Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, July 2, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Ooh. I’m so sorry. I know I’m not supposed to get political in these devotions, but I can’t help thinking of the January 6 hearings going on right now around the “Big Lie” when I read this law of Moses. Or of the state of discourse in our nation, in which seemingly enormous numbers of people absolutely believe a series of malicious falsehoods that wreak havoc on the well-being of this country and its people.
God calls us to be people of discernment. For me in our modern context, that means having dialog with others, listening to experts about things I am not trained in (like epidemiology and climate science, for example), and always erring on the side of honoring the personhood and rights of my neighbors, no matter who they are.
When I hear about not following a majority in wrongdoing, I think of the old saw our parents frequently used to respond to our desires to cave into peer pressure: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too?” I feel at times like we as a society are standing on the guard rail of a bridge over a raging river, and so many of us are ready to jump based on the advice of a few people who, themselves, would never dream of jumping. It’s distressing if I think about it too much.
So I lean back into the arms of God. I acknowledge that there are things I am powerless over (most things, actually) and that my job is to keep my side of the street clean and to be of love and service to God and neighbors in any way I can. The rest is none of my business and up to God who, by the way, is standing on that guard rail with all the potential jumpers, holding them in grace, mercy, and love, regardless of whether they choose to take the leap into oblivion.
How do I navigate the current challenges in our society with my faith and sanity intact?
