Living in the Spirit
May 23, 2016
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 18:20-39
So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ The people did not answer him a word.
–1 Kings 18:20-21
Sound familiar? It should. It accurately describes our world today. The Baal is money and the power it can buy. If we search deep in our souls, we would find that most of us have worshipped at its feet. Its power has oozed through every crevice of our lives. It is probably best reflected in our political systems right now. We cannot put the blame on the politicians for we created them. Demanding that they provide for everything we want without being willing to pay for it. The Common Good has lost all meaning; greed is good.
What passes for morality today is concern about where transgender persons go to the bathroom. According to the New York Times, the best estimate of the number of transgender persons in the USA is about .3% of the population (700,000 people). In 2014, 48.1 million Americans were classified as food insecure most elderly and children; 35 million Americans make less than $10.55 an hour which is well below the living wage requirements but above the minimum wage requirement of $7.25 an hour. Our prisons are currently filled with non-violent offenders, who are disproportionately persons of color with numbers running in the millions. And we are concerned about where people, who probably just want to be left alone, go to the bathroom? Have we lost our moral compass?
It is time for us to turn around and face our own trespasses. Reorganize our priorities and get in synch with the God of love who cares for all the children, adults too, of the world by following Jesus’ example.
Prayer: Lord forgive us for failing to take the log out of our own eye, while being overly concerned about a speck defined by us in our neighbor’s eye. 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.