Read
11The rich think highly
of themselves,
but anyone poor and sensible
sees right through them.
12When an honest person wins,
it's time to celebrate;
when crooks are in control,
it's best to hide.
13If you don't confess your sins,
you will be a failure.
But God will be merciful
if you confess your sins
and give them up.
14The Lord blesses everyone
who is afraid to do evil,
but if you are cruel,
you will end up in trouble.
Reflect
The rising generation known as “millennials” is very attuned to and concerned about power – power as it is exercised in gender relations, in religion and perhaps most of all, the dynamic relationship of power and money. These who began adulthood somewhere around the turn of the century are aware that as they enter the workforce that they are members of a demographic that is fighting for a fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage and that they are not in the 1% demographic that is earning thirty million dollars a year or more.
Power claims knowledge and insight as its source, assuming that being smart and being rich bring legitimacy to exercising power over others. This may sometimes be true, but not always, for the relation between riches and insight into eternal truth is frequently tenuous, especially if the riches have been accumulated at the expense of the poor. Sadly, the rich person who thinks that such unrighteous action demonstrates wisdom is in fact deluded. He thinks that when people run and hide from him it is a sign of his success. Like a person who tells a lie so often that he begins to believe it himself, these people cleverly wield power so often that they begin to believe their own self-promotion. Their shrewd deals that defraud or impoverish vulnerable people are hidden, or so they think. But their actions are never hidden from God and in the end their lack of mercy to the poor will receive divine retribution.
There is a better path. Don’t think you are so important that you can cover up an abuse of power. Instead, confess and renounce whatever harm you have caused. Tremble before God; don’t let your heart become hard. Remember at all times that God is over all, he sees all, knows all, and holds all accountable to his standard of righteousness. He alone has power. He alone can give you mercy.
Respond
I acknowledge, Lord Jesus, that all authority in heaven and on earth is yours, and I confess that I have sought to take some of that authority for myself. I repent of this, my heart trembles before you, and ask that I would be an agent of your authority over evil, an authority that is exercised in humility and grace. Amen.
Franklin Pyles
Franklin Pyles was a pastor of churches that served inner city neighborhoods, taught theology at Canadian Theological Seminary, and then was a pastor in a medium sized Ontario city. He then served his denomination, The Christian & Missionary Alliance as President for the full time allotted. He has written on C.S. Lewis and on a variety of ministry and church concerns. He continues a preaching and teaching ministry, currently at McMaster Divinity College. Publications: Most electronic and in house for the Alliance.