15th after Trinity
Readings: Amos 6v1a & 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6v6-19; Luke 16v19-end.
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
A Word: In the readings today we hear the call to take a careful look at how we are living our lives and how the way we live can affect others.
The psalm for today tells us that we have a God who made heaven and earth. A God who is worthy of praise. A God who is concerned about the whole of creation. For God loves the righteous and wants them to make a difference in the world by: feeding the hungry; bringing justice to the mistreated; making provision for those who are in prison; supporting the blind and caring for refugees, orphans and widows. These are all things we can all play our part in whether that is in big ways or little ways. Maybe by giving to the food bank, or by standing up for children and adults who are being mistreated, or by praying for prisoners, or by donating to charities that help the blind, orphans, widows and refugees from war torn places.
This is something that I believe we need to pay heed to because, as we hear in the Book of Amos, God said that the idle rich would be the first to go into exile. For this was God’s judgement on the people who had not listened to his messenger Amos. The people who continued to take advantage of others,
In the gospel of Luke we hear a similar warning in the story that Jesus is telling. For after they died, the poor man went to heaven and the rich man went to hades. However, this is not a story that means everyone who is rich will go to hades. It is more of a story about our attitudes and actions. For the rich man never thought to try and help the poor man Lazarus in life. And, even in death the rich man has not learnt his lesson, for instead of being sorry for how he treated Lazarus in life, he now has the cheek to expect Abraham to send the poor man over into hades to serve him. Then, even after he is told that this was not possible, the rich man thinks it is okay to tell Abraham to send the poor man to warn his brothers. However, in reply Abraham reminds that if we do not listen to and live as we are told to in the scriptures, then we will not be convinced even if we are visited by someone who has risen from the dead. I believe that this story reminds us that we need to live as God instructs and to use all that we are and all that we have, to serve Him. And, even if we have made mistakes up to now, we have the opportunity to stop and turn to Godly ways.
In the letter to Timothy, Paul tells us that we must learn to be content in life and not chase after money. For even though we need money to survive, the pursuit of money at all costs will eventually trap us into acting in ungodly ways. As an alternative to this, Paul encourages us to do good works, to live generously and always be ready to share what we have. Paul describes this as “fighting the good fight” and includes living lives of: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. And what is really important about this is that it is not only a better way of living for the benefit of all people but also the way that leads to eternal life.
Let us Pray: Generous and merciful God, pour your holy spirit on your church. We ask you to keep us focussed on being your people by being true to the gospel, committed to each other and active in your service. Guide us away from all things that hurt and damage us and lead us towards all things helpful for our salvation. Amen
Thanks for joining us today.