Tag Archives: Hate and Bigotry

Navigating to God’s Glory

Jesus’ Ministry
January 8, 2019

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7

Do not fear, for I am with you;
   I will bring your offspring from the east,
   and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
   and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
   and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
   whom I created for my glory,
   whom I formed and made.’ –Isaiah 43:5-7

The Kingdom of God has no sides as is true of the earth. While using directions seems to make it easier for mortals to navigate the earth, the truth is if we go far enough east, we arrive on our west. To God, all means all. Our categories of directions, nations, states, cities, skin color, ethnicity, or gender are meaningless to God. We humans are the ones who have the need to reduce numbers to more manageable sizes by creating artificial divisions. A problem arises when the members of those smaller segments cannot get along or begin to think one is better than another. At that point Isaiah quotes God as saying, “give them up” and “Do not withhold” reminding us of the shallow nature of our divisions. Isaiah reminds us that all are created for Gods glory and our job is to make sure everything we do with and among God’s creation is to Gods glory.

The year I graduated from high school, our school board considered consolidating with the nearest school who was our greatest rival in sports. We students thought the world would come to an end if that happened. The next years the schools consolidated. The world is still here, and that combined school offers more choices in classes with students scoring higher on achievement tests. Asking the question each time we interact with others, “does what I am doing glorify God” while being honest with oneself might be a good place to start self-correcting.

Prayer: Lord, help me examine myself to determine if my actions and the actions I support glorify you. Guide me in changing course so that all I do brings you glory. Amen.

Prayer: Lord, help me examine myself to determine if my actions and the actions I support glorify you. Guide me in changing course so that all I do brings you glory. 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.

Following Christ

Ordinary Time
February 8, 2018

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I fear we are all guilty at times of creating and following a god made in our own image when we cannot see clearly the God in whose image we were created. Jesus confronted Peter, the rock, for his well-meaning but shortsighted response to the realities of first century Israel. I wonder how many times in Peter’s life he replayed this scene in his mind checking to make sure he was on the narrow path. *

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ (Matthew 16:21-23)

When Jesus taught the beatitudes** can we envision him including our innermost thoughts, the stances we take, the words we say? I have difficulty imagining Jesus spewing out the hate speech so prevalent in our world today and the subtle shades of bigotry spoken and practiced in not so subtle acts. We seek credence for our positions by clustering with others who share our god images.

We follow the example of our ancestors in faith assailed by the Hebrew prophets for being blinded to the will and the ways of God by the self-serving choices they made. In creation, God envisioned a world where all would be blessed, and all would be a blessing to one another. This is the Kingdom for which we strive.

Prayer:  Christ clear our vision so that we can see and follow your example. Amen.

*See Matthew 7:13-14
**See Matthew 5:3-10

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright One1989, 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.