Thought for Today
Proverbs 24:29 Do not say, "I will do to others as they have done to me; I will pay them back for what they have done."
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew 25:45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'
Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"’God helps those who help themselves’ is a motto that emphasizes the importance of self-initiative and agency. The phrase originated in ancient Greece as "the gods help those who help themselves" and may originally have been proverbial. It is illustrated by two of Aesop's Fables and a similar sentiment is found in ancient Greek drama. The phrase is known around the world and is used to inspire people for self-help.” (Wikipedia)
Which way do you typically look? Yes, I know, “with my eyes!’ But, I’m not thinking in terms of mechanisms; I am not thinking in terms of cardinal points on a compass. I’m not asking about right, left, up or down. Instead, think about your true self in terms of a 3-dimensional graph. The origin point (0,0,0,) of your life-graph would be on the locus of your identity, your mind or your heart, the place where the ‘real’ you lives and thinks. Left and right would be the x-axis. Up and down the y-axis. I’m asking about your z-axis. Does the z-axis of your life-graph look inward (negative values on the graph) or outward (positive values on the graph)?
I believe that Christian lives are defined by those positive values on the z-axis of our lives. An outward focus of our hearts and minds. Much of our western European culture seems to me an expression of that adage above, “God helps those who help themselves.” Our lives are based on self-help and self-reliance. That is not evil in and of itself. Even the apostle Paul wrote, “1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” We are created in God’s image; and, it is important to keep the ‘temples’ of our body in good repair, properly nourished and prepared for our labor in the Kingdom of God.
Some days, as I look around me, it appears to me that here in the U.S.A. a disproportionate amount of time, energy and resources are spent on ‘temple’ repair, maintenance, beautification and pampering. Many of those ‘temples’ are obviously over-stocked with supplies.
Greta and I spent the majority of our adult lives in an area north of the city of Houston. It was an area with a concentration of folks like us, born during or after WWII, with many professionals, doctors, lawyers and especially engineers. The area was generally known as the ‘1960 area’ because the major thoroughfare had the designation F.M. 1960. It was a category of road originally built for farm-to-market transportation of produce. As it developed into a major suburban area, ironically, many of the inhabitants came to adulthood during the decade of the 1960s.
As that area began to develop, 5 of the area churches joined together to form the Northwest Assistance Ministries, “Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) is a nonprofit, community-based, multi-program social service agency that strives to meet basic human needs through Neighbors Helping Neighbors. NAM provides assistance in areas including food, shelter, health, education, safety and financial education. Our service area covers over 660 square miles of northwest Harris County, an area with over 1,500,000 residents.” (www.namonline.org)
Much like the First Parish Church of Newbury’s Community Food Pantry, NAM is an example of strong, positive numbers on that z-axis of the lives of the participants. They are both living examples of ‘doing it to the least of these,’ examples of what it means to do justice, love kindness and walking humbly with our God.
We know which way those folks are looking. They are the embodiment of the hymn They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love. Which way do you typically look?
Stay safe, live and look down the z-axis of your life, trust God,
Pastor Ray