Light for the World’s Darkness--Jan. 21, 2020

Lord Jesus, I believe that when you said

that people love darkness rather than light,

you referred to yourself as Light of the World.

(You said it was because darkness covered evil.)

It seems to me, though, that we are in the throes

of a particular evil that must be exposed

to the light of truth—climate chaos.

Into our hands, you have delivered

all living things, and in our prosperity,

we have assumed we can never be moved.

For our sake, you were obedient to death.

Give us love enough for future generations

that we will be obedient to what is required

of us to forestall calamity to all life on earth.  

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86

Gen. 9:1-17

Heb. 5:7-14

John 3:16-26

Selected Verses

Ps. 30:6

As for me, I said in my prosperity,
          “I shall never be moved.”

Gen. 9:2

“…The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.  …”  [God, to Noah and his sons] 

Heb. 5:8

Although [Jesus] was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered…

John 3:19

“…And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  …”  [Jesus, to Nicodemus]