Greetings disciples of Christ,
What are you distracted by? That’s a question underlying our text this week. While the distraction in our text is about something beautiful, even something of God—the temple itself—Jesus’s discourse tells us that sometimes it is terrible things that distract us. All sorts of things can distract us from lifting up the name of Jesus and living in hope and confidence that indeed God has the whole world in the divine hands.
worship is an opportunity to reorient ourselves toward God. Yes, the object of worship is giving praise to God and lifting up the name of Jesus. At the same time, we redeclare our commitment to walk the path of discipleship and live as though we were a part of the kin-dom of God, because we are.
Wars and conflicts and deprivations and divisions do matter; because all that matters in giving praise to God. We discover that what is happening in the world matters all that much more because of our commitment to Christ and to loving the world that he gave his life for. But we hold on to hope.
We hold on to hope by declaring that God cares about the brokenness of the world and the people who are harmed by that brokenness. And we declare it by caring too, by serving, by giving, by advocating for change and for peace and for reconciliation. Not out of a sense of despair, but out of that very hope that says God is still God and there is good in the world. There is grace and there is a way that leads to salvation.
So, let our prayers reach out into the whole world. Let our songs praise the God of creation and instill in us a sense of mission and purpose to bring transformation. And let there be a call to commitment. Not out of a sense of duty but let us reignite our commitment to love and hospitality. What needs attending in our neighborhood? Who needs to be acknowledged and invited into fellowship in our community? In other words, let us stop being tourists wandering around just taking in the sights of this world, for good or for ill, and let us be engaged with the Spirit in working transformation right where we are. Amen.
To God be the glory,
Pastor Clarissa