Living in the Spirit
June 21, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:16, 24-39 

‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves….

‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.– Matthew 10:16, 26-31

As Christ’s servants we are sent out into a broken, scary world where people of faith fight each other and where old wounds fester and rot the very heart of those who suffer them, where promising young basketball players get shot in the crossfire of gang warfare while home from college on summer vacation, where children are shuffled across borders as refugees to save them from their own neighbors, where young women—children even—are sold as sex slaves,  and that is just the headlines from this week’s news.

Anybody in their right mind would experience fear if caught up in any of these circumstances, wouldn’t he or she? Jesus says have no fear of them…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Jesus is calling us to live through his death into the fullness of life offered in the Kingdom of God while we live in a world torn asunder.  The only way anyone could really do that is to accept without reservation that they serve a risen savior who is in the world today*.

Prayer: Lord, remind us often that we serve a risen savior. Amen.

*Taken from He Lives by Alfred Ackley

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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.