Greetings in the name of the one who is Emmanuel, Jesus the Christ!
I hope all had a blessed summer to do whatever gives you joy and peace. As many return to a “normal” schedule, how does this season impact you? Where do we find hope, joy and peace during the everyday norms? For some, this season is travel, for some work, for some family. Do those things or people give you a fullness to get up and go each day?
We will hear and see in the readings this month on what path do we follow and what some of the consequences of the path we choose are. Loss, pain, isolation and more are a part of the path we journey alongside hope, joy, and peace.
The readings remind us that God is present with us amid our journey, not simply the easy or happy parts, but the challenging times as well. Always offering us an opportunity to change our path to follow where God leads, not where we want to go. More often, where we want to go leads to pain, hurt, and isolation for ourselves or others.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to love others. I pray this is not new information for you. Love can take many forms, many of which come down to putting others ahead of yourself in your journey. That’s why love is so challenging. The readings this month tell of the consequences of selfishness and greed that come with the notion of my path, my way. Of as Luther states that I’m paraphrasing, of Sin being the perpetual gaze inward.
Sin is a consequence of our (and the world’s) selfishness. We want our way, in our time, in our choosing because “I” know best. That’s not what God desires.
God gives us the example in Jesus and scripture that selflessness is the path to follow. And that God will search us out when we stray. God does not absolve us of the consequences of our choices, however. The impact of the path we follow on ourselves and others can bring us back to God when we notice the pain, hurt, and isolation we have helped to cause. This is part of the wakeup call to return to God and to lift others instead of simply doing what is right for us and us only. Again, this is not an easy path to follow.
The images within the parables and warning of the prophets speak to our leanings to selfish behavior and greed to acquire more. God reminds us that being sought by God is a giving act as well. What would creation look like if God was as selfish as we are? How can we seek out hope, joy, and peace not for ourselves, but for others. That is what we will find when we lift up others in our journey of faith.