Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 4: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 45; Evening, Psalms 47 and 48;
Ecclesiastes. 2:16 to 26; Galatians 1:18 to 2:10; Matthew 13:53 to 58:
“And when James (the brother of Jesus) and Cephas [Simon Peter] and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do,” (Galatians 2: 9 and 10)
In my studies I have found that our response to the poor changes as money comes into the world. In the earliest days people who owned farmland were instructed by God to leave something for the needy and not to go back and take up the last of everything.
However, with money, we now have “the poor.” With money we have the haves and the have-nots. With the haves, we create scarcity for the have-nots.. Scarcity ranges over time: it can be the coins of currency in antiquity to even toilet paper today during the midst of our Covid pandemic. The greed of one person creates the need of another. But no matter what the need, we are instructed, as was Paul was, to remember the poor. And with that remembrance also comes our response. This is an issue of real faith.
James reminds us that our response is so important. He writes, “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith;” (James 2:18). So remembering the poor really is about responding to their need. It is the one thing that the early followers of our Lord Jesus asks of us still today. Are we, like Paul, actually eager to do so?
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Most Holy Lord Jesus, you have blessed us who believe in you in order that we might be a blessing to those who have yet come to believe. As we bask in your blessing keep us ever mindful of all in need, not only of money, but also with companionship, or just someone to listen to them. Teach us to respect the dignity of every human being Oh Lord by the way we live in community. Amen.
onewhoponders 