Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, April 12, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Let me be frank. (And maybe a bit political). The fact is that our economic system in the United States is unjust. Some jobs are overvalued to the point of generating obscene amounts of wealth that no human being could possibly need. Other jobs are undervalued to such an extent that those who work them are forced into abject poverty even as those of us with means benefit from their labor. We look down on those doing the hardest and most under-paid jobs, rather than recognizing that our society does not function without them, and we try not to think about our complicity in their poverty. The rhetoric that those who are poor are somehow lazy is absolutely false. Absolutely. False. We have a duty to one another to work for equity. We have a responsibility to pay our fair share into the system, which includes being willing to pay more for fast food or sanitation or child care or teacher salaries. Is this model of mutual financial support in the early Christian community practical in our modern context? Probably not. But it is a direct call to us to consider how we can move toward the ideal of mutual support. Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to flourish. God calls us to make that a priority.
How am I engaged in bringing about a flourishing life for all people?
