Kingdom Building

August 1, 2019

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:1-11

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. -Colossians 3:5-10

I find it interesting that much of the discussion about behavior that we classify as sin in our world relates to the sins of others that most of us would never consider committing. Most of the discussion in the Bible regarding behavior is targeted at our cleaning up our own act as illustrated in the scripture above. The primary reason we are charged to live a righteous life is so that our work toward creating a world ruled by love will be more productive if we are not distracted by the enticements of the world or disparaging others. Consider how much time we commit to meaningless activities designed to what? give us a false sense of happiness or provide an opportunity to make us feel better about ourselves by denigrated others. It seems to me that our worth is established by God’s love for us. We need not look any further than that.

Such distraction and disparagement seem to overtake our civic lives in a country formed of the people by the people for the people. These words were spoken by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg address. Their origins are much older. In 1384, John Wycliffe wrote in the prologue to his translation of the Bible, “The Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.” I wonder if Lincoln read from a Wycliffe translation. The Bible with its stories of governments that succeeded and those that failed certainly provides some guidance for governance, although its use for justifying everything from slavery to Hitler’s Nazi leadership might give us pause. Wycliffe specifies his use of the Bible in the roll of civic services. The Bible is useful for governments whose primary concern is the wellbeing of its people based on the desires of its people. Can we borrow Paul’s instructions from Colossians and apply it to governments in the same manner as we do for individuals? A government of the people by the people for the people must not be distracted by the enticements of the world or disparage its people.

Prayer: Lord, empower us and guide us to elect leaders who strive to provide government of the people by the people for the people—all the people. Amen.

*Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett, 1951 edition

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.