Did God Create Chaos?--Jan. 25, 2019

God, you created the heavens,

formed the earth and made it;

you did not create it a chaos;

you formed it to be inhabited.

Why is your hand heavy upon us;

why is our strength drying up,

as by the heat of summer?

The earth is perishing;

do you not care?

We did not serve you well,

not you or humanity;

we have not cared

for your earth;

we create chaos,

burning fossil fuels.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139

Isa. 45:18

Eph. 6:1-9

Mark 4:35-41

Selected Verses

Ps. 32:4

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
          my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

Isa. 45:18

For thus says the LORD,
who created the heavens
          (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
          (he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
          he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

Eph. 6:7-8

Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.

Mark 4:38

But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and [the disciples] woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"