Today’s Readings: Psalm 107; Numbers 21:4-9, 21-35; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-12
Over the last year and a half I’ve been talking about the way things are changing in the lives of local churches as people are spiritually drawn toward new ways of being that draw upon core values like authenticity and active participation. Many of our local churches have picked up on this shift, and it’s REALLY exciting to see new ways of living and worshipping together in spiritual community emerge. There’s one area, however, where things have yet to catch up. That area? Missions. Over the past 75 years, mainline churches got use to working with non-profits in the community. As a result, they adopted a way of being where churches “do” missions by primarily gathering resources to give to professionals who then in turn actually do the mission work for them. This has been a dangerous model because it created a chasm between people of faith and those whom they are helping (as if people in need weren’t themselves people of faith). Slowly but surely this paradigm is beginning to change. More and more folks are being drawn to circumstances where they come face to face with those in need. This is an encouraging development for it is one that will help bridge the chasm between the “haves” and “the have-nots” and create opportunities for transformation for all people involved. So what’s this observation have to do with any of today’s readings? Well, as we move from a paradigm for helping others that was often about public acts of service toward smaller, more intimate acts of service; Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading provide us with a helpful guide about how we should act. Jesus said, “When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it – quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out” (Matthew 6:4 from The Message). Today, I would invite you to examine the ways in which you help others out. Do you depend on agencies or service providers to act as go betweens between you and those in need, or do you reach out to “the other” yourself? And when you do reach out, do you do so in the manner in which Jesus called us to do so? May God’s Spirit be with us as we work to live into the service to which we - members of the body of Christ - are called. Til next time…
Over the last year and a half I’ve been talking about the way things are changing in the lives of local churches as people are spiritually drawn toward new ways of being that draw upon core values like authenticity and active participation. Many of our local churches have picked up on this shift, and it’s REALLY exciting to see new ways of living and worshipping together in spiritual community emerge. There’s one area, however, where things have yet to catch up. That area? Missions. Over the past 75 years, mainline churches got use to working with non-profits in the community. As a result, they adopted a way of being where churches “do” missions by primarily gathering resources to give to professionals who then in turn actually do the mission work for them. This has been a dangerous model because it created a chasm between people of faith and those whom they are helping (as if people in need weren’t themselves people of faith). Slowly but surely this paradigm is beginning to change. More and more folks are being drawn to circumstances where they come face to face with those in need. This is an encouraging development for it is one that will help bridge the chasm between the “haves” and “the have-nots” and create opportunities for transformation for all people involved. So what’s this observation have to do with any of today’s readings? Well, as we move from a paradigm for helping others that was often about public acts of service toward smaller, more intimate acts of service; Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading provide us with a helpful guide about how we should act. Jesus said, “When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it – quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out” (Matthew 6:4 from The Message). Today, I would invite you to examine the ways in which you help others out. Do you depend on agencies or service providers to act as go betweens between you and those in need, or do you reach out to “the other” yourself? And when you do reach out, do you do so in the manner in which Jesus called us to do so? May God’s Spirit be with us as we work to live into the service to which we - members of the body of Christ - are called. Til next time…
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