Living in the Spirit
Light a Candle for Children
October 19, 2014
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:15-22
Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. — Matthew 22:17-22
Today marks the end of our 40 day emphasis on the needs of children in our world today. It is fitting that the scripture reading relates to an issue of church and state. It seems to me over the past several years actually since the very beginning of the United States of America, we have been trying to figure out how to make church and state work together toward a common goal of justice without infringing on the rights of either. Rather than being the prime concern of both, our children sometimes get caught in the crossfire.
The recent barrage of “my way or the highway” politics has not been helpful. Where have all the public servants gone? Where are the ones who could negotiate a viable compromise between differing ideas? Where are the leaders who consider first the common good of all? These types of leaders must be emboldened by the backing of their electorate. If we truly believe in our representative form of democracy, we must elect people of character and understanding. In that election, we must protect them from the forces of greed and power that constantly strive to overrule them. It seems we the people have given in and given up to those forces of greed and power, because many of us have quit voting. There has been no one elected to a public office in the last several years in Oklahoma that had the majority support of the people. Since the year 2000 there was only one year that a majority of those eligible to vote, actually voted. In 2004, 58.3%* of eligible voters did vote, which means anyone receiving a simple majority of eligible voters would have had to have received nearly all the votes of those who did vote.
Jesus’ way was not to legislate love but to live it. We live our love through our government when we take the time to understand the issues and work diligently to support candidates and issues that reflect our love. A part of living our love is working with others toward the common good, finding the things on which we can agree and implementing them and continuing dialogue on those issues on which we cannot agree. Let it be so.
Oklahoma Fact: In 2012, there were 937,363 children from ages 0-17, all of whom need our continuing prayers.
Prayer: Lord, embolden us to live as you love in the intricate, interdependent world in which we live. Amen
*http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htm
**http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/2544-child-population—annual-estimates?loc=38&loct=2#detailed/2/any/false/868,867,133,38,35/214,387,1510,396,138,182,183,646,1511,1509/10934,10935
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.