Living in the Spirit
October 11, 2016

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. –Jeremiah 31:31-34

I recently heard a male TV commentator express frustration at trying to understand why self-identified Christian women could turn blind eyes to gender discrimination in a political campaign. What the commentator did not understand is themes of “boys will be boys” and the unspoken reality “girls just have to deal with it” have been stressed in faith training for generations. Culture colors the interpretation of scripture.

Jesus spoke a radical message of inclusion and equality among all God’s children. Paul picked up the idea when he spoke of there being neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28). Even before the canonization of the Bible, commentators on Paul’s writings attempted to correct the “error” of his understanding.

Boys (and girls) do mature particularly under the influence of healthy male and female role models. Men and women are both capable of extreme weakness and strength. God does forgive. The Kingdom of God will never come to fruition until all its citizens are fully actualized.

Having heard many of those faith lessons taught throughout my life, I can testify that they cannot be corrected until they are recognized. That is also true of all the “isms.” Recognizing them is scary. Letting them go is even scarier, particularly when done in isolation.

Prayer: Create in us clean hearts and line them with your love so that our hearts become fertile environments for knowing you and becoming more like you both as individuals and in communities of faith. 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.