Living in the Spirit
September 25, 2020
Scripture Reading: Philippians 2:1-13
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. –Philippians 2:1-8
What a perfect scripture to read during this time of mourning and celebration of the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I just watched her memorial service at the USA Supreme Court building. Yes, I recognize that she was Jewish, but so was the author of this scripture, Paul.
We are all called to adhere to the instruction, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. COVID-19 is a threat to the health and wellbeing of all the peoples of the world right now. It is not the only one. The pandemic of greed in our land is also causing grave consequences from which we will be scarred for generations. It is estimated that more than 133,000 people die a year due to poverty in the USA. These data are from 2011 and do not include the disparity in COVID-19 deaths impacting the poor.
The investigators found that approximately 245,000 deaths in the United States in the year 2000 were attributable to low levels of education, 176,000 to racial segregation, 162,000 to low social support, 133,000 to individual-level poverty, 119,000 to income inequality, and 39,000 to area-level poverty.*
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Before we can follow this instruction, we must study to discern what was in the mind of Christ. I do not think we realize how our worldviews impact how we read scripture. It is almost impossible for us to remove ourselves from our culture, times, heredity, and personal experience. I just learned that there was a Bible created for the transmission of scripture to slaves**. Someone carefully removed significant parts of the text, particularly about the slaves escaping from Egypt. The book of Exodus apparently only included the description of slavery in Egypt and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. I wonder how much we read our Bibles this way, leaving out the parts that do not fit our outlooks?
Prayer: Lord, we dedicate starting this day to seek to know your mind and to adjust our lives accordingly. Amen.
*https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/how-many-us-deaths-are-caused-poverty-lack-education-and-other-social-factors
**https://www.npr.org/2018/12/09/674995075/slave-bible-from-the-1800s-omitted-key-passages-that-could-incite-rebellion
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.