The Daily Office for July 4, 2012
Scriptures
Psalm 130
Numbers 22:42-23:12
Romans 7:13-25
Matthew 21:33-46
Reading (Matthew 21:33-46)
Reflection
Imagine this situation: Your Wednesday evening small group is getting ready to meet. Two new couples show up. One couple drives up in a shiny new convertible. The other arrives in a car that is missing three hubcaps and is at least two decades old. One couple is wearing expensive clothes, obviously just purchased from an upscale store. The other apparently shops at a thrift store. One couple is clearly rich. The other is visibly poor.
How do you and your fellow group members respond? Which one do you gravitate toward and talk with the most? Which one feels more at home, welcomed and wanted? It’s natural to show favoritism toward someone who’s rich. Why? First, most of us don’t feel entirely comfortable around poverty – partly because we know we’re responsible to help the poor as best we can. Second, deep down, most of us want to be rich ourselves. And we think that if we hang around someone who’s rich, maybe it will rub off on us.
Of course, these motives are selfish. They indicate that we think we’re better than poor people. We’re not. In fact, Scripture states that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith. They're the ones who will inherit the kingdom God promised to those who love him. If we really believe in Jesus and want to follow Him, then we need to show favoritism . . . to no one!
Collect for the Day
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.