Tag Archives: Complacency

Complacency and Greed

Kingdom Building

August 23, 2019

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 12:18-29

See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ This phrase ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire. –Hebrews 12:25-29

Fire possesses a consuming finality that cannot be undone. I am not sure what we call our damaging fires in Oklahoma whether they are forest fires, as they are often the result of red cedar trees exploding and expanding the carnage, or prairie fires. We do have a lot of prairie. Such fires seem to destroy everything in sight. Grass turns into black sticks, farm machinery melts into quirky modern sculptures, and the smell of death hangs in the air from animals that could not escape.

Following a cold winter that looks bleaker against the blackened burnt earth, new grass grows, tiny green sprouts begin to pop out of the earth with the birth of new trees, and the songs of wild birds echo through the air as squirrels and rabbit begin to scamper about in search of food. God’s all-consuming fire is the source of renewal.

Complacency tied to greed may be our most prevalent act that separates us from God. Indeed, that is an apt description of white privilege or wealth privilege or any attitude that is so ingrained it becomes a part of us and we mistake it for God’s will when it is not. God calls us to constant and consistent work toward making a better world for all God’s children. Let me give you an example of such work gone awry. Insulin was first used to treat diabetes on January 11, 1922. Prior to that time type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. Today drug companies are exploiting that wonderful discovery to enrich their stockholders and themselves increasing the number of deaths among diabetics because they cannot afford to buy the insulin, that would save them.

God does not have a history of patience with such behavior. God sent warnings through the prophets, but God’s followers did not heed their messages. We can learn from their mistakes.

Prayer: God, forgive us for our complacency and greed burning them out of our being. Renew our hearts and minds to shape a world that matches your vision. 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.

God’s Refugees

Kingdom Building

August 9, 2019

Scripture Reading:
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them. –Hebrews 11:8, 13-16

We as followers of Christ are called to be refugees in our world today longing for and challenged to create a homeland that mirrors the love that Jesus modeled for us in his life. We are refugees sent forth into all the world to share the ways and worth, beauty and truth of Christ’s message. It seems to me that the closer we get to some semblance of peace and harmony in our segment of the world where our group has a pretty good life, having enough to meet basic needs and more, we grow complacent as the enticements of the world blend seamlessly into a worldview that equates our homeostasis* with God’s. They are not the same.

We are certainly not the first to view such things as our material success, being the same as God’s vision of the world. We even today have a title for it: The Prosperity Gospel. The stories of the Kings of Israel accompanied by the warnings of prophets like Amos and Isaiah illustrate the same scenario. I suppose that only proves that we truly do not learn from history. We, however, can learn from history striving to transition the whole world and all that is in it to God’s vision of the world God created. We not only can do this with God’s help, we must.

Prayer: Lord, save us from ourselves as we settle for less than your promises have to offer. Amen.

*a tendency toward maintenance of relatively stable social conditions among groups with respect to various factors (as food supply and population among animals) and to competing tendencies and powers within the body politic, to society see at http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/homeostasis

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.

Relationship Destruction

Advent
November 27, 2017

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
   so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
   and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
   so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
   you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard,
   no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
   who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who gladly do right,
   those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
   because you hid yourself we transgressed. –Isaiah 64:1-5

Six years ago, I returned home from a trip, walked into my living room/dining room, and thought something was amiss. A short time later, I realized the problem; all the pictures previously hanging on the walls had fallen to the floor. One had a broken glass. I heard on the news later that an earthquake struck a town some thirty miles east of me with enough force to do major damage at the center. Later I discovered my house suffered foundation damage requiring three piers to correct it. I paid out of pocket for the repairs and added earthquake coverage to my homeowner’s insurance. Since that time smaller earthquakes are regular occurrences as Oklahoma struggles to find the answers to the horizontal drilling and wastewater disposal connection to earthquakes.

While I certainly do not want a bigger earthquake, the smaller ones cause bits and pieces of damage barely noticeable and not at the level to be covered by insurance. I have four new cracks in my lathe and plaster living room walls. A new kitchen range slide between two counter pieces revealed one counter higher than the other. My fireplaced has pulled away from the wall every so slightly.

While our relationship with God can suffer a catastrophic disaster, we are more likely to experience bits and pieces of relational damage that accumulate and grow over time until we may not know God well at all. Isaiah seems to be identifying this sort of relationship destruction among the Israelites. We are more apt to lose our way in the complacency of stable times forgetting how we attained that status in the first place. We may too accuse God of hiding from us when it is we who do not feel the need to seek God until we are mired too deep in transgressions.

Prayer: God, forgive us for resting in our complacency while we gradually pull further and further away from you. Hold us close, help us to see our transgressions both large and small. 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.