Living in the Spirit

September 17, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 145:1-8
I will extol you, my God and King,
   and bless your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless you,
   and praise your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall laud your works to another,
   and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
   and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
   and I will declare your greatness.
They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
   and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

I know of ancestors who owned slaves and others who settled on land taken from the indigenous people of the USA, and I morn those facts. Yet, I am a Christian today because of the devout faiths of my ancestors. My mother was a Deaconess in the Methodist Church during the Great Depression, where she served as a community organizer in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. My dad had a beautiful voice and often led the singing at our church from his pew. He would rise up on his toes as his baritone voice reached for high notes. It does not work for me, but it did for him. His grandfather hosted the first worship service in his home among the pioneers who traveled together from Pennsylvania to Illinois. His great grandfather was one of the trustees who purchased the land to build a new church in Pennsylvania. I visited the grave of a seventh great grandfather in a churchyard while traveling in London a few years ago. I could feel Paul’s presence when I walked the streets of Ephesus, now in ruins, and saw the symbol of the fish, the Ichthys, representing Christ, marked in paving stones.

What legacy are we leaving the next generations? According to the PEW Forum, Christianity is declining in the U.S. at a rapid pace*. I noted when I was doing some research recently on Central America that the percentage of the populations identifying as Christian in those countries is much higher than in the U.S.** Do we only turn to God when we are oppressed? When things are going right for us, do we no longer feel we need God? That seemed to be the trend in the history of the Israelites and appears to be the way we act today. The Good News of Jesus does proclaim an end to oppression, but it also includes the vision of a world ruled by love where everyone has enough.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly***– beyond what is anticipated, exceeding expectation.

We tend to measure abundance by wealth and power. God measures it by love and wants to be a part of our success in loving one another as well as saving us from oppression. The sad fact is as we work toward wealth and power, we increase the oppression of others. God will not put up with that forever.

Prayer: Lord, help us learn a new song of abundance, celebrating love rather than wealth and power that leads to oppression. Amen.

*https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/
**https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/
***John 10:10b

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.