GOD’S KINGDOM

Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I make my prayer to you.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.

For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
and evil cannot dwell with you.

Braggarts cannot stand in your sight;
you hate all those who work wickedness.

You destroy those who speak lies;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful, O Lord, you abhor.

[PSALM 5:2-6 BCP PSALTER]

At the risk of stating the obvious, we are living in troubled times.

One of the questions I often ask myself is, “What kind of society are we becoming?”

It’s easy for those of us who are far away from cities like Minneapolis, or Chicago, or Portland, or Los Angeles to simply go on living our normal lives and ignore the turmoil that goes on almost daily in those areas.

It’s easy, if you’re not an immigrant, or a person of color, to think that it won’t happen to you, so why should you be concerned?

I was talking about this to a colleague a few days ago and we both came to the conclusion that people have little concern for those outside of their little corner of the world. Most shrug their shoulders and move on to wherever they were going or whatever they were doing.

Of course, there will always be debates on social media. But those are forgotten as soon as you turn off your electronic devices.

There are days when the daily readings are mere words on a page for me. I struggle to make sense of all that’s going on without letting my frustration get the best of me.

But this morning, as I read Psalm Five over and over, I kept coming back to the following two lines:

You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
and evil cannot dwell with you.

And the constant repetition led me to the realization that as people of God, we are called to live as God’s people in the midst of indifference and even opposition.

Throughout history, humanity has struggled to know what it truly is that God calls us to do and how God wants us to be.

We live in a world that is increasingly divided. 

We have a long history in our society, and sadly, even in the church, of alienating people, of excluding people, because they don’t measure up to someone’s standards. 

In society in general, and specifically in the church, such a focus on artificial standards and merit systems has always led to divisions.

But God calls us to a different way of living; to be people who draw no distinctions and recognize the dignity of every human being, as our baptismal covenant tells us. (See Friday, January 9th’s blog post.)

It’s obvious that our political leaders are not going to be the role models who instill in us the values that help shape our communities.

As people of God, we are called to a life that helps heal divisions, that restores people into the social community and models the love of God and the care for each other.

This is what we call the kingdom of God; a kingdom that has no social boundaries.

Doing God’s will and carrying out God’s plan for the world are not easy.

It will involve struggle and frustration. It will also challenge us to look to God for ongoing direction and encouragement.

That’s why I can’t say enough about the importance of prayer, both on an individual level and as a community of faith.

As we pray, we become more in tune with God’s plan for us a God’s people. And we grow in love to bring healing and wholeness to the world.

Let us pray:
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer p. 823)