Ordinary Time: Thursday, August 13, 2009

Old Testament Lesson

2 Samuel 15:1-18

We see from Absalom the desire to do whatever he must do to get what he wants. He is willing to lie, to harm, to use people, to do whatever he has to do to get what he wants. And many of the people in the text don't even realized they are being used by Absalom. They don't even see it.

In life, there are those that so lust after what they want that they will do whatever they have to do to get it. Let us be careful of folk like that. But, as importantly, let us not be people like that. Let us not be like Absalom. Let us not plot, cheat, and steal. Let us lead moral upright lives. Let us not use others, let us do right be others. Absalom focused only on what he wanted; he didn't even consider other people. Let us not make that same mistake.

New Testament Lesson

Acts 21:27-36

We see Paul get swept up in the mob of this moment. This happens to Paul a lot. In life there seems to always be things happening that are beyond his control. This that swirl around him, that he has no control over. You can't control when a mob tries to throw you out of the Temple. What did Paul do in all this?

He focused on his mission. And he focused on what he could control. In life, there are a lot of things we can't control. There are a lot of things we can't do anything with. Let's not worry about those. Let's just focus on what we can control. On what we can deal with it. On what we can do something about. And we can leave all the rest in God's hands.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 10:32-45

The Disciples are arguing about who will be the greatest. Who will be in charge. Who will run things. Who will have the power. They'd gotten made each other, they'd started to fuss about it and Jesus hears. And He tells a Kingdom truth. The greatest must be least. The greatest is the servant. The greatest doesn't boss all, they serve all. The greatest in the Kingdom follows the lead. They will serve.

May we be the servants today that God has called us to be. May we love one another as God as called us to. May we remember that true greatest comes from serving one another.