Advent

December 11, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:5-10 (11)
Their ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of their sight;
    as for their foes, they scoff at them.
They think in their heart, “We shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations we shall not meet adversity.”
Their mouths are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under their tongues are mischief and iniquity.
They sit in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places they murder the innocent.
Their eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
    they lurk in secret like a lion in its covert;
they lurk that they may seize the poor;
    they seize the poor and drag them off in their net.
They stoop, they crouch,
    and the helpless fall by their might.
They think in their heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

What is evil? According the Mirriam-Webster evil is

1 a. the fact of suffering and wickedness:  the totality of undesirable, harmful, wicked acts, experiences, and things
  b. a cosmic force producing evil actions or states
  c. (1) wickedness, sin (an offense against God)
      (2) the wicked or undesirable element or portion of anything

While the Psalm quoted above describes well the various forms that evil takes in our world, the final verse quoted, verse 11, was not included in the lectionary selection but I think it may be at the heart of evil. Does not evil result when a person or a society reaches the point that They think in their heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”?

Evil becomes the norm in our society when we as a people no longer have in our hearts the measure of God’s love by which to judge the efficacy of our actions, when we have lost our moral compass. Like our Hebrew ancestors before they were taken into exile, I fear we are at the crisis point in our society of letting evil win and worse still, claiming our actions are ordained by God as we define God’s intentions to our benefit.

Advent is the time to search our hearts and examine whether we know God is with us, shines God’s face upon us, and sees everything we are and we do. If we find in such and examination that our connection to God is not complete, let us remember that Christ has come, is with us now, and is coming again. We only need to reconnect with God.

Prayer: Lord forgive us when we think that you have forgotten us. Open our hearts to your presence and heal our troubled souls. 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.