Living in the Spirit

September 5, 2022

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah

4:11-12, 22-28

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert towards my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.
‘For my people are foolish,
   they do not know me;
they are stupid children,
   they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
   but do not know how to do good.’

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
   and to the heavens, and they had no light.
I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
   and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,
   and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
   and all its cities were laid in ruins
   before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.
Because of this, the earth shall mourn,
   and the heavens above grow black;
for I have spoken, I have purposed;
   I have not relented nor will I turn back.

Jeremiah does not mince words, and still, the people did not pay attention to him. The world he describes sounds a whole lot like ours. The western third of our nation is in a dire state regarding water, the most basic need of living. We seem skilled in doing evil largely related to greed. When the bill was recently passed in Congress including a provision that the staff at the IRS would be increased so they could investigate and deal better with tax cheaters, many were outraged saying it would raise our taxes. They did not seem to recognize that if they are not cheating on their taxes, the taxes will not go up. That reminded me of the County Commissioner crisis in Oklahoma in the 1970s where most of the Commissioners were taking kickbacks on county contracts. When challenged about the process, their answer was everyone was doing it.

We are called to do right and doing right is designed to make our lives better.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the small and large things in our lives that negatively impact others. 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.