Tag Archives: Justice

Elections Matter

Living in the Spirit

November 8, 2022

Scripture Reading: Malachi 4:1-2a
See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

I am writing this the day before the mid-term election looking forward to the end of all those awful anonymous campaign ads. I do think if someone pays for any part of a campaign ad, they should be required to list their name among the contributors. I am not sure I want the arrogant and all evildoers to be stubble, but I do wish they would have an encounter with the sun of righteousness so they may see more clearly and follow more nearly the far better way of the Kingdom of God. I guess we all might want to consider that as we transition from campaigns to making our government work for the well-being of all the people living in our nation and our nation’s impact on the world. Election Day is not an ending; it is a new beginning.

Prayer: Lord, make us a blessing to our neighbors near and far as a nation. Open our eyes to our shortcomings as we search for the common ground for the Common Good. We pray for all the newly elected public servants and those returning. 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.

Fight or Negotiate

Living in the Spirit

October 30, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

For some reason, the idea that Jesus was the ultimate judge and none of the rest of us has that job has resonated with me. That is the main reason I am against the use of the death penalty. We are playing God in demanding such final judgment. That is not to say that I have perfected not judging others and we must make some judgments as we work with other people. Our judicial system is designed explicitly to mediate the differences among people. I named this website after one of the first mentioned judges in the Bible, Deborah. She settled disputes between people and otherwise did things to enable others to do what was right.

We as a nation are losing the ability to seek common ground for the Common Good. Our candidates for office proclaim they will fight for us. That really scares me because in many cases I disagree with the candidate’s stance on an issue.  I want to be represented by people willing to study a problem, identify ways to address it, and together make the most prudent plan to solve it. It is hard work requiring the participants to rethink their viewpoints and seek higher ground for all involved and impacted by those who represent us.

Prayer:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground*. Amen.

*Refrain from I’m pressing on the upward way by Johnson Oatman, Jr. see at https://hymnary.org/text/im_pressing_on_the_upward_way

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.

The Power of Love

Living in the Spirit

October 29, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Timothy 6:10)

From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. (Luke 12:48b)

As he sat in that tree, Zacchaeus was caught in the crossfires of the above two scriptures whether he knew it or not. The first tells him that in his eagerness to be rich he could wander away from the faith that Jesus, the man who drew his interest after seeing the crowd’s response, professed. Regarding the second scripture, he is called to take responsibility for being trustworthy with the wealth he had accumulated.

I cannot help but think of Jesus’s very act of inviting himself in front of that crowd to the home of one of the most reviled members of that community touching a tender spot in Zacchaeus made his choice clear. God’s love is like that. Ours should be too.

Prayer: Lord, help us see and help develop the value in those people from whom we turn away. 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 Provision of Perseverance

Living in the Spirit

October 28, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I finished one project and am moving on to the next. Nothing was easy. My printer ran out of black ink and would not work after I replaced the cartridge. I went to a local store to have them print what I needed only to find out they did not have enough of the kind of labels I needed to do my whole project. They called another of their stores that had the labels, and I drove 50 or so blocks to buy the labels and have them printed. All the staff was very helpful, but I was stunned when they did not charge me for the printing since I bought the labels there.

That all came to my mind when I read the above phrase our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith. God enables perseverance when following your calling. My project was to print and send get-out-to-vote cards as a part of my work with the Poor People’s Campaign. Oklahoma has one of the worst voter turnout rates in the country. People need to know that their vote matters if they are going to lift themselves out of poverty. We are called to feed the hungry. That can be the provision of actual food it can also mean advocacy for raising the minimum wage to a living wage.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of perseverance as we work to follow your call to love our neighbors. 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.

Living Love

Living in the Spirit

October 27, 2022

Scripture Reading:

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are, indeed, called to love one another, and it seems that the principalities and powers feel a great threat from that thought. Greed is not compatible with love. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. No one’s worth is established by being better than anybody else. Hot-button issues are designed to distract from the real problems of our times. Love is the ultimate vision for living.

The ads sponsored by dark money during this election season illustrate the fear of those principalities and powers that we the people might actually live the calling of love through all aspects of our lives including our civic responsibilities.  The ads include just enough truth to bring out our worst fears but never tell the whole story. They were used to driving us away from voting here in Oklahoma for the last several years. That is not the answer. We have one of the lowest voting rates in the country. All eligible people need to vote.

The purpose of government is to provide for the Common Good. Take the time to consider what that means to you. For me, that includes the availability of quality affordable healthcare for all, quality public education for all children from birth to entry into a career that pays a living wage, restorative justice, and a totally revamped immigration system that protects from crime while fulfilling our call to welcome the stranger, and dependable infrastructure (roads, bridges, water, broadband access), safety protection (policing, criminal and civil justice, fire protection, safe available water, climate change, international relationships, and the military). I judge the candidates I vote for by their potential to deliver these goals as they relate to the office they want to fill for attaining the Common Good. What represents the Common Good for you? What candidates have the most potential for achieving the Common Good? Vote for them.

Prayer: Lord, lift us to higher ground so that your love can spread across our land and protect us from the evil that is around 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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Redemption

Living in the Spirit

October 22, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Some Pharisees liked to play God so do some politicians. Supporting the death penalty gains them votes for being tough on crime. The state of Oklahoma, using our tax dollars, on October 20, 2022, killed another man with a mental illness for killing his nine-month-old baby, twenty years ago. Although he had been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, the courts denied the need to determine if he suffered from a mental illness.

 He was the sixth person executed in the last year in Oklahoma. There are twenty more scheduled for execution over the next two years. The death penalty serves no criminal justice purpose. Studies have determined that it does not serve as a deterrent to crime. Keeping someone on death row for 20 years costs a lot more money than serving their time in a regular prison setting. Why, you ask does it take 20 years before someone is executed?  Because it takes a long time to process all the appeals. People impacted by the crime that resulted in a death sentence get no closure during all those appeals. Why must we have all those appeals? Because since the death penalty was reinstated in 1973 at least 190 people have been exonerated before they were executed. We have no idea how many innocent people have been executed. People who are a danger to themselves or others may need to be sentenced to life in prison, where they have a chance at redemption. There is no redemption in execution. Jesus was innocent of any crime and his execution provided for the redemption of all people.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we insert ourselves into making decisions meant only for you. 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.

Living our Faith

Living in the Spirit

October 16, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

I would much prefer recognizing people’s faith by their actions, not words. The woman in this parable was persistent in her quest for justice and everyone knew it. I think that is what the scripture above is suggesting when the Son of Man comes he desires to find people being actively involved in loving themselves and loving their neighbor as they love themselves*.

In reference to Christ, [faith] denotes “a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God” **.

The kingdom of God is the ideal beautiful community where love is the rule, not power, wealth, or wisdom. Many of us were raised with the concept that we have a final reward in a place called heaven if we believe in Jesus Christ and serve him. The problem is that our culture values power, wealth, and wisdom as transcendent characteristics and we tend to set them as the character traits of faith, not the love Christ modeled for us.

The parable above warns us that we must not be distracted by the ways of the world, but we are to champion justice and righteousness as we live the love of God now and forever.

Prayer: Lord, guide us away from that which distracts us and toward that which makes us whole. Amen.

*See Mark 12:30-31

**https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm

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.

How do we judge others?

Living in the Spirit

October 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Jesus weaves many lessons into simple stories. Here he deals with racism while ostensibly addressing the need to thank God for God’s blessings. We humans do not like to be confronted directly with our prejudices. We all have them, and we all do not recognize them as judging people by some preconceived idea of who they are. Have you ever wondered why we seem to have such easy access to Canada and they to us, but have the need to build walls between the USA and Mexico? Racism is a relatively new concept, with 19th-century origins perhaps evolving from the aftermaths of the Civil War. What we classify as racism in the Bible was more like tribalism not based on skin color or other physical traits. Bigotry by any other name is just as discriminatory.

In this scripture, Jesus demonstrated that he judged people as Martin Luther King stated: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to see people for who they are not some preconceived notion handed down to us through history. 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.

Bring Us Together

Living in the Spirit

October 6, 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself. –2 Timothy 2:8-13

I always have a problem with words like “elect.” They ring of privilege over others.  We are granted the freedom to choose to follow Jesus or not. I suppose that could be written elected to follow. Jesus, however, loves all of God’s children even those who do not choose to follow him. Jesus also saw the righteousness in people who did not proclaim to be his follower even though they lived his example. The phrase if we deny him, he will also deny us; may simply mean Jesus does not force himself upon anyone. It rings true to the instruction in Matthew 10:14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.

As we plow our way through our midterm elections, we may want to consider what “elect” means as we elect people to work together toward finding common ground for the Common Good which is their assignment. I fear we have lost track of that reality. Some do not want to work together in search of common ground, and it appears that some do not want the Common Good. Some have their own definition of what is Good that only includes those who agree with them. How we reshape our government during this election will have a lasting impact on our lives for many years. We need leadership that can walk away from the negative influences and bring our country together.

Prayer: Lord,  bring us together, Lord, bring us together in love.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 is not Dead

Living in the Spirit

October 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Yesterday was a very busy day for me. About 9:30 pm, I finally kicked back in my recliner and pulled up the national newspapers to read. It was depressing, to say the least. Reports from the impact of hurricane Ian laid out grime details of its destructive, deadly impact. The division in our nation seeped through almost every other article. A line from the Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day came to mind

For hate is strong and mocks the song
 Of peace on Earth, goodwill to men*.

Jeremiah, in the scripture above, provides good advice for us today.  Continue to build the beloved community no matter what is going on around us. The carol goes on to say,

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, goodwill to men*

Prayer: Let it be so. Amen.

*From the hymn, I heard the bells on Christmas day by Henry W. Longfellow, see at https://hymnary.org/text/i_heard_the_bells_on_christmas_day

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.