Tag Archives: Justice

Together in Love

Living in the Spirit

November 6, 2020

Scripture Reading: Amos 5:18-24
Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
   as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The day of the Lord to many Christians marks the coming of Christ and eventual return. In the Hebrew Bible the day of the Lord relates more to temporal events like the darkness of being overthrown by an enemy. Amos deals with people who are caught up in the image of a god of their own creation. A god they worship with great festivals and solemn assemblies in the very midst of great. Rome burned while Nero fiddled; Israel landed in Babylon while it ignored God’s prophets. Problems arise when our cultural lives serve as blinders for any injustice present in our world.

Our personal worth, all people’s personal worth’s began when we were created in the image of God. Our challenge is actualizing the skills and talents with which we are endowed while furthering the advancement of others made in God’s image. In creating the world, God manifested an interdependent system that works best when fueled by the force of God’s love in and among all of us. There is no place for injustice in such a schematic. Houses divided fail and fall.

We, as a nation, are very divided. Now is the time to assess our situations to seek common ground for the Common Good.

Prayer: Creator of all, forgive us for missing the mark in seeking justice for all. Guide us in finding your path toward justice. 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.

Being the Body of Christ

Living in the Spirit

My back yard. It has already been cleaned up.

Let me give you an update on my life. On October 26, 2020, Oklahoma was struck by an ice storm that caused major electrical outages and loss of internet connectivity particularly in the central part of the state. My house is still without either. After spending a week in a very cold house with no light I moved to a motel. I would have gone earlier but, alas, I could find no room at any inn until this week. My electric company estimates it may be back up by November 6.

I missed several days of writing my daily devotions. I will start again today. Please pray for all those who are still without electricity which often also means heat, those who do not have the resources to leave it all behind and check into a motel, and all those electricians and linemen who are working long, dangerous hours to get us back home. Thank you.

November 4, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 78:1-7

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
   that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
   we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done.

He established a decree in Jacob,
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
   so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments;

I am writing this the day after the 2020 election while awaiting the final counts on the presidential campaign. I love history. Thus, this scripture spoke to me of the need to pass on to coming generations our successes and failures so that that they can learn about God’s glorious deeds and learn from our successes and mistakes. My take on the challenges of 2020 is that as the Body of Christ active in the world today, we are missing the mark and need to repent and reform our way of serving Christ today. We must start by taking account of how well we are implementing Christ’s plan for our world. I wrote my book Houses Divided eight years ago, and we are even more divided today than we were in 2012.

No matter who wins the election, we followers of Christ must look deeply into God’s mirror and ascertain if the reflection we see looks and acts remotely like Jesus. We indeed need to first take the log out of [our] own eye, and then [we] will see clearly to take the speck out of [our] neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7:5) We also not only need to listen to one another but also to hear each other.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for getting so caught up in the things of this world that we fail to love as you call us to love. Amen.

Seeking Justice

Living in the Spirit

October 27, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Micah 3:5-12

Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
   and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
   and pervert all equity,
who build Zion with blood
   and Jerusalem with wrong!
Its rulers give judgement for a bribe,
   its priests teach for a price,
   its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
   ‘Surely the Lord is with us!
   No harm shall come upon us.’
Therefore because of you
   Zion shall be ploughed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
   and the mountain of the house a wooded height. –Micah:9-12

Reading the Hebrew prophets is like reading a newspaper today. What Micah cried out against in 700 BC applies today.

Abhor justice and pervert all equity
CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978. Typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time. (Economic Policy Institute) Many of those workers do not earn a living wage.

Rulers give justice for a bribe
January 21, 2020 will mark a decade since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a controversial decision that reversed century-old campaign finance restrictions and enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections. (The Brenan Center for Justice)

Priests teach for a price. Prophets give oracles for money.
The “prosperity gospel,” an insipid heresy whose popularity among American Christians has boomed in recent years, teaches that God blesses those God favors most with material wealth…Few theological ideas ring more dissonant with the harmony of orthodox Christianity than a focus on storing up treasures on Earth as a primary goal of faithful living. (The Washington Post, The Worst Ideas of the Decade, The prosperity gospel by Cathleen Falsani)

We find ourselves caught in the web of the greed pandemic raging through our land as we invest our time and talent in making money, the Baal of our time. Also, being ravage by the COVID-19 pandemic, we throw up our hands and say let it run its course while we develop better treatments and a vaccine. Dealing with COVID-19 is hurting our economy.

We do possess the means of controlling both pandemics. The treatment outlined by Jesus in Mark 12:30-31 has two steps, the first is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Wearing a mask, physical distancing, testing, tracing, and quarantining as indicated, markedly reduces the spread of COVID-19. Putting God first in our lives over any idol sets us on the path of righteousness.

Prayer: Lord, free us of the burden of worshiping lesser gods, bring us back into your fold, and lead us to higher ground. Grant us the patience and forbearance we need to face the COVID-19 virus head-on and help us find ways of loving our neighbors involved in it, whether as victims or health care workers. 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

Re-formation

Living in the Spirit

October 26, 2020

Scripture Reading: Joshua 3:7-17

Joshua 3:7-17

The Lord said to Joshua, ‘This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses.

When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing towards the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. –Joshua 3:7,14-17

What happens when we reach our destination? Amid a very contentious campaign, we are caught in the waiting time when our leaders are identified—not just the President but also Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, and local leaders of various types. I voted about a month ago, the same day I received my absentee ballot. I long for some magic button to press when all the political ads could be removed from all my media sources. However, it may be useful for me to see them in the clearer light of having already voted.

I have discovered being honest in ads may hurt the candidate. Have we reached that level of division, or is it denial? If we do not do anything about climate change, then it must not exist?

Sharing ideas and plans about addressing issues is counterproductive to the election. In my memory, this is the first time one of the major political parties did not present a platform.

I have recently had the feeling that we are at a crossing point in our nation. I do not know whether it is crossing over into new and better ways of being or exile. Scary when you think about it, but change always is. My prayer is that we are at another Re-formation where we take stock of our faithfulness to God’s leadership and carefully discern and choose God’s choices for our lives.

Prayer: Lord of Love, direct our responses to our leaderships changing as we strive to be your Body in a very fragmented world. Amen.

Choosing God’s Choices

Living in the Spirit

October 24, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’—Matthew 22:34-40

We use the word love rather loosely. It is both a noun and a verb in English. In Greek, the word translated love in English relates to several terms. The word translated love* in the above scripture, sometimes called divine love, describes actions we take–like wishing someone well, taking pleasure in something or perhaps the company of someone, longing for something or someone. It denotes both the love of reason and esteem. It means to choose God’s choices for ourselves.

I have had the refugee children, the ones separated from their parents at our southern border, on my mind. We now cannot unite them with their parents because we did not keep track of them. The song from the musical Oliver, Where is Love? came to my memory when I thought of these lost children or lost parents, I do not know which. If you will recall, Oliver was separated from his mother and placed in an orphanage. This was his song to her:

Where is love?
Does it fall from skies above?

Is it underneath the willow tree
That I’ve been dreaming of?
Where is she?
Who I close my eyes to see?
Will I ever know the sweet “hello”

That’s meant for only me?
Who can say where she may hide lit ?
Must I travel far and wide?
‘Til I am beside the someone who
I can mean something to …
Where…?
Where is love?

Who can say where…she may hide?
Must I travel…far and wide?
‘Til I am beside…the someone who
I can mean…something to…
Where?
Where is love?**

Expressing love by choosing God’s choices certainly applies to care for others and is the driving force behind doing justice.

Prayer: God, bless each of these separated families and those who are working diligently to reunited them. Forgive us when we or those that represent us do not choose your choices. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/25.htm

**Song from the Musical Oliver by Lionel Bart

Sharing Good News

Living in the Spirit

October 23, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

I had to read this scripture three times before I comprehended its fullness. I would read a few phrases, and my mind would drift off on some horrible campaign ad I had just turned off full of half-truths and innuendo. I was already concerned about the latest COVID-19 numbers just released on the news. We live in times of high frustration.

Paul and his crew arrived in Thessalonica after departing Philippi, where they were shamefully maltreated. The situation was different in Thessalonica. The visiting evangelists were welcomed by a people who were also dealing with challenging issues, but who allowed Paul and his group to love them in the way these travelers longed to share Christ’s abundant love with others.

We have lost sight of the meaning of the word evangelists in our world today. It means sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery. Never comes with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed. The politics of faith is a travesty. The understanding that wealth is God’s outward approval of one’s salvation is heresy.

All Christ-followers must evaluate their lives individually and as communities of faith carefully to consider if we are sharing Christ’s good news or our self-righteous ideas of what Jesus surely meant to say. Repentance results in redemption when we realign with Jesus Christ’s righteousness..

Prayer: Lord of All, open our hearts and minds to the truth that we have forsaken. Forgive us and guide us back through your Spirit to following you. Amen.

Judge Not

Living in the Spirit

October 22, 2020

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

We have lost our plumbline on discerning what is wicked and what is not. I guess I should stop reading social media. My heart breaks each time I read a post that says someone has left their church because another member, or even the pastor, has told them they would go to hell because of the candidate they are supporting. Many people no longer identify as Christian because it is associate with behavior that they do not think reflects the ways of Jesus. Jesus is very clear on this point,

‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? –Matthew 7:1-3

Rudyard Kipling perhaps says it best, when he wrote If for boys. It applies to girls and all adults, too. Here is the first verse, with the last phrase:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
… you’ll be a Man, my son!

Prayer: God, forgive us, for we know not what we do when through our actions, we turn others away from you. Amen.

Learning from Our Mistakes

Living in the Spirit

October 21, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Turn, O Lord! How long?
   Have compassion on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
   so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
   and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
   and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
   and prosper for us the work of our hands—
   O prosper the work of our hands! –Psalm 90:13-17

I am never quite sure what to make of the Psalmists, who write about God afflicting us. Is it recognition that the person talking has sinned and, in some way, thinks God is punishing them? Are they trying to justify that they have learned from their mistakes and are ready to return to their work on God’s behalf? Evil is always with us. Is the Psalmist asking to be made glad amid corruption? Is the prospering of the work of our hands the ultimate source of gladness?

My guess is like me, most of us are caught in a whirlwind of emotions and fears amid the COVID-19. Is this cough my usual reaction to my sinus problems? I always look forward to the first hard freeze of the year about this time. How do we keep up with friends and relatives when we cannot visit them? What is the best use of my time? It was incredibly hard to understand that staying home away from others is the best way to love them now.

Having more time to think has challenged me to consider the good and the flawed worldviews in our society today. COVID-19 is an equal opportunity virus. Yet, those who have jobs where they can work from home are less exposed. The availability of financial capital or quality health care results in better health outcomes. The people more likely to die lack accessible, affordable health care and often must work closely with the public. Others, who lost their jobs, are dealing with evictions and food lines. The inequities in our culture have been greatly enlarged by the virus.

During these challenging days, will we learn from our mistakes and create a better world for all God’s children? If so, what changes will we make? What changes can we make now?

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, help us see our world through your eyes so that we can identify those things that need to be changed to fulfill your vision for this world. Amen.

Living on the Plain

Living in the Spirit

October 20, 2020

Scripture Reading:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

You shall not render an unjust judgement; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

We quote the phrase love your neighbor as yourself easily and regularly. We fail to remember the admonitions that are summarized in this commandment. I am writing this amid the political ads that are bombarding us leading up to the 2020 election. They are no different than the ones we have heard in the past. Many are designed to divide and conquer.

God calls us to live on a level plain, where all are judged the same, where hate has no place in our hearts. Having worked for years with and for the poor, I was interested in the phrase shall not be partial to the poor. When the poor are poor because they are working hard but not paid a living wage, it is not partial to correct that situation. It is doing justice. The poor do need to take responsibility for themselves in every way they can. Our helping them become the people God created them to be is also doing justice.

Isaiah describes it well,

Every valley shall be lifted up
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain. — Isaiah 40:4

Prayer: Lord, help us see your image in each person we encounter and make that our starting place in our interactions with them. Amen.

Changing of the Guard

Living in the Spirit

October 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’ Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. –Deuteronomy 34:4-12

Moses’ job was a lifetime appointment, as was Joshua’s. The passing of leadership responsibility is a constant in life from tribal leadership, monarchies, and democracies. Thus, change, too, is a constant in our lives. I have always wondered if Moses was disappointed at not entering the promised land or if he thought, in Paul’s words, I have finished the race* now is the time for someone else to take over.

Our call to serve God, whatever our responsibilities, is also a lifetime appointment. Our duties will change as the world changes, and our abilities develop. I was surprised to see former President Jimmy Carter walking with a hammer in hand across a Habitat for Humanity building site on TV recently. I think he is 96. When I was baptized in 1954, I never envisioned cell phones or computers being mainstays of my work.

In a few weeks, we face the changing of the guard in our governmental systems in our cities, counties, states, and nations. Some incumbents chose not to run for office, and some will lose. All our ruling bodies will have a different makeup of participants. We must work to make that transition as smooth as possible. As a country theoretically ruled by the people, we must remain engaged in assuring that our governments’ work is dedicated to guaranteeing the people’s common good.

Prayer:Lord, guide us in our civil engagement as we strive to build a better world ruled by your love. Amen.

*2 Timothy 4:7

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Wholeness/Oneness/Justice

A Covenantal Conversation on Church and State

Tag Archives: Justice

Together in Love

Living in the Spirit

Being the Body of Christ

Living in the Spirit

Seeking Justice

Living in the Spirit

Re-formation

Living in the Spirit

Choosing God’s Choices

Living in the Spirit

Sharing Good News

Living in the Spirit

Judge Not

Living in the Spirit

Learning from Our Mistakes

Living in the Spirit

Living on the Plain

Living in the Spirit

Changing of the Guard

Living in the Spirit