Next Service: Sunday, NOVEMBER 20, 2022 at 6:30 PM.
IN-PERSON GATHERING: San Gabriel Presbyterian Church, 5404 Williams Drive, Georgetown
LIVESTREAM: Click Facebook or YouTube to join.
“Blessed are the [meek, gentle, humble], for they will inherit the earth.” –Matthew 5:5
Dear Friends of the Wholeness Service:
On Monday mornings, when we’re in Colorado Springs, I disciple Larry, a man who left the church in the 1980s but during the pandemic, returned to our current family church. We are reading the gospel of Matthew, slowly and patiently without notes or a commentary. I’ve learned from him, for example in the verses that follow the Beatitudes where Jesus says:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you….” — Matthew 5:43-44 (NIV)
I ask Larry: “Did anything stand out to you in what Jesus said?”
Larry says: “That it is OK to have enemies,” he pauses and thinks reflectively, “as long as you pray for them and try your best to love them.”
Hmmm…It’s OK to have enemies, I think to myself. I mean I do know people who dislike me strongly, and I don’t care for them much either, and I had always thought it was a sin. But here Larry is reading what Jesus has said, for the first time in 30 years, and sees something I completely missed: It’s OK to have enemies–as long as you pray for them and try your best to love them.
This November we will continue meditating on what Jesus meant when he said “Blessed are the [meek, gentle, humble], for they will inherit the earth. No matter how you translate it, for those listening to Jesus then, and for us hearing him now, what Jesus has spoken is a paradox, that is a statement that contradicts itself. How could the earth be inherited by the meek, gentle, or humble? We will ponder what Jesus told us from that hillside on the sea of Galilee, a message that echoed throughout his ministry, and in those that learn to follow him.
Gentleness is the third of the Beatitudes, or “blessed are” statements from the first sermon of Jesus. To better understand gentleness, I’ll be including two other scriptures – one from Matthew, the other from 1st Peter. In one passage, Jesus tells us about himself, saying “I am gentle and humble in heart,” and in another, Peter tells us to act with gentleness and respect when we share the reason for our hope in Jesus.
Come join us on Nov 20 at 6:30 p.m., for this pre-Thanksgiving Wholeness Service–either in person or online*! We will sing Biblical Scripture in the great music of Taizé, worship in the Holy Spirit, and share The Lord’s Supper.
Peace,
Rev. Steve Buchele
P.S. We look forward to seeing you November 20 at 6:30 p.m.!
Location: 5404 Williams Drive, Georgetown, TX 78633
