Living in the Spirit
October 17, 2018
Scripture Reading: Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord! –Psalm 104:1-4, 35
The scriptures included in this week’s lectionary selections seem to be on a theme related to the awesomeness, omniscience, powerfulness of God. I think that is an important idea that we sometimes lose sight of as we get muddled down in the daily grind of life and see fee immediate signs of improvement. The lectionary creators left out the first two segments of verse 35, I assume because they seem to diverge from the full scripture and away from that theme. Those two segments are what caught my attention as I read them.
The segments were most likely left out because they suggest a violent response to sin and wickedness, but I do not think that is necessarily what the phrases are addressing. When I pray, create in me a clean heart* am I not inviting God to consume the waste that I allowed to build up in my being thus limiting the space I have available for God’s goodness? And could the phrase let the wicked be no more be asking that all wickedness be cleansed from us and all who practice wickedness be restored to wholeness in God’s love? Do we expect God’s kingdom to come, if we are not willing to let go of the things in ourselves that are hindering its arrival?
Sometimes, I fear, our attempts not to judge others get in the way of our self-examination and the self-examination of our communities of faith. Our relationship with God is a daily, lifelong journey traveling toward what Paul refers to as perfection, what in today’s language I think might better be received as wholeness. Our movement toward wholeness as individuals, as communities of faith, moves our cities, states, nations, and world toward a greater wholeness which eventually with God’s helps fulfills the vision of Christ for a world ruled by love.
Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts and right spirits and let our individual quests toward these outcomes spread together toward the wholeness that was modeled in Jesus. Amen.
*from Psalm 51:10