Living in the Spirit

October 22, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

We have lost our plumbline on discerning what is wicked and what is not. I guess I should stop reading social media. My heart breaks each time I read a post that says someone has left their church because another member, or even the pastor, has told them they would go to hell because of the candidate they are supporting. Many people no longer identify as Christian because it is associate with behavior that they do not think reflects the ways of Jesus. Jesus is very clear on this point,

‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? –Matthew 7:1-3

Rudyard Kipling perhaps says it best, when he wrote If for boys. It applies to girls and all adults, too. Here is the first verse, with the last phrase:

If you can keep your head when all about you   
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;  
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
… you’ll be a Man, my son!

Prayer: God, forgive us, for we know not what we do when through our actions, we turn others away from you.  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.