Living in the Spirit

August 26, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
O offspring of his servant Abraham,
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones. –Psalm 105:1-6

The Hebrew Bible tells of the history of a people who recognized God as the one true deity and follows their attempts to live into God’s calling to be a blessing to all nations*. The stories illustrate the highs and lows of their success. There is a cyclical pattern in the events of God’s love sustaining them. Eventually, they are pulled away from God by the ways of the world. They turn from following God’s guidance for an abundant life ruled by being loved by God and loving God in return. Every movement away from God lead to destruction. They saw the error of their ways, repented, returned to God’s guidance, and then spiraled down again until ultimately, they landed in exile.

The creation story tells us that we are all chosen by God. Created in God’s image, we are all loved by God and are equipped to love like God. We are each endowed with gifts that are of worth to all people. God calls us as he called Abraham to use our talents and skills to be a blessing to others. From the beginning, humans got caught up in first one brother thinking he needed to be better than another. Families than tribes, and eventually nations competed to prove they were better than some other.

Since we were all created equally and loved equally by God, our need to prove our worth by being better than others results in an emptiness that can never be filled. The harder we work at think we are better than others, the more worthless we feel. That results in our need to see and treat others as having even less value.

 We, as people of faith, have been caught in this heresy. And we are the messengers who must take the lead to peel away its dissidence exposing it for the sin that it is separating us more and more from the God who is love.

Jesus said it best, love your neighbor as yourself**. We cannot love others until we fully understand that we are loved by God, and that is all we need and all we need to know.

Prayer: Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord; Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more. Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole***. Amen.

*See Genesis 12:2–3

**See Mark 12:31

***From hymn Fill My Cup Lord by Richard Blanchard See at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/340

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.