Tuesday, July 6, 2010

We need God; we need one another.

Psalm 115
1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD—
small and great alike.
14 May the LORD make you increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.
17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
those who go down to silence;
18 it is we who extol the LORD,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the LORD.

Many people today are "kind of into" a lot of different things. It is not uncommon, for instance, to hear someone say, "I am spiritual but I am not religious; or I do not like organized religion; or I can pray anythere". Today many people between the ages of 18 and 30 believe you do not need any church or synagogue to be religious. Most also add, "Do you think that going to church really makes a difference to God?" Obviously it makes no difference to them, and in our world that becomes a short leap to saying that of course it likewise makes no difference to God. Why, after all, would God be much different from us? However, we are made in God's image, God is not made in our image. God is all about community and relationships. We may have our own personal relationship with God, but we need to share God's love in community, caring for one another.
It is very easy for us, in this modern highly technological world, to believe that we have arrived at this stage of technological sophistication all by ourselves and that we no longer need God or that we never needed God. We fail to realize that it is God who has given us our intellect and free will which has enabled us to develop our understanding of science and improve our technology over the ages. Most of our technological advances were designed by community effort.
But God continues to patiently wait for us to acknowledge our need for his love and care, and to understand our need for one another. The false gods of money, power, and technology, actually come as gifts from God. The fact that we become impressed with our own importance does not keep God from coming to our aid when we are in need. We can be comforted in the knowledge that God is not like us. God is better than us; God is more compassionate than us; God is more forgiving than us; God is more loving than us. God is not someone of our own creation. We are the creation, God is the Creator. God does not need us to survive, we need God.

Peace and love,

Sue


"Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". (Luke 9:23)

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