Living in the Spirit
September 4, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-33

Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. –Luke 14:31-33

I worked as a planner in state government for some 20+ years. This experience taught that unforeseen realities often require changing courses, small distractions can be major deterrents to success, and perseverance toward attaining any vision and mission is critical. The first three verses of I Corinthians 13 were written for such a time as this:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-3)

The purpose of the Body of Christ is to love God and love like Jesus loves. The purpose of governments at all levels is to provide for the Common Good. These two purposes naturally complement each other unless other political realities intercede to throw either off course. In the United States, we the people, are ultimately responsible for our governance. If we do not like our country’s current status of gridlock supporting economic and social injustice, then we need to do something about it. It begins with electing officials who can work together to find the things on which they can agree, work on those, and use them as a springboard toward furthering the Common Good.

[National] Voter turnout in 2014 was the lowest since WWII – The Washington Post

[In Oklahoma in 2014] 40.7 percent of registered voters showed up, the lowest recorded rate since 1962. – Oklahoma Watch

We cannot get caught up in the noisy gongs and clanging cymbal. I we hear the same thing over and over again whether it is true or not it often sticks in our minds. While important, the Presidential race’s outcome will not matter, if Congress is dysfunctional. Commercial media’s vision and mission seem to relate to high ratings resulting in higher incomes or other self-interest. It may not be the best source of information nor is the wildly exaggerated or truncated stories shared on social media. God gifted each of us with some common sense if something is too good or too bad to be true, check it out.

Prayer: Lord, create in me a clean heart and a right spirit as I prepare for voting this fall. Focus my anger and frustrations with the system to playing my part in improving it. 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.