Living in the Spirit
July 26, 2018
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. –Ephesians 3:14-19
I did not ever think I would see the day when taking a knee would be seen as anything but a statement of reverence, respect, and in many instances grief. Taking a knee before the flag of the USA has significance because men and women have courageously given their lives since the flag’s creation in support of the vision of our nation’s founders that we are a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Grief is the appropriate response when we fail to live up to that ideal. In the USA taking a knee as a patriotic practice when it is expressing an individual’s faith is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof*.
The inclusion of the words establishment of religion grew out of the religious persecution that people in other nations were experiencing. They faced dire consequences if they refused to follow the beliefs and practices of the dominant, usually governmentally sanctioned, religion. Immigrating to the New World opened opportunities for free expression of their beliefs. Granted some were as intolerant of other beliefs at the beginning of our nation as their persecutors had been where they came from. The establishment of religion phrase was a compromise that basically said if anyone had freedom of religion all must have it.
We seem to be understanding the phrase backward as we try to legislate our faith through laws. Indeed, there are close relationships between some governmental laws and faith-based rules designed to protect one citizen from another or others. Lying, cheating, stealing, causing bodily harm to another all are found in most faith rules and governmental laws. The distinction in faith-based guidance is that it holds the follower of the faith accountable to a higher authority as stated in the above scripture, [God] may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. If we are following Christ’s way of love, we should not need governmental laws to protect one from another.
Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, help us live mercy to the extent that justice is automatic. Amen.
*http://constitutingamerica.org/bill-of-rights/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnNvaBRCmARIsAOfZq-3BqcAxCCXv3gmYvhC7fRO2MCuNJSQtkZlck82xGSI0eOZPJdqKe60aArWLEALw_wcB#toggle-id-2