Living in the Spirit

October 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 45:1-7
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
   and the gates shall not be closed:
I will go before you
   and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
   the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
   and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
   I surname you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
   I arm you, though you do not know me,
so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
   I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

I wonder if Cyrus was a monotheist like the Israelites. If he was prompted by God to release the Israelites from captivity, he was open to receiving such messages. We Christians and those Israelite, too, tend to think monotheistical with exclusivity. There is no horizontal bar on that cross. Christ calls us to go into the world and welcome all as God accepts us. On our journey, we may find more people than we think who have already met God. Having grown up in Oklahoma amid the influence of indigenous people, I have never been surprised at the indigenous people’s early recognition of the monotheistic God European immigrants proclaimed because the indigenous people had known such a God throughout their history.

I guess this piqued my interest because I see references on social media, implying one group or another holds exclusive rights to defining God, often shaped in the form of their image, not the other way around.

Mahatma Gandhi might have said it best, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Prayer: God of all, help us see the light of your love in all your children who seek and accept your prompting.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.