As
the saying goes, "You can't take it with you" though heaven knows how
hard we try. What do we take with us even as we live? A bit
too often we drag the baggage of our neglect or even ambivalence toward God in
our everyday living. Those of us privileged enough to have options to pull
down our barns to build bigger ones and store up earthly goods,
often shield ourselves from our mortality by denying the ticking clock. It is
as if in unknowing what hour the chime will toll for us, we have the time to
acquire and accumulate more and more. I am reminded of the late comedian George
Carlin’s brilliant riff on Stuff [see YouTube, there’s even a censored
version], at once a hilarious and seriously sobering look at our western sense
of “need.”
Check
out a local estate sale and see a lifetime of collections, clothing, furniture,
and just plain stuff that's left behind, offered as a bargain to be collected
by others and then left behind again. Meanwhile all around us others cry out
for basic treasures such as clean water, enough food, clothing, shelter, and
medical care. Think of the after-effects of earthquakes, tornadoes,
catastrophic floods, and deadly wild fires just to see how one can measure the
loss of possessions against the loss of life. And don’t avert your eyes
and ears to the cries of those, already desperate, suddenly caught indefinitely
in horrifyingly cruel conditions most of us cannot even imagine – babies and
children separated from parents, spouses separated from each other – in ordinarily
civilized places such as our own country – and especially in dreadfully
dangerous war-torn areas, with some being intentionally and maliciously starved
to death.
The grandest home is not permanent storage,
nor is even the grave – think about Egyptian tombs, looted in history and excavated
now for museum viewing. No matter how privileged or how honored in this mortal
life, no matter how ruthless and powerful, no one will live forever and no thing
will accompany them. How are you prepared this very day for
the next? And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?
THIS life is meant to be less about downsizing than upsizing, that is, storing
up treasures of the soul. We are to be filled with kindness, selflessness,
benevolence, and love. In taking on a new self, as Paul tells us,
we are no longer Greek or Jew, white, black, brown, or yellow,
citizen or immigrant, one political party or another. Christ is all and
in all. Life is short and no amount of “stuff” or
money will make it last longer not then, not now; what we do with what
we have is what matters. Whoever is wise will ponder these things...Set
your minds on things that are above...
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ Jesus, our
Teacher, who is all and in all, free us from all earthbound self-indulgent
vanities and incline our minds to things above. Help us to discard our old self
for a new, renewed in spirit and rich in soul toward God.
O Christ, our Life
RESPONSE:
We will set our minds on You
~ Jesus, our Teacher, awaken the souls of all
who govern by merit or by force in the nations of this world and locally, to
remember that even the greatly honored will not live forever. Guide them to
store up their treasure by good and sincere service to benefit all Your
children in this life, and themselves in the next. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
O Christ, our Life
We will set our minds on You
~
Jesus, our Teacher, lift the spirits of those who languish in the face of
physical or emotional pain, in hunger for food, or addictions, and refresh the
energy of all who try to help. We now join our hearts together to pray for
those in need… add your own petitions
O Christ, our Life
We will set our minds on You
~
Jesus, our Teacher, liberate the hearts that grieve with the joy that those we
have sent ahead now rise to live again, revealed in the newness and glory of
Christ our Lord. We pray especially for… add your own petitions
O Christ, our Life
We will set our minds on You
~
Jesus, our Teacher, we pause in this moment to offer You our
other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud
or silently… add your own petitions
O Christ, our Life
We will set our minds on You
~
Jesus, our Teacher, as we are constantly blessed by those you have called to
lead us in your church, grant them Your continuing wisdom to speak in words and
ways that guide us all to you. We pray especially for: add your own
petitions
O
Christ, our Life
We
will set our minds on You
The
Celebrant adds: God
of Wisdom and Understanding, open our hearts to know and accept the brevity of
this fragile life. Empower us to clothe ourselves anew, choosing the divine
abundance of eternal love through selflessness, benevolence, and joy-filled
obedience to Your transcendent truth. We ask through Jesus, our constant
Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, our eternal Advocate; who together with You are
One God, now, always, and forever. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment