The Power of our Luxury--Nov. 7, 2011

We know that you are a God ready to forgive,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love.

And we remember that you did not forsake
your people who were fleeing Egypt,
even though they forsook you.

Still, we wonder whether we are a people
who honors you with our lips, but
whose hearts are far from you.

Though we laud you from one generation to the next,
the merchants of the earth have grown rich
from the power of our luxury.

All the while, kings of the earth commit fornication
with us, and with the power of our military;
and the poor of the earth suffer famine.

Are we different from ancient Babylon (or Rome),
with which all nations drank "of the wine
of the wrath of her fornication"?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 135; 145; 97; 112
Neh. 9:1-25
Rev. 18:1-8
Matt. 15:1-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 145:4
One generation shall laud your works to another,
      and shall declare your mighty acts.

Neh. 9:17c
"…But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake [the people of Israel who had fled Egypt but refused to obey]. …" [Ezra praying before the people of Israel who were of Israelite descent]

Rev. 18:3
"…For all the nations have drunk
      of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
      and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from
            the power of her luxury."
[An angel of great authority refers to the fall of Babylon the great]

Matt. 15:8
"… 'This people honors me with their lips,
      but their hearts are far from me …'"
[Jesus quotes Isaiah to rebuke the Pharisees and scribes who criticized his disciples]