Eastertide
May 19, 2017
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. –1 Peter 3:18-22
What constitutes a good conscience? Have you ever done something, perhaps on the spur of the moment, perhaps with good intentions that kept eating at you for days later because you feared it was the wrong approach to something? You might forget it for a while, but it pops back into your mind in a quiet moment. God created us with a conscience to serve as a regulator of our behavior. A good conscience is one that works. It is wonderful when it works in advance of an action, but necessary when it helps us see where we might have gone astray resulting in our responding correctly the next time the same or a similar situation presents itself.
I went to my first Ramadan dinner last year with a friend. We sat at a table with a mixture of other Christians and Muslims. Filled water glasses sat at each place around our table. To a person, while we sat and waited for the dinner to start, the Christians at my table all took a sip of water. I had not paid attention to the fact that none of the Muslims drank from their water glasses. As the leader explained the rituals involved in breaking the Ramadan fast for the day, which included drinking the first sip of water at a specific point, I remembered my mother’s training always to follow the lead of the hosts at any dinner. While my hosts were gracious and ignored my failure to honor their traditions, my conscience recorded the experience for future reference.
The concept of privilege precludes the necessity of engaging one’s conscience fully. As we live into being one with the diversity of God’s people, it is essential that we allow the conscience God gave us to work and not let our cultural programming of privilege override God’s righteousness and justice.
Prayer: Gracious God, clear away the years of programming in my mind that is contrary to your righteousness. Fully engaged my conscience as I listen for your still small voice directing my behavior. Amen.