Meditation on This Sunday's Gospel

The readings for Sunday, May 10, 2020:


First Reading: Acts 7:55-60

Psalm: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

Gospel: John 14:1-14

The Gospel text for this Sunday has much to say to modern people. I come back again and again to the beginning: "Let not your hearts be troubled." We are in a time period where so many of us have troubled hearts.

I worry about our hearts becoming hard as stones once we all decide that we're tired of being troubled. History shows us this trajectory. Right now many of us are steadfast in our commitment to looking out for each other. But what happens when we grow tired?

When I was younger, I thought we needed to change the world for the better on a grand, global scale. Thus I set myself up for failure when I couldn't eradicate world hunger in the course of my lifetime. Now I know that the things we do for each other to help each other are just as important: staying late to help a colleague, listening to a friend (not solving problems, just listening), helping someone move, writing a quick e-mail to let someone know we're thinking of them: the list of what we could do to live with more compassion is infinite.

This passage also has Jesus tell us about the house with many rooms, a passage often interpreted as being about Heaven, but looked at contextually, Jesus could also be talking about our ministries on Earth. Perhaps he tells us that the Christian life has room for all of us, even if we can’t be Freedom Riders or the first martyr Stephen. Think about your particular gifts--how can you make Christ visible in the world?

We never know what we may unleash. When the Freedom Riders boarded the bus, they had no idea of the social changes that they were about to unfurl. They assumed they’d be taking a two week bus trip to New Orleans. They never dreamed how widely their actions would open the door to guarding the civil rights of all citizens--and today, even more marginalized groups have freedom and safety that wouldn't have been possible in earlier generations.

When we behave as the light of the world, similarly, we may help usher in God’s larger plan for the redemption of creation.