Eastertide
April 11, 2023
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32
‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
“He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.”
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. –Acts 2:29-32
We live in a scary world. When I wrote my book Houses Divided ten years ago, the divisiveness in our society was bad, and it has only worsened. While we almost worship our piety, we seem to have lost touch with our faith. King David died in 970 BCE, filled with the faith that his descendant, Messiah, would bring salvation to the world. A thousand years later, David’s descendant, Jesus, came to dwell among us filled with wisdom and the favor of God (Luke 2:40). Jesus modeled and taught the way of being necessary to fulfill God’s vision for the world. It cost him his life. That, however, was not the end of the story. God resurrected Jesus Christ, Messiah, to fulfill his promise to David and to us today that faith and hope are fostered by love. There is no reason for division, violence, or bigotry when we all recognize that we are uniquely and cooperatively members of a beloved community fueled by love, freeing us from the evil that divides us.
Recently, there was a serious live shooter scare on the University of Oklahoma campus. Such actions have been multiplying, and the response by police and others was immediate and vast. I saw in the newspaper yesterday that the report of the shooter’s presence came from a phone number from a foreign country. Evil does not give up easily; we must not either. Fortified by God, we can withstand anything that works to divide and conquer as we strive to build that Beloved Community.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we allow evil to disrupt our faith. Protect us from being caught in the net of evil as we see evil’s presence seeking to destroy us. At times when we are tempted to fight evil with evil, guide us to rely on your 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.