Devotion for Thursday and Friday Before the Eighth Sunday After Epiphany, Year A (ELCA Daily Lectionary)

Above:  Ruins of Philippi, 1861

Artist = H. Daumet

Image in the Public Domain

Seeking the Interests of Christ

FEBRUARY 24 AND 25, 2011

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The Collect:

God of tender care, like a mother, like a father,

you never forget your children, and you know already what we need.

In our anxiety give us trusting and faithful hearts,

that in confidence we may embody the peace and justice

of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 25

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The Assigned Readings:

Proverbs 12:22-28 (Thursday)

Isaiah 26:1-6 (Friday)

Psalm 131 (Both Days)

Philippians 2:19-24 (Thursday)

Philippians 2:25-30 (Friday)

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Some Related Posts:

O Israel, trust in the Lord,

from this time forth for evermore.

–Psalm 131:4, Common Worship (2000)

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The church at Philippi contained some serious divisions, the precise nature of which have not survived in the historical record.  (Authors of epistles did not explain certain details for the benefit of readers thousands of years later, understandably.)  Apparently, not all of the people–leaders, especially–involved in this divisiveness were of sincere and good will.  Even those who were of sincere and good will acted in such a way as to harm the congregation’s witness to Christ.  (I am trying to write out of generosity of spirit.)  In the text from Philippians the exhortation to seek the interests of Christ set the tone.

Seeking the interests of Christ–more broadly, of God–is a topic of which we read in Proverbs and Isaiah.  Their witness–along with that of other portions of the Bible–is to trust in God and to behave properly toward our fellow human beings.  Those two relate to each other.  Indeed, one cannot love God, whom one cannot see, if one does not love people, whom one can see.  I am convinced that much inexcusable treatment of our fellow human beings flows from our insecurities regarding our own future.  We want to pile up and/or safeguard resources and/or security for ourselves, so we justify in our own minds the evil we commit toward others.  We steal from them.  We condone theft from them.  We deny people opportunities.  We discriminate against them.  We condone violence against against them.  We commit violence against them.  We do this while pursuing what we misconstrue as our self-interests.

In reality, however, our self-interests are those of our fellow human beings.  All of us are bound up in the reality of community, with mutual responsibilities.  So we harm ourselves when we injure others, who are our neighbors.

Trusting that God will provide our necessities opens the door to behaving generously and kindly toward others.  If lacking that trust leads to the opposite result, the previous statement makes sense, does it not?  Such trust can prove difficult, of course.  Yet I have learned that God does provide–often via unexpected methods.

May we trust God and care for each other, always seeking the interests of Christ.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

PROPER 24–THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

THE FEAST OF MARY A. LATHBURY, U.S. METHODIST HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERTILLA BOSCARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND NURSE

THE FEAST OF JOHN HARRIS BURT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF TARORE OF WAHOARA, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY

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This is post #350 of ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS.

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/seeking-the-interests-of-christ/

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