A Word From David

When I was a teenager, in the 1970s, I heard the phrase “may you live in interesting times” and thought, “heck, yeah.” I had missed out on the 60s, so I thought interesting times sounded exciting.

Fast-forward a half century and I know better. And then there’s the past week during which the Supreme Court said criminalizing homelessness is perfectly fine but criminalizing presidential behavior is out of bounds. Interesting times, indeed.

No one can know how these two rulings will play out in the seasons to come, but from my seat in the pastor’s study, looking out the window as guests at Miriam’s Kitchen gather, I question the Court’s concern for the most vulnerable members of society. Such concern is the mark of the justness of the laws and the most significant measure of the greatness of any society.

Allowing the criminalization of basic actions of the least powerful members of our society while giving free reign to the actions of the holder of the most powerful office in the same society strikes far too close to the “majestic equality of the law” that keeps both the rich and the poor from sleeping beneath a bridge. It also sounds like something that Amos and Micah and so many other of the prophets would have condemned as contrary to justice and its demands.

I will at least give the court’s majority a major award for irony in handing down the presidential immunity ruling during the 4th of July week.

Nevertheless, as we gather around the table to share in the Lord’s Supper at Western on Sunday, we remember that no matter the court or the politics of the day, we have no sovereign except Jesus the Christ.