Living in the Spirit
July 23, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. –Ephesians 3:14-19

We are all children of God. I heard a young, freshman member of the state House of Representative say in a public gathering recently he had been surprised at all the, what I call, hate mail he routinely receives. We had asked him to tell us how we could best communicate our wishes to him as constituents. He was being lighthearted about the graphic correspondence he received, understanding people need to vent at times, I guess. I frankly do not know why anyone would run for any office. We the people seemed to have forgotten the first purpose of the government of the United States of America is to form a more perfect union and we the people are the government and the ones who are to form this union. These people we cast dispersions on represent us. Yes, we need to let them know our positions and yes, we need to be fully engaged in our citizenship, but we need to do it in love and in the spirit of oneness.

Thus, I needed to read this prayer for all of God’s people in our scripture today: I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. Jesus called us to be one and, I believe, the only way we can be one is through the power of the Spirit and the love of Christ.

Prayer: Lord, you created us a diverse people and called us to be one. Help us celebrate our differences while understanding that together and with you in our presence we can be greater than the sum of our parts. 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.