Living in the Spirit

June 5, 2021

Scripture Reading: Mark 3:20-35

When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. –Mark 3:21-27

The fact that people will believe anything they see or hear with no verification but do not believe what they can see with their eyes is astonishing. There is a pandemic of thinking about what we choose to think and keeping our heads in the sand. We do not deal with the truth. Evil is working extremely hard in our land to divide and conquer us. Jesus’s own family tried to stop him from warning the people of their need to face what is real. I heard a member of Congress saying the crowd on January 6 was no different than regular visitors to the Capitol. I have visited the Capitol several times over many years, mostly seeing well-behaved tour groups and families. Small to large numbers of protestors were sometimes visible but orderly.

There is nothing innately good or bad about politics. It describes a way of interacting and decision-making. Politics is about power and is present in all business and governmental operations. In a democracy, politics require negotiation and compromise. Democracies no longer exist when these skills are dismissed. The issue at stake in the above scripture is not the politics of running a home or a government. Problems arise when the political is infiltrated by evil’s corruption, often based on greed and lust for power. Paul states it well in Ephesians 6:12:

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

God is calling us to turn around and practice God’s mercy and justice. Unfortunately, we will pay heavy consequences if we continue down our current path.

Prayer: God of Justice, forgive us for turning away from you. Cleanse us with your love and place us in your righteous way. 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.