Friday, May 9, 2008

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: Matthew 22:15-22

PSALM OF THE WEEK: Psalm 24

HYMN OF THE DAY: CH#720 “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/b/obfsskis.htm

VERSE OF THE DAY: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.”  Matthew 22:21b NRSV

 

As an American I am proud of my country, I love my country, and I know that I am fortunate to live in the best nation on the earth.  I also know this nation is far from perfect.  As a Christian, I love God, who is perfect, much more than I could ever love my nation.  I worship God, not America.  Some people in our country don’t understand that difference.  They want to take patriotism to the extreme of making it the worship of an idol.  To them, any criticism of our government is on par with blasphemy.  We need to give our nation what is due it but not what we owe to the Lord.  Part of our duty as Christians is to be aware of the shortcomings of our nation and to address them in God’s love.  We need to be a prophetic witness to the people of this land.  We need to speak up for the rights of others as well as our own rights.  We need to confront the evils that would nibble away at the very foundations of our democracy.  We need to overcome the evils of greed, poverty, racism, injustice, and other idols. We need to be the witnesses of the Living Christ in this hurting land. We owe that to both our nation and our God. 

 

PRAYER: O God of our Nation, help me serve both you and my country by being the prophetic witness you call me to be.  Help me to be part of the solution to my country’s ills, instead of part of the problems.  And my I do that in the spirit of Christian Love, rather than judgment or divisiveness. Amen.

 

See you in Church Sunday,

Pastor Sandy

 

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