Well, the Summer is drawing to a close. One of the things I don’t miss about Summer is sunburn! What do you do to relieve the pain of sunburn? Probably an ointment with Aloe in it. Have you even seen an Aloe plant? Well, here is one, take a look. The Aloe plant is pretty amazing. If you planted an Aloe plant in a small area, in a season it would expand to produce many, many more plants. The Aloe plant is really special because it’s nectar has healing properties used to relief sunburn pain and other hurts, too. Sometimes we have other kinds of pain that needs healing. When our feelings are hurt, when we are disappointed in ourselves or others, or when we just don’t feel ourselves. What helps us to feel better? Jesus offers us a kind of spiritual Aloe so we can be whole, healed. John 3:17 reminds us that Jesus was sent to us to save the world. You know, the word for save also means heal. So God sent Jesus to the world to heal the world through him. Prayer is Aloe. Encouragement is aloe. Serving others is aloe. Reading the Bible and applying what it means is like applying aloe to our life. Jesus brings healing. This week, can you thnk of a few others who need healing? God can use you to be a kind of Aloe plant to them. Here, this Aloe plant is for you to keep in your room to remind you that Jesus heals, and that you are a healer, too.
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Our Lectionary texts this week will help us to think about how to live our life “inside-out”. That is, how our inner spirit and motivations find expressions in our actions. In Mark 7, Jesus wants us to stand out from the crowd, not to draw attention to ourselves, but to reflect his character and values. The self-important religious leaders focused on what they ate, how they dressed, and where they stood in worship, and the importance they held in the eyes of others. The thing they missed was that God cared most for how they treated others, not how much money they put in the offering plate or the rituals they observed. The apostle James told his listeners, ”Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). How do we practice “undefiled religion” by caring for “orphans and widows in distress”? Given that all sin and fall short of the glory of God, we are all hypocrites to one degree or another and must grow to be more authentic and live with more integrity despite our inevitable mistakes and shortcomings. Let’s stand out from the crowd, in a good way, this week at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church!
(We apologize for a few audio glitches in this digital recording.)
Where do you stand?: With Jesus you do not stand alone!