Living in the Spirit

September 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 125

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
   which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
   so the Lord surrounds his people,
   from this time on and for evermore.
For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest
   on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous may not stretch out
   their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
   and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways.
   the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
   Peace be upon Israel!

I do not think anyone, including children, should have to leave their homeland to escape starvation, being taken as slaves, trained as criminals or terrorists, or exploited into the sex industry. Our world is full of people caught in these situations. These people fleeing from such circumstances are called refugees. Most citizens of the USA stem from families coming here as refugees.

As I read the above Psalm, I was struck by the phrase For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous.  Who determines what is righteous? I am confident my ancestors who came to the USA to escape religious persecution believed they were righteous, as did those who fled famine. They were saving their lives and the lives of their children. But when does righteousness morph into self-righteousness, bringing the scepter of wickedness to our land?

Our ancestors called it Manifest Destiny. God gave this land to us without regard to who was already living here.

I was not surprised when I read the will of one of my southern relatives who left his slaves to his children along with horses and cattle. However, I was taken aback when I read an ancestor’s will who lived in Massachusetts in the 1600s. He gave his “negro man” to one of his children. I was unaware slavery was pervasive across most of the territory inhabited by whites along the eastern coast.

The more I observe human behavior, the more I understand that God calls us to live in God’s intentional righteousness all the time. That requires us to dig deeper into scriptures than just picking and choosing from antiquated language that agrees with our philosophies. It makes it even more important to observe and follow the words Jesus said and his ways of being. Such study will force us to realize that when we ask what’s in it for us about anything, we must understand that the only appropriate answer is God’s love and righteousness and act accordingly.

Prayer: God of the Ages, strengthen our intentionality living in your righteousness. 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.