Living in the Spirit
June 4, 2018
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 8:4-20; 11:14-15
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’ –1 Samuel 8:4-9
Years ago, I did statewide training among my agency’s staff, both frontline and administrative, regarding the agency’s strategic plan. What I routinely found was that staff easily identify goals and objectives for other parts of the agency to pursue but found it much harder to devise plans for making their contribution to attaining the agency’s desired outcomes. We needed both types of input the worker bee level had insights regarding the administrative supports that would help make things at the local level run more smoothly and the frontline staff had to own their responsibilities in attaining goals.
A good example of that is climate control. Each of us must be mindful of the carbon footprint we leave on our earth as we recycle and take responsibility for cleaner energy usage while we support our government’s role in smoothing the way for climate control at the macro level.
In our scripture today, the Israelites demand a king to solve their problems. Perhaps they wanted a government that was equal to their neighboring countries. I think what God saw was a people who wanted to pass the buck without doing their fair share of providing for the Common Good, the primary purpose of any government. The same attitude seems to be sweeping across the USA. The sad thing about that is the USA was founded on the principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Our founders committed us to self-governance. Yet, people do not vote. Most people serving in elected positions today in Oklahoma were elected by less than half the number of eligible voters not counting those who do not even register to vote. And we wonder why our leaders are more apt to support the entities who fund their campaigns than the people they represent.
We need to learn from the errors of our ancestors in faith. Whether we have a king or a president or a prime minister or whatever, we are responsible for the leadership of our country.
Prayer: Lord, as we enter a new election cycle, teach us your vision of the Common Good and help us implement it. Amen.