Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, August 25, 2020
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
John the Baptist was great for a bit of fire-and-brimstone preaching. Here, he’s calling out the people in the community who think they’re entitled to the best of everything simply because they’re descended from Abraham. In other words, they’re banking on their privilege of having been born into “the chosen people.” John’s not having any of that nonsense. God expects more from them. And from us.
I was born steeped in privilege. White, cisgender, straight, from a highly educated family, middle-class, and so on and so forth. And if I think that entitles me to a pain-free, privileged life, I have another think coming. John warns that my privilege won’t save me. That God expects my life to bear fruit—to demonstrate through action a commitment to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and my neighbor (and all of creation) as myself. It’s so easy to fall into the patterns of the Pharisees and Sadducees and think I’ve already won the prize, so nothing is expected of me. May I never forget John’s challenge to my complacency.
Where has privilege kept me complacent in the face of the world’s challenges?
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