Living in the Spirit
September 19, 2021
Scripture Reading: Mark 9:30-37
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ –Mark 9:33-37
‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’
I fear when the USA, as a nation, looks in the mirror, it sees the past, struggling groups of people escaping religious persecution or famine coming to a new world in search of the freedom to live as our ancestors chose. This was our land; God gave this land to us. Some did consider that the land was vast enough for both the original occupants and those newly arrived, but the majority did not. Our Manifest Destiny grew into an empire. Thus, we are now following the steps of earlier empires like Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. These nations were ruled by greed and lust for power. They all failed, rotted from within.
We can choose to be the people Christ called us to be, setting an example for the whole world. ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ This is a world ruled by love where everyone has enough to meet their basic needs and become whatever God created them to be. The will to put loving God and loving one another first dictates how we need to govern.
It feels like we are standing on the precipice of our nation, trying to decide which way to go. It reminds me of Jesus weeping as he overlooked Jerusalem.
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’ (Luke 19:41-44)
Prayer: God with Us, take the blinders from our eyes and show us your better way of righteousness and justice navigated by love. 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.