show about tracking down a Marine who got lost in the shuffle trying to save the lives of two girls from the bombing of their school in Afghanistan. One of the teachers at the school had been a part of the terrorist plot, the insider, who enabled the bomb to be placed and to do its damage. After the young Marine and the girls were located and returned to a safer place, Gibbs, the leading character on NCIS, asked the young Marine what punishment she thought the teacher should receive for her crimes. The young Marine responded thoughtfully that she thought the teacher should be sentenced to watch the girls grow and flourish into the bright, capable, and well educated women they would become. Gibbs indicated that he did not understand how that would be punishment.  The young Marine responded something to the effect that by watching the girls grow and flourish, the teacher would realize what she had failed to accomplish through her own life. A life focused on hate and revenge and destruction of others is a life wasted.

Our scripture today is our call to live our lives fully and abundantly in service to our Lord and Savior without investing any of our time in rancor.  We are called to build bridges not walls, create synergy not inertia, and grow daily in spirit and in truth.  Our doing these things within the Body of Christ will surely be reflected in our society and in our world. Wholeness leads to oneness, oneness leads to justice, and justice leads to wholeness.

Prayer: Lord, help us form the habits of unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind so that we may be a source of justice in this 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.