"Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully increase in us your gifts of holy discipline, in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting; that our lives may be directed to the fulfilling of your most gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."
Psalm 19:7-14, Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, and Matthew 25:31-46
Today marks the first day of our church's mission trip to the Dominican Republic. I'm not sure yet how that'll affect these postings, but I think I've got a way around here. Keep checking back here, and we'll see what happens.
Our readings for today are about God's commandments to us and how our natural response to God's love should be to serve others for by serving others we serve God.
The Gospel reading for today takes off on the idea of serving, and it comes in the form of Jesus speaking of the judgement at the time of the Son of Man's arrival. As the Son of Man looks out from his throne at the assembled masses, the people are separated "as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." The king will say to one group that the kingdom is prepared to be inherited by them, and to the other group the king will cast them out into the eternal fire. The ones who receive the kingdom served the king, and those who are cast out ignored the king. Each of them met the king at the time when they encountered the "least of these."
Jesus speaks of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. This week we'll be in the DR serving those who need help with construction at a schoolhouse, helping get the school up to code so that it can receive funds from the government there. Your gifts to our church help enable such efforts, but we must remember that the "least of these" are not just those in far off places. We work with them; we worship with them; and we live with them.
Serving and loving one another, no matter whether we outwardly appear to be one of the "least of these," allows us to serve God, too. As we enter into the first full week of Lent, may God give us the ability to recognize those people who we are always called to serve.
1 comment:
Hopefully, we will each have many chances to be of service to others. Sometimes it is hard to recognize when service is needed. Sometimes it is harder to render service when it may be needed. Often rendering service forces us to step outside of our accustomed boundaries or comfort zone. Often we just need a bit of a nudge.
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