Living in the Spirit
July 20, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 85

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
   for he will speak peace to his people,
   to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
   that his glory may dwell in our land. –Psalm 85:8-9

We tell God a lot of things about what God needs to do. Scriptures seem to indicate that God grows weary of such speech particularly when we fail to reciprocate in dialogue. Words of hate are not of God. Neither are words of privilege and exceptionalism. Perhaps rather than giving God our daily instructions, our time might be better spent listening to the Lord’s guidance. While hate is the symptom of our troubled minds, I believe fear is the disease.

I find it interesting and informative that when Paul encountered the living Christ on that now famous road to Damascus, he followed the event by visiting Jerusalem twice and even withdrawing for an extended time to Arabia. (Gal 1:11-2:21) He returned with a markedly different understanding of God’s mission for him that was his driving force for the rest of his life. Are we in the USA experiencing and equally confounding paradigm shift? Would we be better served and better servants if we, too, dedicated time to understanding our role in the world today?

Is it possible that our growth into a global community is just one more step toward God’s Kingdom? Does that indicate that God thinks we are ready to move out of our exclusiveness and join all at God’s table? The Hebrew Bible speaks of the Israelites as God’s Chosen People. We would do well to remember that neither our ancestors in faith, nor we who follow in their wake, were set apart as a privilege, but as a calling to be a blessing to all nations including our own.

Prayer: Lord, when we tremble at a loss for understanding, remind us of your abiding presence; when we base our self-worth on being better than others, forgive us and make us whole; when we drift off the path of your loving ways, lead us back toward justice and mercy. 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.