In worship today we were reminded that God knows our necessities and has compassion on us, even when we fumble around with the way we ask for God’s help – because God sent Jesus to bridge our failings and short-sightedness. The Psalmist reminds us today that if we look, God is there for and with us – not only in the good times but also in the bad times and the times when we don’t look for God. The letter to the Romans reaffirmed our place as heirs of salvation because Jesus came to save us from ourselves, all we need to do is follow Jesus’ lead in our lives. Matthews gospel was the story of the wheat and the tares – that those who aren’t fruitful will end up being cast out, but because it is hard to discern weed from wheat we won’t be cast out until the final accounting. Today’s sermon focused on the reading from Genesis, Jacob seeing the stairway to heaven and realizing that God was in that place (at Beth-el). But, we are also reminded that God isn’t only there, or in Jacob, or in the Israelites; God is everywhere and in everyone – but we need to look for God’s presence.

What would the world look like if we stopped to remind ourselves that God is in this place/person/event – all we need to do is look? I invite your comments,
Les+

Readings: Genesis 28:10-19a; Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43