Word to the Wise
Monday, August 27, 2012 - Monday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thess 1:1-5, 11-12 and Matt 23:13-22]We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. [2 Thess.]
It is clear from the beginning of St. Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians that he is proud of this community and its progress in faith. He holds them up to the other communities as a good example! Since they represent one of his earliest efforts to establish Christian communities, his letters to them reflect some of his earliest zeal and provide a window on the life of the church in its earliest days. Two phrases caught my attention because I found that they speak to my own feeling about my efforts to preach. The first phrase i: "We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters...." I can assure my Beloved Congregation that I am indeed grateful to you for your reception of my small efforts at preaching on the internet.
The second phrase is: "We always pray for you...." I can assure my Beloved Congregation that each preaching at this site is my prayer for you in addition to my awareness of your continual presence in my own life and ministry. We are all in this together as baptized persons. I once heard an amusing story about some people in a lifeboat. They were in two groups, one at the head of the boat and the other at the stern. A leak springs up at one end and someone at the other end was heard to say, "Oh I'm so glad the leak is at the other end of the boat!" No, we're all in this together, brothers and sisters! We are partners in preaching! I could not be writing this at this moment unless my friends, Craig and Christina Baker, had not designed and given me this website. There would be no point to preaching here if there was no one to "hear" it. I welcome your comments and replies! Please keep this effort in your prayers because my travels reveal that internet access can be an adventure in some places I go to! Together we make it happen! AMEN
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