Living in the Spirit

August 11, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Thus says the Lord:   Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come,
   and my deliverance be revealed.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
   to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
   and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
   and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices
   will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
   for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
   who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them
   besides those already gathered.

The first two verses above remind me of the instructions my mother left us, three children, when she went to summer school to maintain her teaching credentials. Our dad farmed, and he was nearby most of the time. We each had our assigned tasks to complete on each day while she was in class. The Lord is instructing us that we are to maintain justice until his salvation comes.

Part of maintaining justice in Jesus’s words is to welcome the stranger (See Matthew 25). Do you think he derived that instruction from Isaiah’s words to include the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord. Curious, I checked statistics and found that approximately 88% of Latin Americans identify as Christian*.  In the USA, 65% of the population indicated they were Christians**. We perhaps need to learn something from our neighbors to the south.

While I do actively support the church being inclusive to all God’s children, one can also read this scripture instructing us to pray for all people wherever they might be.

Prayer: Lord, today, we particularly lift up the needs of the people of Beirut, Lebanon, who have been devastated by a massive explosion. We also pray that you open our hearts and minds to the needs of our sister and brothers in Christ, who are being held at our southern border that we can welcome them as you welcome them. Amen

*https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/

**https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

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.