Dear Friends of the Wholeness Service:
This January 22, we continue meditating on Jesus’ words of blessing to us in Matthew 5,
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” and perhaps in a way that we’ve never done before. As I’ve been preparing for the wholeness service, I also read lines from Matthew 18 about the merciful God we serve who pursues us when we stray.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
Until my preparations for this service, I’ve thought of those who wander as somebody other than me, some “back-sliding sinner,” or the “unsaved,” but this time reading it, I realized I have “small me’s” that stray, especially when I’m feeling stressed and/or grumpy and/or unappreciated. And I’ve also seen that if I behave without mercy to someone else, my own heart is unable to accept the mercy I’ve been so freely given and I feel like a troubled guest in God’s kingdom rather than an accepted, engaged participant.
I hope you’ll be able to attend in person to participate in our candle-lit service, worship with the beautiful music of Taize, intercessory prayers, reflection on Jesus’ words of blessing and communion open to all who come seeking the Love of God. If you’re not able to be with us, we will also live-stream the service and post a recorded copy to our YouTube channel.
I’m praying for you and hope you’ll pray for the many people necessary to prepare the service. We look forward to seeing you on January 22, 2023 at 6:30 p.m..
Warmly sharing as one of those little ones who strays sometimes,
Rev. Vicki Joy McClure
