Advent
November 30, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Give the king your justice, O God,
   and your righteousness to a king’s son.
May he judge your people with righteousness,
   and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
   and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
   give deliverance to the needy,
   and crush the oppressor. –Psalm 72:1-4

This Psalm, written perhaps to celebrate Solomon’s ascension to the throne of Israel, outlines some ideas about God’s justice. Ideas we still work to emulate today. It seems strange to me that people of faith can get so highly exercised about many issues that are rarely if ever mentioned in the Bible, but often scorn the poor when we are repeatedly challenged from Genesis through Revelation to assure the wellbeing of the poor. I experience the same conundrum about welcoming the stranger. I wonder why we who claim to follow Christ ignore his major teachings even work against them.

Perhaps we react so adversely because for most of us, even upper middle class and wealthy people, we are just one major illness, one accident, one job loss, a bad recession, or worse a depression away from being poor. We choose to ignore that which we cannot control and thus we blame the people who end up poor, for whatever reason, for their situation. We do not want to see ourselves in their plight.

Jesus modeled a different approach. He foresaw a world where everyone shared equally in assuring the well-being of all others. He lived and breathed justice for all. Do we?

Take time this week to see the poor. If you feel you are poor, what do you need what do you want to change your way of being? Are you willing to make the necessary changes in your life? If you count yourself among those, who have enough, what part are you playing in making that a reality for everyone?

Prayer: Lord, Let your voice speak to our hearts, unclog our ears so that we hear what you are saying to us. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.