Living in the Spirit

November 17, 2020

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken. –Ezekiel 34:20-24

As the Body of Christ in the world today, how do we deal with bullies? First, let us get this out of the way. I think Jesus meant it when he said that he was God’s appointed judge. I also think Jesus meant it when he said we are to love our enemies and our neighbors. And Ezekiel is right in warning those taking advantage of others that they will ultimately be judged for those actions.

What I see in our world today are a lot of scared people whose way of life is slipping away from them and they do not know how to stop it. When I have discussed this status with some of these people, they cannot necessarily name the perpetrators.  So, they fall in line with names that really mean nothing to them—socialist, liberals. One of our senators ran an ad that proclaimed socialists and liberals were not Oklahomans. He won. And scared people line up with the principalities and powers because they appear to have found the key to the kingdom. The powerbrokers cast blame on others like people of color and the LGBTQ population as being at fault for the scared people’s dilemma.

I do think we must start by recognizing that all people were made in the image of God and, thus, all people are equal. I worked at a large teaching hospital in the 1970s that was under major renovations. The former parking lot became the ground for a new building. Land purchased a few blocks away was converted into parking space for staff. Prime parking places were reserved next to the hospital for top administrators and all doctors including interns and residents who were mostly young healthy men.   Most of the very essential cleaning staff were women and men over the age of 50 who spent their days on their feet pushing brooms and mops, bending and stretching to sanitize every nook and cranny of rooms and surgical theaters. Several of us raised the issue with the administration. I remember saying that it does not matter how talented a surgeon is if that surgical room is not sanitized properly. The hospital finally provided a bus to transport staff from the distant parking lot. Most people in our nation today are as essential as those cleaning staff who work hard every day and have a right to be respected for the contribution they make to the wellbeing of our society.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the importance of all your children in our work to make a better world. 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.