Greetings from hot and humid Chuckatuck as the month of June winds to a close. We celebrated the 16th Sunday of Coronatide this morning as I looked out on the church yard and spotted the brown thrasher taking twigs into the rhododendron for their nest. One of the difficulties of not being in the sanctuary – just too many critters outside the window. We had a nice coffee hour on Zoom today, it’s nice to see bright faces following worship and to hear good reports about some of our prayer requests. We pray that you are well and healthy as February drags into July. Blessings to you and yours.
In worship today there was a mix of themes in the readings and collect. Our psalmist asked God how long would God forget him? But then realized that God had dealt with the psalmist richly in the past and would continue to be beneficial to him in the future. Paul’s letter to the Romans continued the discussion of why we shouldn’t continue to live in sin simply to see God’s grace. God’s grace doesn’t atone one-for-one for our sin, rather it moves us away from sin and separation from God. The gospel today reminds us our actions because someone is “something” doesn’t lessen the impact of our benefit. If we do the right thing because a person warrants our assistance, our reward isn’t decreased because of that. Today’s sermon though, was focused on the reading from Genesis – “Abraham sacrifices Isaac on the mountain.” What we are reminded in the reading today is (1) our faith demands our response and trust that God is faithful, (2) even when we question God’s presence (and say ‘God will provide…’) God doesn’t remove God’s presence, and (3) God will be with us and will lead us from here to the future in grace.
Where are you invited to be faithful and step forward with the commitedness of your original response to God? The blessing for us is God is waiting for us to step forward and will be with us all along the way.
I invite your comments,
Les+
Readings: Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42
Video of worship: https://youtu.be/lPQxqYr1ZqY
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