Stop this madness

The Revised Common Lectionary readings for this coming Sunday, Nov. 30th, are:

• Isaiah 64:1-9
• Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
• 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
• Mark 13:24-37

This Sunday's reading from the OT has the prophet Isaiah crying out to God to save God's people. The UMC Worship Helps site says:

The prophet in Isaiah 64 cries out for more than help. He cries out for a decisive personal intervention by God that will not only mean the world sees God in action, but that will change or destroy all the rules of the powers that be. That's what "tear open the heavens" means. Nothing less will do, the prophet cries, almost cathartically. Where do people where you are need to join the prophet's cathartic cry? "We can't take this anymore! Stop the madness! God, fix this!!"

It's a bit manic because desperate times require desperate pleas. And suddenly I'm reminded of what happened on Nov. 4th. The people of the U.S. basically cried out "we can't take this anymore! Stop the madness! God, fix this!!"

And surely with God's help, as a people we fixed it. We elected a leader that will hopefully lead us out of this wretched mess that we are in. Though we are from different faith traditions, God as the Creator of us all has heard our desperate, desperate cries and we have had an intervention. This wasn't just a political coup, it was an intervention that changed everything.



Read the lessons online at Vanderbilt Divinity Library.