Living in the Spirit

October 30, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

For some reason, the idea that Jesus was the ultimate judge and none of the rest of us has that job has resonated with me. That is the main reason I am against the use of the death penalty. We are playing God in demanding such final judgment. That is not to say that I have perfected not judging others and we must make some judgments as we work with other people. Our judicial system is designed explicitly to mediate the differences among people. I named this website after one of the first mentioned judges in the Bible, Deborah. She settled disputes between people and otherwise did things to enable others to do what was right.

We as a nation are losing the ability to seek common ground for the Common Good. Our candidates for office proclaim they will fight for us. That really scares me because in many cases I disagree with the candidate’s stance on an issue.  I want to be represented by people willing to study a problem, identify ways to address it, and together make the most prudent plan to solve it. It is hard work requiring the participants to rethink their viewpoints and seek higher ground for all involved and impacted by those who represent us.

Prayer:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground*. Amen.

*Refrain from I’m pressing on the upward way by Johnson Oatman, Jr. see at https://hymnary.org/text/im_pressing_on_the_upward_way

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.