Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for the week following the eleventh Sunday after Trinity is taken from the First Book of Peter, Chapter 5 verse 5, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (NRSVB). The Apostle Peter wrote his letters to the believers in order to encourage them to keep their faith in a time of severe persecution. History teaches us that the policies changed under Nero and widespread persecution of Christians occurred in Rome, where it is believed that both the Apostle Peter and Paul, were martyred and killed. Peter’s letter is filled with pastoral instruction on how the church of Christ should function together as a witness to Christ amidst suffering and persecution. It is through the grace of God and the love that Jesus Christ works in believers, through the Spirit, we can serve each other in humility, as Christ served the Church with his gift of Grace on the Cross.
The body of Christ, as reflected in the church and the gathering of Christians, should reflect Christ’s example of servanthood, for no one should act pridefully or disdainfully towards another. For in Christ there is no division, he has served each one with the same grace and bestows faith and life-everlasting to everyone alike. Therefore, Christians should bear each other’s burdens, and strengthen each other to be able to live the life of faith, in the community of believers. The prayers of the believers for each other, and the graceful acceptance of one another, will build the community up, but proudful criticism will tear the believers apart, and hurt the suffering faithful. Division in the church should be avoided at all costs, for we are one in Christ, and one in our faith and hope. Those who are acting from personal pride, recommending their own works and words, are setting themselves up above the others. They are not working towards perfect peace of harmonious living in the community of the faithful. God will come to the aid of the humble and will not allow the proud to cause them to stumble. God sees the heart and is not deceived by appearances and eloquent and boastful presentations.
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Job, Chapter 40, verses 3 to 4, “Job answered the Lord: See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth,” (NRSVB). Job, in his suffering, called out to God and asked God to vindicate his case against his friends, who proudly accused him of not having feared God correctly. Their proudful speeches were like arrows piercing his soul. God came and revealed to Job that his suffering had purpose, and his humility before the Lord, was taken into account and reckoned as a future blessing for him. It was with great awe that Job received God’s words from the whirlwind. He realized how small we as humans are before our Lord, and how little we know, despite the great wisdom of the world. Job was rewarded by God’s vindication of his case and was reinstated before God and the assembly, because he humbly waited with hope and faith on God’s deliverance. It is only God who can open the eyes of the proud and cause them to see their folly and repent. There is no place for spiritual superiority. Luther taught that before God we are all beggars. God comes to us in our sad estate and calls us children. He bestows his grace on us, it is not our merit, but the merit of Christ that lavishes this free gift of grace on all.
The Apostle Paul carried within his heart the deep anguish that he persecuted the Christians mercilessly, before he came to meet Christ, on the road to Damascus. His outward deeds and his behaviour should have disqualified him to be an apostle, but through God’s mighty act in his life, he was given the work of teaching the Gospel of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes to inspire believers and encourage them to forget the past, because it is forgiven, and to reach towards the goal of living the life of faith to its final completion. For by grace we are saved and are what we are, children of the living Lord, on a journey with him, to eternity. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, in Chapter 15, verses 9 to 10, “I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. but by the grace of God, I am what I am,” (NSRVB).
Father, we thank you that you see our hearts and come to us in our helpless moments, to strengthen us and give us hope. Help us to see you in everyone we meet so that we will serve them being loving and comforting brothers and sisters, acknowledging all as children of the Lord most high, Amen.