THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
This week the Lectionary readings are all about God’s salvation. Whether it’s Joseph bringing God’s salvation to Egypt, or Elijah receiving God’s visitation and the power to bring salvation to Israel, or Peter and the other disciples being saved from the storm, God’s work to save God’s people is at the forefront of the readings. But there are always two movements to these stories. Firstly, people who are under threat are rescued by an act of God, and then, secondly, they are sent to share their experience with others, both by telling their story and by being agents of salvation to other needy ones. This is the biblical pattern for all followers of God’s ways – we are saved, and then we become channels of God’s salvation.
What is also important about the biblical stories of salvation is that they do not focus only on what happens after we die. While there is certainly an element of being invited into God’s eternal life and overcoming the power of death, salvation, in the biblical sense, is much more than this. It includes bringing healing, justice, peace, sufficiency, and joy into the world now. This is not the same as the prosperity message of some preachers, in which we simply confess whatever we want and believe God will give it to us. Rather, this is a call to participate in God’s mission to make the entire world whole and one in Christ. So, as we experience God’s gift of the grace, love, and strength that we need to navigate this world in fullness of life, so we seek to share it with as many others as we can.
This week we open ourselves a little more to God’s saving grace and seek to become agents of salvation in our world.
To download this week’s reflections in PDF format, click here.
