Kingdom Building
September 30, 2019
Scripture Reading: Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26
Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
and finds no resting-place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
and her lot is bitter. Lamentations 1:3-4
Everyone should have the opportunity to visit the decimated cities of antiquity. These once majestic places, with their tall pillars and ornate carvings and statutes of their gods and leaders they viewed as gods, are now lying in ruin, now bus stops for the tourist industry. A few years ago, as I walked through the ruins of Ephesus, I could almost feel Paul’s presence. I gained a greater respect for the massive mission he undertook to make disciples of all the world one place at a time. Paul traveled there in the mid first century. I wonder if anyone in that grand city had any idea that it would be destroyed in about two hundred years (262 AD) after his visit.
The history of the world is replete with stories of great and mighty empires being destroyed, often from decay from within exposing them to being overthrown by other empires. We do not learn from history. I guess we think we will be different. We do not accept that power corrupts and when unleashed greed multiplies exponentially destroying everything in its wake.
The lamentation above addresses the hardship of Judah when it was overtaken, and its citizens captured. History slices and dices what might have been, but the prophets mince no words as they squarely declare that we must face the consequences of our own actions, particularly those that separate us from God, a lesson that remains valid today.
Prayer: Almighty God, forgive us when we turn from your love and your wisdom and seek the lesser gods of the world. Help us to see you more clearly and let your light shine on the evil in the world that is so enticing to us. Grant us the courage to differentiate your love and power above that which temps us. Amen.
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.