Ordinary Time: Thursday, September 24, 2009

Old Testament Lesson

2 Kings 9:1-16

One of the things we see through out the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings, as well as all through out the Bible, is that God is always up to something. God is always at work. God is always doing something. Here, a new king was anointed and done so for a specific purpose. He was raised up by God to make things right. God was always at work.

And He is today as well. He is always working, always doing always in the midst of some new and awesome thing. In your live, in the lives our churches, in all that is happening. God is at work. Have hope, have confidence! God is doing something awesome.

New Testament Lesson

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. There was an old belief in Paul's day (which is still around today) called gnosticism. This said that the body was bad, and the spirit was good. So, it didn't matter what you did to the body, as long as you soul was good. Paul said, no, the body matters.

First, the actions we take affect our soul. How we live affects our soul. Our lives and bodies affect our souls. They are connected. They are joined. In short, how we live really does matter.

Second, these bodies are a gift! Take care of them. Nurture them. Take care of yourself. This is something I haven't always done, but I'm trying to do better. We each need to. This body is a gift from God. Take care of it!

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus warns us, don't worry about being seen as faithful, just be faithful. Don't worry about others seeing you prayer, or fast, or doing things things. Just do them. Don't make a big deal about your faithfulness. Don't brag about it. Don't puff out your chest. Just be faithful. Just love God. Just spend time with God. And then, it's worthwhile. Because then it's not done for others to see; it's done to spend time with your savior.