Sunday, June 27, 2004
Sunday, June 27, 2004
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
(1 John 3.17
NRSV)
In the evenings she sat with this humble family in the twilight, singing, listening to stories around the fire. She saw how much this family cared for one another. She saw that they were not wrapped up in things but in relationships. "That family," she said later, "made me think of my family. Compared with that family in Honduras, my family is dysfunctional." Do you hear what she is saying? She went to help those less fortunate, but found that she was the one who was really helped. She was the one who experienced joy.
When we give of ourselves to others in need we receive blessings we never expected. The saddest people in this world are people who never discover the joy of giving. The church thrives when it knows how to share. When it is willing to sacrifice to help others.
Loving God, help me to more fully know the joy of giving. Amen.
