And the King will say, “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” [Matthew 25:40 (NLT)]
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat [“is truly hidden”]—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden. [From “The Weight of Glory” by C.S. Lewis]
I found an odd synchronicity in my morning’s reading. The verse for the day was Matthew 7:12, the Golden Rule: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” Following that was a story by Christian author and speaker Lysa Terkeurst. She wrote about speaking to a group when a woman walked up on stage, stood next to her, and then leaned into her. Standing before an audience of 6,500 women, unsure of what to do, the author simply put her arm around the woman and continued speaking. The woman later said she needed God and thought if she got close enough to the Christian speaker, she just might feel Him. The third portion of my reading included the above selection from C.S. Lewis’ writings.
Lewis’ words caused me to pause and reflect. We revere the bread and wine when partaking in Holy Communion but do we revere our fellow Christians that much, not just when sharing the elements but whenever we share time with them? The Communion of Saints is not just that sacrament of bread and wine so fundamental to our Christian worship; it is our fellowship with all believers—past, present and future.
When we abide in Christ, His Holy Spirit abides in us and God takes up permanent residence in our bodies. While I know the Holy Spirit lives within me, I hadn’t considered His presence in the person next to me at church or Bible study. When I do to others, do I realize that I am doing so to Christ? When I speak with them, do I speak as I would to Christ? That woman who came and stood next to Lysa Terkeurst recognized Christ within her. Do I recognize Christ in others and draw close to them so to be nearer to Jesus? Do I value fellowship with Christians as much as I do Holy Communion? Do I honor and revere my church family much as I do those holy elements of bread and wine? Do I cherish time with my neighbor as I would with Christ? Do I truly understand that we are united with one another, not just by church membership or our common beliefs and goals, but by the same Spirit that lives within each of us? When I look at the faces of fellow believers, do I see the face of Jesus? More important, when they look at me, who do they see? Would anyone lean into me to come closer to the Lord?
The book of Daniel was written during the Babylonian captivity. Nebuchadnezzar had assaulted Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and exiled the people of Judah to Babylon. Jeremiah had prophesized that Jerusalem’s desolation would last seventy years and Daniel realized that their time of exile was nearly complete. After fasting, donning sackcloth, and covering himself with ashes, Daniel passionately prayed and pled with God to return His people to their land.
I have a friend who worries. Her husband says that even when she has nothing about which to worry, she worries about whatever next could go wrong long before it possibly can. He added that having a “designated worrier” has made his life much easier—while she worries, he can relax and enjoy himself! His comment made me remember a trip we took to the Cayman Islands nearly forty years ago. We were accompanied by a worrying friend.
After more than a year without a pastor, our northern church is finally getting its new minister. He will be stepping into some very big and well-worn shoes. The last pastor was at his post for over forty years. To say that the congregation has become somewhat set in their ways is probably an understatement. “But we’ve always done it that way!” and “He’s not like Pastor S!” are bound to be said more than once.
Jealousy – that green-eyed monster – certainly caused a lot of problems throughout the Bible. The first case of sibling rivalry occurred when Cain, jealous that God approved his brother’s sacrifice but not his, killed Abel. Saul was jealous of David’s popularity and battles were fought, the Jews slandered Paul and Silas because they were jealous of the large crowds that gathered to hear them preach, Jacob was jealous of Esau’s relationship with Isaac, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of jealousy and the prodigal’s brother became jealous when his father threw a party for the black sheep of the family.
“A Christian doesn’t die,” declared the pastor, which may have been news to some of those attending the Celebration of Life. “He just moves!” the minister added as an explanation. Indeed, we are just temporary residents here on earth. Death for a Christian is simply a relocation and, unlike most moves we’ve made, it doesn’t require a purging of the items in the attic, garage sales, packing up boxes, or wrangling friends into helping us carry the heavy stuff! This is one transfer that neither requires moving vans nor mail forwarding.
Devotions of the Heart 