Psalm 39:4-8, Isaiah 43:25-44:20, Revelation 11:1-19 - Lectionary for 12/23/11

Today's readings are Psalm 39:4-8, Isaiah 43:25-44:20, and Revelation 11:1-19. We like to say that we have a pluralistic society, that there are many acceptable constructs. This is fine in some areas. You like one thing, I like another. We are free to have different clothes, different forms of housing, different occupations, different attitudes toward many of the things of life. But the Scripture is clear that there are some areas where pluralism doesn't work. We can look to the true God or to other gods. We can look to eternal relevance or to something that we have created. We can look to the creator or to the creation. There are not more than two possibilities and one of those two is absurd. We cannot look to creation as if it is the creator. If we do so we are surely doomed. May the Lord have mercy on us, for we look to ourselves and our own abilities time and again. May our God shine his light on our foolishness and bring us to repentance, that we may receive his forgiveness, not looking to our own means of grace, but only to his.