Kingdom Building

July 31, 2019

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 107:1-9, 43

Some wandered in desert wastes,
   finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty,
   their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
   and he delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
   until they reached an inhabited town.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty,
Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
   and consider the steadfast love of the Lord. -Psalm 107:4-9, 43

Today is the last day of my self-proclaimed sabbatical. I am not sure a retired person can take a sabbatical, but I took the month of July off. I good friend suggested sometime back that I not listen to and read the news in the morning, which I have done for most of my life. A process I inherited from my family. Farmers are probably more interested in the weather than the news, but they are often tied together and thus my move toward adulthood was shaped by that early morning intake of information. The news is often disturbing. The news melded early into my prayer life and later into my writing. My sabbatical included some respite from the news.

,Thus, I thought it fitting that the scripture for today could have been the script for the morning news as families with children all over the world are finding no way to an inhabited town as they escape the horrors of war and gang violence, hunger and deprivation only to be met by walls and barbed war and stay-out signs and where people of faith who took to heart Jesus’ direction whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’ are arrested for giving refugees water.

I believe God can and will give us the wisdom to discern what is right and just, I believe in the steadfast love of the Lord, I believe that all of God’s followers are called to create in oneness a world ruled by love, and I believe that God’s love is stronger than evil. So, I invite others to pray the news with me morning, noon, or night while remembering that prayer is not telling God what to do but asking for God’s guidance regarding what we are to do.

Prayer: Lord, refresh our baptism as we like you wondered in the wilderness to gain the strength to face the evil that is in the world. Amen.

*Matthew 10:42

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.