A Virtual Church

Lead me Lord. Lead me in thy righteousness

January 8, 2019

Make thy way plain before my face. Your way, Lord. Jesus is your way. I have told you, O mortal, what is good…. And you didn’t get it. So I came down myself. In person. A small baby we might have missed except for those angels and that star and the shepherds and those wise men who came to see for themselves. Drat. It’s all public now. What are we to do with that? Caesar, let’s build a wall to keep all those people away. Mitch, let’s get all the judges lifetime appointments…. Oh, yeah, only those who agree with Caesar. Oh, and let us close the government. That’ll show them what’s don’t agree with us. And let’s split up the church into permanent solutions to temporary problems. Events of my day Sunday lead me to this post… Wonderful worship with a message of Epiphany and looking forward to a future with hope and joy, after coming out of a reprimand about how some of us might not be open enough to all people, even snow people who just want to be the snow they are. Two thoughts cross my mind tonight. One from Richard Rohr this morning, “Jesus consistently ignored or even denied exclusionary tests in his own inspired Hebrew Bible in favor of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy, and honesty.” You have heard it said, but I say to you, Jesus said… Jesus learned Scripture well. The Sunday psalm, Psalm 72 in verses 11 – through 14 speak to the way, the truth and the life we are called to in Christ. “For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.” How much of the blood of the innocents will smear our history? I have a friend who says if we knew nothing more of God than Micah 6:8, we would do good in the world. Justice. Kindness. Humility. I think Jesus might say, follow me in that way. Leave the petty piety and haughty self-righteousness behind. Follow the star and never look back. My computer is not on fire. My spell check is giving me a break. The grammar police are not out. My heart is at peace. For it is Thou, Lord, thou Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety. Amen.            

---