Living in the Spirit
May 30, 2016

Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 17:8-16, (17-24)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” –1 Kings 17:8-14

It seems to me that we are living in a world of fear. I think part of that is the result of the fast changing pace of our society. A bigger part though, perhaps is lack of control over our lives. A sense that all is not right and we can do nothing about it. A loss of purpose and focus may be included. Time was when building a better life for the next generation was important. Now we seem to be moving in the other direction. How did this all happen? What can we do about it?

I have probably said this before, but it is scary how closely our lives today mirror that described by the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. While the rich get richer the poor get poorer. What once was middle class is quickly becoming the working poor. Leaders are more concern about maintaining their own status and wealth and have lost interest in meeting their obligation to assure the Common Good. Even the Kings of Israel were responsible to care for the poor not to chastise them for failure to meet their basic needs on salaries that are woefully inadequate.

The prophets worked for a just world as we are also called to do:
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

What does a just world look like to you? How would you make it happen? On November 8, 2016 you will have the opportunity to take steps toward living in a just world by exercising your right—obligation?—to vote. Start now to identify, how your faith guides you. Pray for God’s guidance and seek reliable facts to inform your decision.

Prayer: Lord, show us what your justice looks like and let it be a guide to our being a part of doing justice in this place at this time. 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.