Living in the Spirit
June 10, 2020
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Once again, a black man has been killed by policemen. This time we all got to watch the killing via media. Repeatedly, I have heard the word “listen” regarding the plight of blacks in our society over the past few weeks. Our scripture today tells us that God listens to all God’s children and hears what we say. Ours is a dynamic relationship with God, where love is reciprocated with more love.
We do not worship the fixed statues of old granting them powers they were unable to possess. We tend to worship out-of-control aspects of society that, like a parasite, flirts with us and diverts our attention from what really matters, allowing it to sap our soul-strength from us for its benefit.
Our nation was formed by primarily Europeans immigrating here some in search of freedom from oppression, some in search of freedom of religion, and others seeking fortune. Some came with the full blessing of their church. The questions of history, I suppose, will never be answered whether the amalgamation of those immigrants and the natives that were already here could have ever been peaceful and mutually beneficial. Abraham’s migrating from Ur to the land of Canaan was at first hospitable until it was not. Until the parasites of greed resulted in violence among the tribes.
Four hundred years ago, the idea of producing more and more crops to make more and more money at the cheapest cost possible resulted in slavery. Humans, primarily from Africa, were extracted from their homelands and sold to the highest bidder to provide the cheap work necessary to make the most money from those crops. And we are still paying a high price for this denigration of God’s children for personal gain.
God is crying for us to abandon these draining gods and calling us to a deeper relationship with God. God listens and will enable us to listen to one another if we open our hearts to God.
Prayer: God let your love overpower us to the extent that we can see all the evil distractions of this world and turn from them and practice loving one another. 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.