Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 9: Year 1
Morning, Psalm 16 and 17; Evening, Psalm 22;
1st Samuel 17:17-30; Acts 10:34 to 48; Mark 1:1 to 13:
“Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:” (Acts 10; 34 to 37).
Peter proclaims that anyone, in any nation, who acknowledges, and respects God Almighty, and lives in accordance with what is acceptable to God, is acceptable by God.
Peter also reminds us of the message of peace preached by our Lord Jesus Christ. He points out that this message of peace began in Galilee and then went to Judea and the rest of the earth.
As one who has visited Israel, and in particular, Galilee, I have a real appreciation of God’s decision to begin the Jesus path in Galilee. God could have started it in Bethlehem where David and Jesus were born. But chose instead, the region of Galilee, the region of the Gentiles, to show God is the God of all people: Jews and Gentiles alike. As Peter says, “God shows no partiality.
As we step back away from planet earth we will notice something very special about the region of Galilee. First of all, the world’s lowest level body of fresh water (Lake Galilee, also known as the Sea of Galilee or Tiberius), is located there. It drains back into the Jordan River from whence the lake is filled, and where John baptized our Lord Jesus. I too was blessed to have been baptized (again) while visiting there in 2018.
The picture that I use for the head of this blog everyday is the one I took while there. I was very moved by seeing the same terrain and horizon that our Lord Jesus must have looked at as he was with the fisherman on that same lake some 2000 plus years ago.
Love is the final resolve for all of us. But, if we can’t find ourselves able to show love, let us at least make peace with one another. God almighty sent to the people of Israel, and to us all over the world, our Lord Jesus, showing no partiality regarding race, faith, politics, gender, language or nationality, by preaching peace through this same Jesus Christ; walking in Galilee, or Risen and with us everywhere. He is Lord of all.
For this evening and tomorrow day my friends; Shabbat Shalom.
Let us live to love, rather than just live to live, listening to what the Spirit is saying to, and through the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 