Living in the Spirit
November 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 12

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
   call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
   proclaim that his name is exalted. –Isaiah 12:3-4

I spent election day this year watching 2,000+ voters weave their way through two precincts that vote at my church. All age groups, most races, varied religions, identifiable by a Yamaka or a scarf, were represented. Knowing this was a momentous election my church decided to serve coffee and water with some muffins and cookies to make the wait to vote easier. My observation of the participants occurred during the process of filling coffee pots and answering questions. I voted in the early voting so I could be available to do this work. These voters live within a 27-block area running north and south by a ten-block area running east and west. I live in a city. Most of my family live in rural areas lacking the same degree of diversity that is my everyday experience. Those differences it seems, have come to a head in this election.

The rural/urban divergence is just one of the challenges our nation and our churches face in which the nation must address the Common Good; the church must become one in Christ Jesus. When considering the magnitude of these differences, I am left feeling rather hopeless that either of this desired outcomes, Common Good, and oneness, will every become a reality. A simple reading of Isaiah describes in many places exactly what I am feeling now. In our scripture today, Isaiah leans on God’s wellspring of salvation as the very source of the hope I am lacking.

I want with all my heart to be so in sync with God that my being reflects my faith. Often, I get caught in the web of having nowhere else to turn but to God before I lean into God’s salvation. I do thank God for understanding my stubborn bent to be independent, and I thank God for always being my Savior when I finally seek God’s salvation.

Prayer: Give me the courage to lean on you in all ways always. 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.