Living in the Spirit
July 22, 2015

Scripture Reading: Psalm 14

Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’
   They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
   there is no one who does good.  

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.  

They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.

 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon the Lord?

There they shall be in great terror,  for God is with the company of the righteous.
You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.  

O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
  When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,  Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

This is a chilling scripture and I have included it in its entirety because it is not only an indictment of the people of God some three thousand years ago, but it is an indictment of us today. I was particularly struck by that sentence Have they no knowledge, all the evildoer who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? It describes greed, which is idolatry, in its most primal form.

Slavery is against the law in our country today, but allowing businesses to prosper on the backs of inadequate salaries is comparable to slavery. Minimum wage for most families does not pay for the most essential necessities. The government supplements those wages with food stamps and child care subsidies. Charities attempt to fill in the gap often at the end of the month through food pantries, gas coupons, and shelters.

It is fixable, but adequate incomes will never be a reality for all until we repent of our greed and get down to the hard task of revamping our systems to assure living wages for all.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, forgive us of our greed. Open our hearts and minds to clearer understandings of building a world where there is room at the human table for everyone as you model for us at Your table. 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.