Living in the Spirit

August 26, 2023

Scripture Reading: Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

I read an article yesterday about the continuing decline in church membership. People are not necessarily moving away from God but from the trappings of the church in our world today. We seem to want to define people by our interpretations of what is important rather than introducing people to the love of God that defines what is important in life. I love my church when it is at its best; it models the beloved community, that the Kingdom of God Jesus appointed us to build. I, however, have lived through the bad times in more than one church where divide-and-conquer ways of being take control.  I was a child when I first experienced such behavior. The chairs at our communion table were old, and wooden, losing their stability, and needing replacement. A committee was appointed to purchase new chairs.  The first Sunday, the new chairs appeared in the sanctuary all hell broke loose. The seats of the chairs were upholstered. The people who objected apparently thought upholstery was considered too frivolous for the church.  It was very plain upholstery.  As a child, it all seemed very silly. It was blown out of proportion to the point that the family of the woman who chaired the committee withdrew from the church. The chairs remained. They had already been purchased. Such behavior has nothing to do with chairs. I believe it has to do with feelings of worth combined with the measure of worth being better than others.  Such thinking negates the concepts that all people are made in the image of God, all people are worthy, and God loves all people.  No one is made worthy by being better than anyone else.  

Prayer: Lord, help each person accept themselves as the person they are and the person they strive to become in your service. 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.