Eastertidei

April 22, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 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?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

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?

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? What are our biases? Do we think when Jesus said the poor will always be with us* he felt that is the way it should be or was he stating a need to alter our priorities for a time? A reading of Matthew 25:34-36 indicates God calls us to alleviate the problems caused by poverty. It is most likely true that society will always have some with more wealth than others and that the poor describes those on the bottom rung of the wealth ladder. Our society seems to relate poverty, not having enough of the necessities of life and no hope of attaining them, to being poor. They are not the same thing. Some people choose to live frugally because worshipping wealth has its own evils to address. Proverbs 10:15 states, The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. I hear in today’s world that many families are just one major illness or catasrophy away from financial ruin. That is not only true of the poor but also the middle class and the wealthy.

I think 1 John above tells us that everyone needs to have enough of the necessities of life and that we have some responsibility in making sure that happens. That indeed may take the role of literally feeding and clothing people. It may also include advocating for fair and just treatment of all people.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see a brother or sister in need and not refuse to care for them.  Amen.

*See Mark 14:7

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.