Living in the Spirit
October 28, 2014
Scripture Reading: Joshua 3:7-17
While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. — Joshua 3:17
When our hearts and minds are in sync with God, amazing things can happen. When entire nations’ hearts and minds are in sync with God, amazing things can happen, also. There has been much debate recently about whether the United States of America is a Christian nation. I really do not know what that means. Does it mean that if we took a vote on what kind of nation we are, those who identify themselves as Christians won or lost? Voting outcomes do not mean much in our country anymore. Less than half the eligible voters actually even vote in most elections. We are a democracy, so being a Christian nation surely does not mean that people of other faiths or no faith at all have no say in our system of government. Does being a Christian nation mean that as a nation we reflect the values of Jesus Christ? We cannot agree on what those values are among the various churches that identify as Christian. How could we expect a nation as diverse as ours to identify its values in that chaos?
On the other hand, if all people are created by one God then surely we have the capacity for creating the common good, the purpose of government, in the midst of our diversity. If we, as individuals, are each striving to be in sync with God then shouldn’t that shine forth from our governmental system whether we intend for it to or not? What I see happening in the USA today is government at all levels placing too much emphasis on what can only be classified as personal behavior. I do have faith that I will have to account to God at some point for being out of sync regarding my personal behaviors as will we all, but my government is not accountable for my personal behaviors unless they impinge on the rights of others. Thus, citizens have the right to smoke all they want but they cannot do it in places where others will reap its dangerous results. The first is a privacy issues the second is about the common good and justice. However, our failure to provide for the common good is often the result of the common sins from which most of us can be found guilty at one time or another: greed and miss use of power. I haven’t seen legislation about either of those recently?
Our country was founded on the basis of freedom of religion. This is a precious right that we should never take for granted. It does not mean that our faith should not shape how we vote. It also does not mean that our vote should take away the freedom of religion of another person. Jesus never, ever instructed us to force anyone to follow him or to behave in any way that does not embody love. It is not important whether we identify ourselves as a Christian nation. What matters is whether God does and God judges by our love, our justice, and our humility.
Prayer: O Lord, help us be protector of justice and purveyors of love as we fulfill our civic responsibly. 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.