Christian Reflection and Prayer

ALL SAINTS DAY

For all the saints

"For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!"
For All the Saints
William Walsham How (1823-1897)

Scripture:

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers
and foreigners. You are citizens along with
all of God's holy people. You are members of
God's family. We are his house, built on the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
We who believe are carefully knit together,
becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through
him you Gentiles are also joined together as
part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT

Reflection:

A hero of the faith

"In 1864 Bishop William How wrote this hymn
for All Saints Day. He cited Hebrews 12:1 in his
original title, but he drew on all of Hebrews 11 for
inspiration. That's the famous "faith chapter,
" which praises the faithful deeds of a score of
Old Testament heroes.

The author might be considered a hero of the faith
himself. He was a man of the people, regularly
reaching out to minister to the poor and needy in
his area. Once he listed the characteristics that a
minister should have; among them was being
"wholly without thought of self." Those who knew
him said that Bishop How was like that, selflessly
caring for others."

from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark
Norton and Robert Brown (Tyndale) entry for
November 1

(God's Daily Promises)

Scripture:

"You must love the Lord your God ...
you must love your neighbor"
(Matthew 22:37,3).

Reflection:

Christian love demands that we
show compassion toward those who
are hurting. But there are times when
Christian love demands that we speak
out in protest against those who are
doing the hurting. There are times
when we are called upon, as Christians,
to cry out "No!" against that which is
causing human hurt and human
exploitation. And often it requires great
courage to accept the consequences
when love compels us to raise our
voices in protest.

DO YOU HAVE THAT COURAGE?

(Sunday Sermon Outlines)

Scripture:

Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to
him, “You still lack one thing. Sell
everything you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
Luke 18:21-23 (in Context) Luke 18
(Whole Chapter)

Luke 11:41
But now as for what is inside you—
be generous to the poor, and
everything will be clean for you.

Luke 6:20
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for
yours is the kingdom of God.

Reflection:

If you have been reading my blog lately, you
may have discovered a central theme. That
theme is poverty and oppression.  As a
follower of Jesus Christ, poverty is a major
concern. 
There are over 2000 verses in Scripture that
call upon us to show love and justice to all
those who are poor and oppressed. You
cannot call yourself a Christian, you cannot
claim to be a representative of Jesus Christ
and ignore Christ's teachings on our
relationship to the poor and the oppressed. 
According to the teachings of Jesus Christ, it
is our definite responsibility to share with the
poor and to be the voice for the voiceless
oppressed.  It makes no difference whether
you call yourselves conservative, liberal,
radical, or middle of the road, it is a Christian
obligation and previlage to vote for
representation and promote legislation that
turns the words and deeds of Jesus Christ
into social policy.  I agree
with the words of Gandhi when he says,
"Those who say religion has nothing to do
with politics do not know what religion is."

I am so tired of "Christian" leaders who
are concerned about gay marriage, or
whether mormons are Christians, and
not concerned about the following:
Over 6 million children die each year of
starvation or diseases related to
malnutrition.  That presently the United
States allocates less than four tenths of
one percent (0.4%) of its federal budget
to address world poverty.  That our
national budget ranks second to last
of the 22 industrialized nations for assistance
to the world poor. They don't seem to care
that poverty is an increasing reality in our
own country.  They don't seem to care that
you don't have to go to a third world country
anymore to visit the third world.  Third world
conditions exist in our urban neighborhoods
in cities across America and in the hills
of Appalachia.  They don't seem to care that
foreclosures on house mortgages are over the
top.  They don't seem to care that over 3.5
million people, 1.5 million children among
them, experience homelessness.  They don't
seem to care that 20 percent of homeless
people are veterans.  They don't seem to
care that every day, thousands more of our
fellow citizens become jobless and fall
below the poverty level.

After all of this what if we change the
statement, "They don't seem to care" to
"We don't seem to care".

All of us, who claim to be Christians, must
now, at this very minute, commit ourselves
to press for social policies that meet the
needs of the poor.

Prayer for the Homeless:
O God, as Naomi and Ruth journeyed from
one land to another seeking a home, we ask your
blessing upon all who are homeless in this world.
You promised to your chosen people a land flowing
with milk and honey; so inspire us to desire the
accomplishment of your will that we may work
for the settlement of those who are homeless in
a place of peace, protection, and nurture, flowing
with opportunity, blessing, and hope. Amen.