Living in the Spirit
June 25, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:51-62

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ –Luke 9:57-62

When is it the right time to say “No More”? Members of the federal House of Representatives staged a sit-in this week in Congress based on the message that something needs to be done about the mass shootings that are happening across our land. They are demanding a vote on bills to control the sale of guns. And yes, it was and is a totally political action. We live in a democracy, which is a political form of governance and relies on the people to elect representatives. We do not have a monarch who inherits his or her role nor do we have a dictator who holds governance by force. Many are questioning now whether we actually do have a democracy, since we seem to be moving closer and closer to an oligarchy where leader ship is controlled by a small group of people, in our case the people with enough money to by “our” representatives.

The responsibility a democratic form of governance places on each of its citizens is great. It is not easy to determine what is the best way to meet the Common Good. We generally want things that are best for ourselves. The Common Good demands that we see what is best for ourselves through a broader scope. Is it better for me to have criminals rehabilitated rather than having them stored together in crowded, unhealthy conditions that just breeds more crime? Is it better for businesses to have a well education workforce from which to make hires? Is it better for me to pay taxes to keep roads in good repair rather than making expensive repairs to the suspension system on my car? Is it better for me to live in a world where disease and contagion are held to a minimum?

Those of us who long for the full fruition of the Kingdom of God have an even higher calling to a broad brushed approach to the Common Good. Our love of God and love of our neighbor as ourselves must also inform our civic responsibilities. The time is now, circumstances for our action will never be perfect or we would not be worrying about the issues in the first place.

Prayer: Lord, write on each of our hearts your will for the Common Good and give us the courage to seek it with all our being. 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.