As the Psalm calls us to do,
Let us listen to what the Lord God is saying, for he is speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.Truly, Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be a pathway for his feet. (from Psalm 85)
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It is a call not to despair but to repentance. However dire the current situation, God is still extending a hand to humankind, stirring life and hope.
What is the Lord God saying?
Not to the people of the past, anymore, but to us. What shall we do in our current situation? What shall we do, facing eternity?
The Russian novelists of the 19th Century, in their great literature, asked the question, how are we to live?
It is not so different from the question people asked Peter, when he had baptized them: what do we do now?
Now what? is where we are now, where we always are, after the crucifixion of Jesus, after his resurrection and ascension, before the fullness of the kingdom of heaven is revealed in all its joyous power. Now what?
How are we to live - now? Or they asked Peter after Pentecost, what must we do?
Simple words, simple actions, in the telling of the gospels. Don’t cheat, don’t lie, don’t steal, give right weight and proper measure, share, look after the needy. Wait, but not just sitting around. Prepare by being ready, by getting into the habit, by living into the kingdom that is not yet - but whose citizens we already are.
Above and beyond and always questioning our earthly loyalties, to tribe or even family, is that divine calling, that allegiance unpledged, unbought, unvoted for, but ultimately demanding: the welcome undertow of the holy word, the joyous laughter of the Lord of mirth, the happy ending beyond all sorrow, that comes when we come to the Lord, and lay ourselves at his feet.
In our words and in our actions, together as a congregation, individually in our daily lives, and as citizens and people of common humanity, we are making positive steps toward inhabiting the kingdom of heaven that is coming into being.
And – despite all anxieties and threats to the contrary – the kingdom of heaven comes ever closer and even shows itself in places. May it become ever more visible in our lives and the lives we touch.
Let us pray for all worried about or touched by political violence or its threat, that there be listening instead of reaction, compassion instead of anger, and seeking of peace instead of reaching for a sword.
Let us not seek to relieve anxiety in rash and harmful ways but live and act in the compassionate love to which we are always called.
https://tucson.com/life-entertainment/local/faith-values/do-as-the-psalm-calls-us-to-do/article_e0205f1e-4e88-11ef-8a12-0711518687c7.html
