Devotion for Thursday, March 26

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Thursday, March 26, 2009

Psalm 78:1-39; Jeremiah 22:13-23; Romans 8:12-27; John 6:41-51

Meditation: The lessons from the Psalms, Romans and John have much to them today. They are core texts dealing with central biblical issues: the exodus, God’s redemption of creation, the Holy Spirit in us praying with sighs too deep for words, and communion (aka Jesus is the bread of life). Having read the three of them and appreciated them, nevertheless, it was the Jeremiah reading that hit me like it was today’s headline.

Did you catch it? “Woe to him who builds . . . his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages.” It sounded just like the Wall Street Journal article a church member gave to me two days ago. The article was on “Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa.” And in the article, it spoke of how great cash gifts from the likes of the World Bank unfortunately lead to corruption, to war and to poverty. For the corrupt have built “upper rooms for their homes,” the writer said in essence, stealing from aid money. In doing this, the African economies were brought to a standstill through the systemization of such corruption. As a result, the one with all the cash became the new target of rebel leaders who gathered armies of the impoverished and disenfranchised, because it was clear where the capital was kept. Over and over, this cycle repeated in downwardly spiraling tragedy. Jeremiah’s words are freshly news.

Jeremiah mimics this kind of corruption, saying in their voice: “I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms.” He speaks of how the unjust official sizes up windows for the upstairs, rooms paneled with cedar and painted with vermilion. But then he points out the end of it all by reminding them what good had been lost. He asks “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.” In other words, when justice was done, when there was equity among neighbors, everyone ate and drank, too. It was well. But when greed took over, it toppled the whole society.

My trip to Africa brought me to Liberia. They have a new and different kind of President there, I think. Her name is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She’s the first popularly elected woman President in Africa. Following twenty plus years of civil war, she is trying to be a president who serves her people. She has a big task ahead of her, and is making a bit of progress. She’s cleaned up the trash that was knee deep throughout the capital city. The new peace seems to be encouraging some entrepreneurial efforts among the people. She’s trying to get infrastructure rebuilt, but it is going to take a lot of time and a continued trust by many because the new day also asks people to make changes. Her efforts may produce fruit if the people of the country remember that they are neighbors to one another – just like the Bible asks us to be. If neighborliness and justice are not crowded out by big upper rooms with fine windows, cedar and vermilion paint, then it can be well with them. In our American news, it seems the same story can also be told.

Prayer: Covenanting God, you ask us to keep our sister and brother, to care for others’ well being. By doing this, we will also find our own well-being. Let us love our neighbors as ourselves as a way of loving you, God. Amen.