Old Testament: Jeremiah 22:13-23
Psalm 69:1-23 (24-30) 31-38 * 73
Epistle: Romans 8:12-27
Gospel: John 6:41-51
From Psalm 73
As I watch the news and read the newspaper everyday, I sometimes despair. Reading Psalm 73, I was comforted to know that I wasn’t alone in this. Three-thousand years ago, the psalmist described people and conditions that are so appropriate for our times.
“I… saw the prosperity of the wicked: for they suffer no pain and their bodies are sleek and sound. In the misfortunes of others they have no share... they wear their pride like a necklace and wrap their violence around them like a cloak… Their iniquity comes from gross minds… they scoff and speak maliciously. Out of their haughtiness, they plan oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens and their evil speech runs through the world. And so the people turn to them and find in them no fault.”
Many of us can see the evils and pettiness of the world and world leaders. Many of us rail against the wickedness we see, and despair.
We wonder what we can do to counteract this descent into evil. Each of us can do very little, but the little we can do individually can make a difference. We must remember, “everybody counts or nobody counts.” We must realize that we can do anything if we all try to make the world better in our own ways.
What can we do? We should not speak badly of others. We can use the old southern term “bless his heart,” but truly mean it, and pray that the evil one we rail against will be touched. God can do many things. He can bring down the sinner or he can touch his heart so that he can feel the pain of others. Let us pray.
Let us do good to others. Let us help feed the hungry, clothe the cold and naked, comfort those who despair, shelter those who have no homes, tell the lonely of the love of God. If each of us does these things to just one person, united we can make a difference.
We need to speak good, not evil. If we spread love, not hate and fear, we can improve the world. During Lent, let us each try to give something back to the world, so that when we ourselves fail God (and we will), we can say, “I tried, and if I helped one person, I have helped you. I have made the world a little less evil.”
Barbara Patterson
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