Good morning. Fall seems to be coming early, and the mornings have been absolutely gorgeous. Today’s high will maybe touch seventy degrees.
Truly we live with so many blessings from the Lord. And we should be grateful for the Lord’s patience with us.
In another life, I spent a good deal of my time working with health care projects that treated a variety of chronic afflictions. You would think that someone who had a disease or a wound that literally could kill them would take great care to follow treatment routines and prescribed lifestyle changes that would keep them alive and functioning. The human tendency for denial is a very strong thing. Beyond denial there is a tendency to think: “I’m cured! I don’t need all these other tings to keep me going!”
I used to comment that some people with chronic life-threatening conditions are really just like junkies: they are filled with denial. They can convince themselves that the treatment or the medicine or the counseling isn’t really what’s making them feel better. They just feel better. They’ve achieved a new level for themselves, and they just don’t need that other stuff – or those other people – any more. And so just as junkies who have gotten cleaned up or alcoholics who have been sober for a while, they fall back into the habits that got them into trouble in the first place. I’ve known diabetics who have gotten up one morning and decided that they no longer had diabetes – they felt good, after all – and so they would stop taking their medicine or they would go on a deadly food binge.
We live in a society that provides us with all sorts of conveniences and comforts. We no longer understand wealth and poverty in a worldwide context. We give
13-year olds i-Phones for their birthdays and refuse to acknowledge that we are rich! And spoiled. And we move from thanking God for allowing us to be materially blessed to assuming that the blessings are something we deserve. We start to believe that we have been set apart and can do no wrong because God has made us exceptional.
In Matthew 5 Jesus says: “44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” The fact that God lets the sun shine on your life is NOT an indication that you are good. It may only be an indication of God’s patience.
Since 1959, Fidel Castro has ruled Cuba. For 53 years, despite numerous failed
assassination attempts and failed military incursions against his rule, Fidel has succeeded in holding onto power. Personally I don’t believe that his success at maintaining his dictatorial hold over the people of Cuba is a sign of God’s blessing.
When we claim that the proof that God has specially blessed us is to be found in our successes, we overlook too much world history. And we deny our very real need for God’s constant presence in our lives. We deny God’s demand that we treat one another with justice and mercy. We deny the reality of our own cruel and inhuman treatment of other people both in this nation and around the world.
Yes, we live with many blessings from the Lord. We try God’s patience every day, and every day God calls out to us to repent and come back to where we belong. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says something that may seem puzzling: “I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Jesus has called us to do: to go and preach the Gospel and live the Gospel message with the activities of our daily lives. He hasn’t promised that we will see the benefits of what we have done, just as we have benefitted from the labor of people that we don’t know.
Each day we need to examine our lives for our own closeness to what scripture clearly defines as God’s will. Each day we need to acknowledge humbly that we need God to show us the way through this world. Each day we need to ask God to lead us – despite what the world around us may want – in the direction of God’s kingdom. Each day we need to be willing to risk our own way of life for the glory of God and the accomplishment of God’s will on this earth.
Prayer: Almighty God, lead us through the presence of Your Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our minds. Remove from us the fear of ridicule or rejection by the powers of this world so that we might seek Your glory even at the expense of our own pursuits. Forgive us Lord when we harden our hearts to the very things that break Your heart. Continue to bless us with Your patience and with the strength to live as You would have us live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Today’s readings are Judges 14:1-19; Acts 6:15-7:16; John 4:27-42; Psalm 105:1-45.
Blessings to you.
Pastor Jim
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