Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 10: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 30 and 32; Evening, Psalm 42 and 43;
Joshua 6:1-14; Romans 13:1-7; Matthew 26:26-35:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13: 1 – 2)
Poor Paul, while I am in agreement with Paul on many of his insights that I believe are truly from God, this part of the letter to the Church in Rome stops me in my tracks. This exception is especially true as I look at the history of our Southern States and our Washington D.C. government. In our past, our Government has condoned slavery until a civil war ensued. And after the war, the re-united government still allowed some citizens to be unjustly treated having to ride in the back of public transportation, no voting rights; little to no education and the list goes on even to include unprosecuted community genocides . We imprisoned innocent Japanese Americans out of fear of their possible connection to Japan in the nineteen forties. No Paul, resisting such a government is not resisting God, but resisting a ungodly government. Resistance then is Good Trouble as termed by the late U.S. Congressman John Lewis.
Perhaps the best way to make a government the ideal that God wants it to be is not to abandon it, but to participate in the corrective actions that will make the government more godly. As a Christian of contemporary America I can’t ignore the racial unrest being made manifest today.
There are actions that people are doing that I don’t approve of. I don’t approve of rioting and the vandalizing done to businesses. Peaceful protesting is ok but evil is wrong, be it the government or lawless mobs. I don’t disrespecting our National Anthem. I am a thirty year U.S. Marine and proud of it. And, I am a so-called black man, (I really don’t believe in race), who really enjoys having a beer while watching John Wayne westerns. I pondered about this a lot before sharing it but I need to get this off my chest. I pray there is a godly message in this and that we all strive to make our government the government Paul speaks of – the government of all God’s people.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP 820)
onewhoponders 