Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 29: Year 2
AM Psalms [120], 121, 122, 123; PM Psalms 124, 125, 126, [127];
Zechariah 11:4to17; 1 Corinthians 3:10to23; Luke 18:31to43
“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1)
This is what Christian faith is all about: that is, our final, and forever passage into the house of the Lord. We long to hear the words, “Come beloved of the Lord, and enter into the joy of your Lord as expressed in the words of the twenty fifth chapter of Matthew, where servants worked to improve on the talents left to them by their master, save the one who only had one talent and buried it. Also in chapter twenty five of Matthew, the invitation extends to those who were placed on the right-hand side of the Lord because they cared for the hungry, the naked, the infirmed and those in prison.
As I have said before, I have been blessed to be present in hospital rooms when a parishioner or other patient was dying. At some point, the person, who was unconscious, will open their eyes and stare at a space in the room where no one was sanding. In most cases, an expression of joy or wonder is reflected on the dying person’s face. It is at this point that I believe the gates of heaven opened in that hospital room, even though I could not see it, nor could anyone else in the room see it. And at that point, the invitation is extended to dying person to come into the house of the Lord. Perhaps these are the very words that the dying says to him or her self, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
I know that I would be glad to enter into the house of the Lord. Many people, when asked how they are doing, will answer, “Well, I’m above ground and I’m still here.” The implication is, that they are doing well and consider this earthly life as the best there is. But I ponder what the afterlife is like. Maybe being here in this life is not something to celebrate so much, but rather, it is the Christian work that we should be doing. It is using the talents – gifts, that God has given us to the best of our abilities for the building up of the church, and teaching the love that God wants to be in every heart. This is the time to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the infirmed and imprisoned; thus preparing ourselves for that invitation into the house of the Lord.
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 