Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 5, 2014
Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:33-46
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.— Matthew 21:43
Tough talk, sounds like Isaiah warning the people of Judah that if they did not produce fruit, they would lose everything, and they did, for a time. Faith is not a verb in the English language. Perhaps by the time the English language was created, Christians had already moved from an active and engaged worshiping community to clusters of believers with similar but small nuances to what they believed that set them apart one from another. Perhaps it is time that we who call ourselves Christians today show the world that faith is really a verb and the product of our faithing is fruit.
There is nothing inherently wrong with formulating beliefs and discussing them with others. I think such discourse is useful. It becomes a stumbling block when our wrangling over beliefs results in our failing to be the One Body of Christ working toward the kingdom of God in our world today. We even fight wars over it.
The Hebrew Bible is filled with calls for justice and righteousness in our way of living with one another. Christ clearly made justice and righteousness centerpieces for his coming kingdom. Bearing the fruit of justice and righteousness would go a long way toward addressing all the problems that impact our children today. Let us faith together toward this reality.
Oklahoma Fact: third grade reading proficiency percentages by race: White 82.3%, Black 59.1%, American Indian 75.6%, Asian 91.1%, and 77.1%*
Prayer: We are many textures, we are many colors,
Each one different from the other.
But we are entwined in one another in one great tapestry –
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together, together in love.** Amen.
**From Weave by Rosemary Crow, http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=10306
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.