Wednesday 25 May 2022

Psalm 24

Background

 Life can be pretty overwhelming at times, can’t it? It seems it has never been more important for the Church to stand up and serve our communities.

Even before the pandemic, there was increasing demand for food banks, mental health support, and spaces to welcome refugees and the vulnerable in our communities. Add to that the rising cost of living, the war in Ukraine and the enforced separation from some of our loved ones because of restrictions on hospital visiting. It's easy – and understandable – to feel the weight of the world on our shoulders.

All of these pressures can mean we are tricked into believing Scripture is saying something it’s not. “Set your minds on things that are above" (v. 2) has been taken by some believers to to mean cutting ourselves off from the society around us so that we protect the purity of the Gospel. In extreme cases it has led people to divorce themselves from anything 'worldly'.

In fact, if our lives are ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (v. 3), we are called to live out the heart of God where we have been placed. We are the people who have a story of hope to share and can walk alongside others in their pain and struggle.

Setting our minds on Christ compels us to look at every crisis, every example of brokenness, every call on our compassion with the eyes of heaven. It’s not so much asking what Jesus would do, as discovering what we must do to live out Our Calling as a people of grace.

To Ponder:

• Is there a way you can live out the hope that is within us as a response to God’s love in Christ?
• Can you testify to when Christians made an impact on you by their acts of compassion?

Prayer

God of compassion, open our eyes to see the world as you see it. Amen.