Living in the Spirit
September 21, 2015

Scripture Reading: Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. On the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.’ Then Queen Esther answered, ‘If I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me—that is my petition—and the lives of my people—that is my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king.’ –Esther 7:1-4

Esther appeals to the king for her people who are scheduled to be destroyed by Haman one of the King’s men stating her reasoning that the death of her people would actually do damage to the king. While this was a very smart approach, it is true, I believe, that all injustice hurts society as a whole. When we build ourselves up at the expense of others we may receive short term benefits but the long term ramifications are always bad.

The United States is suffering the consequences of wealth transfer from primarily the middle class to the upper class over the past thirty or forty years. This has resulted in the shrinkage of the middle class and a rise in the number of those poor. The bottom line of profit seems to be the only thing that matters any more. We privatized many governmental services resulting in ever increasing costs because of the need to make a profit. The privatizing of prisons is an excellent example. Profits are made in growth industries. Our goal as a society is to reduce the number of people held in prison. The goal of business is to increase their clientele to increase their profits. This disconnect has resulting in The United States having less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.* Are our war policies also being driven by profits?

We need to repent of our greed and strive to create a society where everyone thrives.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us of our drive toward wealth in dollars rather than wealth in your love. Give us the courage to reformat our society to be ruled by justice for all. Amen.

*http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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.