Today’s Scripture Reading (June 17, 2016): Psalm 118
Life just simply isn’t about me. You probably have already figured that out; it takes me a little longer. But the big news for you is that life isn’t all about you either. I know, you are still trying to learn that one. And this is one reason why Western politics continues to make me nervous. Maybe for the isolationists, this is where it all makes sense. The truth is that, at least for those of us trying to live in the world, we live in a world that is heavily dependent on each other. And if you doubt that, just watch how the stock markets of the world react when one of them has a bad day. China’s slow economic growth hurts the United States. When the Nikkei 225 struggles in Tokyo, we know that those struggles are going to be transferred to the Dow Jones in just a few hours. The economic nightmare is that the as the Stock Markets around the world struggle into negative territory, the snowball simply builds momentum. The question is if consumer confidence in the Stock Markets could ever get so bad that they all just crash and burn. While that might be highly unlikely, it may not be impossible. The United has already put measures, basically pauses, in place that will attempt to slow the negative snowball down. And the past – and current – Greek debt crisis has a real effect on the North American economy.
In light of this, for a politician to say that he is going to “Make America Great Again” means that he is either lying or simply does not have a hold on global economics. I would love to lay the economic woes of a nation at the feet of the politicians, and there are definitely things that a President or Prime Minister – or Dictator or Sovereign - could do to make things a little better or a little worse, but none of them have the power or ability to make drastic changes – not even Donald Trump. Here is the reality, the days of prosperous and non-prosperous countries are ending. Hike up taxes on the rich and they will simply move somewhere else. A prosperous North America can only be a reality in a prosperous world. The between nations are deeply blurred, whether we want to acknowledge that fact or not. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions are also becoming fewer and fewer. Attack Russia, and I am hurt on the other side of the world. This is the new way of life.
The psalmist's words “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” actually recognizes this reality. I can do nothing if I come in my own name and with my own power. It doesn’t matter what that name might be, I am not enough. But when I come in the name of God, I come with his power. But the warning is that God is not a provincial God. Even the phrase, “God bless America” really makes little sense. God never signed on to be the God of America – he is the God of creation. And yes, America is important to him because it is part of creation, but so is North Korea, China, and even Syria. When we come in the name of the Lord, we stand for every corner of the world and not just our corner of it.
This idea of coming in the name of the Lord is also the difference between Christ and the anti-Christ. Jesus was clear. He came in the name of his Father and no one else. All praise went to God and Jesus said that only God could be good. But the anti-Christ will come in his own name. He will be the focal point and God will be relegated to an outside or advisory role.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord means that he comes on behalf of all of Creation, which is connected and cannot be separated. We are to come in his name, on behalf of the whole world in which we live.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:1-48
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