Here's To Life!

A reading from Good Shepherd’s August 14, 2022 Worship service Spill the Beans lectionary Violence The Bible says it is okay to use violence, that nations are built on war, that God sides with the victorious, that might makes right. But the Bible also says blessed are the peacemakers, lament the tragedy of warfare, turn the other cheek, that God inflicts defeat on the faithless. So, Lord, which is it? Slavery Slave owners were often Christian, using the Bible to defend their practice, building vast wealth on the backs of others, dining in polite company while their hands were dripping in the blood of the enslaved. But slave abolitionists were often Christian, using the Bible to motivate their actions, seeking the common humanity in all people, created in God ’ s image, and motivated by justice for all. So, Lord, which is it? Power The Church is bedecked in gold and velvet, rich artwork and ancient treasures, connected to high places, indulged by the powerful for their own ends. But the...