Close the book on Evil, God,
but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
you probe for our soft spots,
you knock off our rough edges.
Psalm 7: 9-10
I read our Psalm today in a few different translations and the words above
(from The Message paraphrase) have been echoing in my mind ever since.
In particular...
"Close the book on Evil, God,
but publish your mandate for us."
What is God's mandate for us? Well, I think we heard it loud and clear in
Kate's sermon yesterday: it is to love. The book on evil must be closed. Let
us close the book on racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia,
transphobia, and the many ways we lives out evil instead of love.
I saw your love in action this morning as food came in for Grace's food
pantry. I have seen your love in action through donations to the Emergency
Assistance fund, phone calls made, letters sent, masks worn, masks sewn,
and prayers said.
Let us pray using the hymn below based on 1 Corinthians 13....