Evil Days And Evil Ways

Psalm 12:1 – Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind.

The mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was writing about the lack of religious awareness in the city of Hamilton specifically and in the province of Ontario generally and called for the churches and community to get together to help teach the stories of the bible to a generation growing up without religious conviction… maybe we might even call it a godless age, to be consistent with the words of the Psalmist today. Did I mention, by the way, that I am quoting Dr. Phil Lee of St. John who was quoting an article written by the mayor of Hamilton … in 1936?

I sat with the mayor of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, at our Synod meeting last year, and he was talking to me about what was going on inside his city. He was then invited to address the Synod and he began by saying it is the job of the mayor to tell how wonderful the city is and to invite us to spend our tourist dollars in the local shops. But he said we had all heard that before. "What I want to tell you tonight is what is wrong with my city and ask good people like you to help me save it." Yes, this came from the mayor, not from the minister. He went on to tell us of a massage parlour that had just opened in the downtown sector of the city only a block or two away from the church in which we were meeting, and he said it was just a front (he had to be more careful than I do, so I'll use my own words) a front for prostitution and sexual services. But his point was this, in case we get caught up in the massage parlour and forget the real issue he was grappling with. Since the massage parlour had moved in, only two complaints had been received from the citizens of Fredericton, even though this so-called business was on one of the busy main streets and its purpose was widely known – only two. "How am I to take action," he asked, "when no-one seems to care any more?"

Prayer: Lord, we know that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Help us take up the cause of Christ and give our lives to 'the way, the truth and the life' as expressed in Jesus Christ. Amen.

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