22 August 2016 - always connected

[ Today's Readings ]

We are meant to be always connected to God as the source of our strength.

Do we ever get disconnected?

Do we think about the things we must do without thinking about why they matter? This is the first step toward hypocrisy! If we think about making converts apart from their need for Jesus and salvation then our missions become vanity projects. They harm ourselves and our converts.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You traverse sea and land to make one convert,
and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna
twice as much as yourselves.

We become easily lost in details. We worry about checking the right boxes and not checking the wrong ones. Suddenly we are lost in legalism with no obvious connection to a God who loves us whether or not we deserve it.

Our gold and gifts have meaning precisely because they are made for use of the temple and for offering on the alter. Apart from these, sure, they look pretty. But ultimately they become distractions. Yes, even our own time, talent, and treasure can become distractions if they are used without reference to God. It is more than just following his plan for them. We need to understand who he is and how he himself would use them if we are to put them to good use.

When we remember that he who is seated on the throne of God is the one who gives meaning to our gifts and talents and direction to our missions we are not lost in hypocrisy or legalism. Realizing who he is means realizing that "God is love" (see First John 4:8). That love is what holds us in being. It is meant to our entire lives.

This is how our faith and endurance can be strong in the face of persecutions and afflictions. Such suffering tends to make us seek more immediate rewards when we can. They make us look away from the authority of the throne which apparently allows these sufferings. But we must not see them this way.

This is evidence of the just judgment of God,
so that you may be considered worthy of the Kingdom of God
for which you are suffering.

We are made worthy of the Kingdom through the discipline of our heavenly Father. We must become people for whom suffering only directs our hearts toward God more and more insistently. It begins when we remember who he is. When we know that God is love we trust his gifts even when we don't understand them. We rely on him even when it hurts. He himself is the one who bears the fruit of suffering in us, by uniting it to his own suffering for us. We just need to stay connected.

We always pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling
and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose
and every effort of faith,
that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him,
in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.

Whether this moment finds us joyful or sorrowful let us stay connected to God and praise him for the gifts he gives.

Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.