“What the God of the Living Asks of Us” by
Colleen O’Sullivan
On this account, I am suffering these things; but I
am not ashamed, for I know him in whom I have believed and am confident that he
is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)
As for the dead being raised, have you not read in
the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, I am the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not
God of the dead but of the living. You
are greatly misled.” (Mark 12:26-27)
Piety
Words:
D.J. Bulls Music: Mark Shipp
To You, I lift up my eyes
To You, who reigns in the heavens
Be gracious unto us, O Lord
Be gracious unto us; be gracious unto us
Study
Last week on America’s
Got Talent, one of the contestants, Archie Williams, said he had spent 37
years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Thanks to the Innocence
Project, the fingerprints found at the scene, none of which matched Mr.
Williams were looked at again. With the
help of more advanced databases and forensic techniques, the real perpetrator
was identified, and Mr. Williams was set free.
As he sang Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” I kept
wondering why those years of incarceration hadn’t broken him. When he was speaking with host Terry Crews,
he said, “Freedom is of the mind. I went
to prison, but I never let my mind go to prison.” He said he prayed and sang when the days were
dark.
That must be
how the Apostle Paul dealt with his imprisonments; he must never have gone to
prison in his mind. He mentally stayed
free for the Lord and continued to pray.
Otherwise, I don’t know how he could have written so many eloquent
letters to friends and churches while under lock and key.
Today’s first reading is the beginning of the
Apostle’s second letter to his dear, younger friend Timothy. Perhaps Paul has received word that Timothy isn’t
the strong leader Paul is sure he could be.
Paul encourages him to remember the gift of the Spirit which Paul has passed
on to him. The Apostle encourages
Timothy to take the spark of the Holy Spirit and fan it into flame. Paul says the Spirit gives us the strength,
wisdom, and courage we need to proclaim the Gospel to others. It’s not always easy to be a messenger of the
Gospel. If we live in the Spirit, somehow,
we are given the way to do that as well as the words to use.
And we also know when to give up and go on to
more fertile fields, as Jesus shows us in today’s Gospel. The Sadducees
do not believe in resurrection or life after death. Jesus knows he’s being played by the
ridiculous story of a widow whose brother-in-law marries her and then dies; a scene
repeated over and over until all seven of the brothers-in-law have died. The Sadducees then want to know which one the
widow will be married to in heaven. Jesus says none of the above because when we
rise from the dead, there won’t be any marrying in heaven. Jesus
says they must not know their Scriptures, for God is the God of the living, not
the dead, but he doesn’t wait around to see if he’s convinced them. Remember, Jesus told the disciples to shake
the dust off their feet and go on if they were not well-received. There are always more waiting to hear the Gospel.
Action
We preach the Gospel not merely in words, but by our actions as
well. In one of the Resurrection stories
(John 21), Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Peter says three times that he does, indeed,
love Jesus. Jesus responds three times: “Feed
my lambs.” “Tend my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.”
Imagine Jesus saying those words to you.
Covid-19, with all its attendant shut-downs, has put a great many people
out of work. There are some very hungry sheep
in need of feeding today. There are
people right here in our midst in northern Virginia whose cupboards are bare
and whose paychecks have stopped coming.
If you are able, please consider giving to a food pantry or organization
that is working to feed our neighbors who are not sure where their next meal
will come from.
Jesus asks us not only to feed his precious lambs but to tend to their
other needs as well. Nowhere does Jesus say
that certain sheep are more deserving than others. All of us, regardless of race, skin color,
ethnic origin, religious belief, abilities, or disabilities, are God’s precious
children. Maybe spend some time praying
about how or whether our actions reflect that truth.
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