Living in the Spirit
November 14, 2016

Scripture Reading: Haggai 1:15b-2:9

Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. –Haggai 1:3-5

The paper this morning featured an Iraqi Christian woman holding a picture of the Virgin Mary as the woman stood in the rubble of her once loved church. Her faced told the story of her loss and grief. The article reported that a statue of Mary in the church was beheaded. There was no picture of that. Coming home to destruction to start over, the woman surely found hope in the tattered picture she had found.

The church universal has much work to do as we answer our call to bring wholeness to a fragmented world. As painful as the loss of a cherished structure may be, such buildings are never permanent. God is. Reestablishing a place to worship may serve symbolically as a measure of normalcy, and that is important. What is more important is sharing our love with our neighbors near and far in whatever struggle they may find themselves. What is even more important is recognizing that all of God’s children are our neighbors.

Prayer: Lord, we grieve with the people of Iraq who are in the middle of war. We pray for a quick resolution to a long-existent dispute. We ask for your guidance for ways we can help. While our differences pale in comparison to war, we pray for unity based on love and respect. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.