From the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians:
Brothers and sisters:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.
All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling
must be removed from you, along with all malice.
And be kind to one another, compassionate,
forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.
So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,
as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us
as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
These words jumped out to me as I looked over the readings for this Sunday. Like so many passages from the writings those who claim to be Christians recognize as God’s Word, this speaks to the moment we have been in for some time now.
The most important aspect is that it applies to everyone who claims to have been “sealed for the day of redemption.” Irrespective of an person’s loyalty to Red or Blue, in order to function in the world as the “Christian” one claims to be, these words are addressed to each of us.
But what we see all around us is bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling, as well as deep wells of malice. No kindness, compassion or forgiveness is manifested.
Thus it is clear— anyone who carries the weight of so much negativity cannot truly be called a disciple of Jesus. Which means anyone who claims that title needs to do an examination of conscience, no?