Living in the Spirit

August 28, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Romans 12:9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We probably all should attach a copy of the above scripture to our bathroom mirror and read it each morning as our marching orders for the day. Our society seems to be spinning backward from these instructions. We often say the right things but do not mean them or live them. We celebrate evil, care only about ourselves and those who mirror our ways. If we are honest, we probably do not want to change anything unless it interferes with our comfort level.

Recently, I have been surprised several times by recognizing how privileged I am. My heat and air thermostat just went out, having exceeded its five-year warrantee by three years. I spent an evening of the temperature getting up to 80 degrees wondering why it was getting so hot when I discovered my thermostat was dead. I slept under a ceiling fan, called the heat and air service I use, and by 10:00 am the next morning had a new thermostat before my house had had time to take on the heat of a new day. I had funds in the bank to cover the cost. I did not have to decide between eating or a cool house. A local nonprofit announced a few weeks ago that they had a new stock of fans for particularly the elderly who, with no air conditioning, was subject to heatstroke.

We justify inequities in our system by denigrating people by the strangest of measures like the color of their skin or their gender or the type of work they do. I worked in a restaurant and nursing homes when I was in high school and college at minimum wage and even less when tips were supposed to make up the difference between what I was paid and the minimum wage. I enjoyed both jobs and probably learned more about dealing with people in these experiences than I did in any college course I took. You cannot tell me that people doing these types of work are lazy or do not know how to work. Even though I was young and healthy, I was exhausted by the end of the day, and I did not have to go home to care for a family.

Prayer: Lord, I am so weary of waking up to another instance of blatant bigotry. Make me and all your followers be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive ourselves*. Amen.

*See James 1:22

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.