Weekly Prayer: Extraordinary Kindness

Opening Prayer:

Heavenly Father, from whom every good thing comes, thank you for your abundant love for us.  We taste it in good food, feel it in the warmth of the sun and the cool of the rain, and know it in the love we share with others.  Open our hearts, make us receptive to the gifts of your Spirit during this time.  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ruth 2: 14-23

Comments:

I may be among the few who has specifically avoided any news coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, but I can't escape it!  I tried to get a view of the weather radar to see if it was going to rain the other day, and the news channel was showing irritated (and irritating) people waiting in line to get in to see the trial, passing the time by pushing, shoving, hitting each other, and yelling "this old woman cut in line!"  I was embarassed that the rest of the world was forming their opinions about Americans from this press!  Has every drop of respect and care for others bled out of us?

Contrast this with the story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.  Ruth, though she is not legally bound to care for her mother-in-law after the death of her husband, chooses love and loyalty, deliberately leaving her country and people to look after Naomi and to follow Naomi's God.  Naomi wisely helps Ruth navigate the potential treacheries awaiting a foreign, unmarried woman in a strange land with her wisdom and care.  Boaz not only welcomes Ruth, a foreigner, as a gleaner, one who is impoverished and, by God's laws, should be allowed to pick wheat and barley from the leftovers of the harvest, but orders his workers to protect her in the fields and to load her up with choice parts of the crops!  Though the story does not explicitly name God as a prime actor, it is implied that God is the origin of all of this kindness, loyalty, and love for strangers and widows and hungry people. 

I know there are many people hungry for the scoop on the trial and hungry to "get what's due to them" no matter what that means for others.  I still hold out hope that these are just misplaced, misdirected hungers and that what people are really hungry for is the way of life Jesus offers.  In Jesus' Kingdom, we share out of the abundance of all God gives us, we are kind because God has been so kind and forgiving to us, and we love with commitment not just the feelings of the moment. 

Life Question:

How can I show the kindnes and love God has shown me with someone this week?

Closing Prayer:

You give us life.  You forgive us when we deliberately disobey you.  You search for us when we are lost.  You give us your Spirit's presence to cheer and guide us each day.  You love us even when we have acted unlovely!  Give us an unquenchable desire to love others in the same way.  In Jesus' power, amen.

Weekly Prayer

Sermons

Christian Community