Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Word
“After going through Pisidia they came into Pamphylia.” Acts 14:24
Meditation
Today’s meditation is written by Susan Senechal.
I am a child of the suburbs. People in the suburbs look like me. They walk like me and talk like me. They have houses like mine, backgrounds much like mine, and share my socio-economic class. Though we may be different, we are much the same. When we moved to St. Louis, we moved to the suburbs, to a neighborhood much like other areas where we had lived. But my daughter, who is biracial, wanted friends who looked more like her, so she met people in the city. Often she would need to be picked up from a friend’s place. As I drove I would become uncomfortable. The neighborhoods seemed run-down. Sketchy. Rough.
A few years after moving to the “burbs,” we decided to move into the city. Ironically, we are just two blocks away from one of those places I remembered as “rough.” Now that I live here, I see things differently. I see the Vietnamese family who own the nail place around the corner and live above it. I see the two older men who sit outside at the top of the stairs of the apartment building behind our back fence, just talking, often laughing, sometimes calling encouragement our way.
I see the kids and adults who love on our dog as we pass by on a walk. I see the police officers doing extra duty on their time off at the famous custard stand next door, who chat with the customers and with us, building good will. I see a van from a local church handing out turkeys and fixings across the street the weekend before Thanksgiving. Now that I live here, I slow down and see this is not just a place with some abandoned buildings and sirens sounding; it’s a neighborhood filled with hard-working people doing their best; people valued by God, people for whom Jesus gave his life.
The notes in my Bible tell me that Pisidia, in today’s Bible verse, is an area about 120 miles long and 50 miles wide. The note also says that bandits frequented the region. When speaking of his missionary journey, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:26 that he had been in danger from bandits and from his own countrymen; in danger in the city and in the country. And yet, he did not avoid these places. Instead, he witnessed and did the work of God, and God opened doors of faith.
Dear Jesus, help us to slow down and to look around, to put aside our preconceived ideas and notice the people you notice. All around us are people for whom you gave your life. Let me see my neighbors and even strangers, as children precious to you. Amen.
Prayer for the Spirit in my Life
- For the Holy Spirit to grow my faith, an ever more confident trust in God.
- For the Spirit to teach me the language of prayer.
- For the Spirit to make my unholy life more holy.
- For the Spirit to round my rough edges and conform me to God’s intention for my life.
Benediction
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (II Cor. 13:14)