What Are You GoingThrough?
- davidwperk
- Jun 14, 2024
- 5 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, June 14, 2024
Proper 5, the week of the third Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading;
6:1My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 971)
AM Psalm 69:1-23 (24-30) 31-38; PM Psalm 73
Eccles. 11:9-12:14; Gal. 5:25-6:10; Matt. 16:21-28
Today we celebrate the Feast of Basil the Great. (See below.)
David’s Reflection’s
"The love of our neighbour in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him: 'What are you going through?” So wrote Simone Weil in her classic Waiting on God.*
Today’s epistle speaks of love for others, a love that grieves the plight of members of the community who are caught in any sort of sinful behavior. A love that asks, “What are you going through?” calls for reaching out to restore the broken and erring member while remembering one’s own vulnerability to evil. As the Gospel song puts it we all are “prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love.” Paul grounds this compassion in our shared vulnerability; the next episode might involve your being the one wandering away and that very person you helped to restore, the one seeking you out.
It strikes me as profound that Paul has just spoken in the previous verses of love as a fruit of the Spirit’s presence and activity and encouraged us to order our lives in dependence on that Spirit. The very first words of instruction after that have to do with a specific way of practicing that love. That love relates to evil in other believers not by judging but by seeking the restoration of the erring one to the life of the community.
This requires of us at least three things. First, we must take evil seriously. A believer caught in some form of evil and left to his or her own devices will suffer wounding and ruin. Love will not allow us to sit passively by and watch that happen. Second, we must have an intentional way of going about that work of loving restoration. There actually are programs like Stephen’s Ministry that equip Christians to reach out in loving ministry. Third, we must continue to hold one another in our hearts and in prayer. Members of the community who disappear cannot be forgotten.
What a counterintuitive move—rather than judging, grieving, rather than disparaging, asking “What are you going through?” We can seek creative, loving ways to express our sense of loss by seeking to reweave the wanderer into the community of faith. We keep Simone Weil's question always before us, "What are you going through?"
*Simone Weil, Waiting on God, trans. Emma Craufurd (London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1952), pp. 58-59.
Collect of the Day, Proper 5, the week the third Sunday after Pentecost
O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 229)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Basil the Great, bishop, theologian (died 1 Jan 379 CE. Ordained bishop 14 June 370 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Basil the Great
Almighty God, who has revealed to your church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfastly in the confession of this faith, and remain constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; ever one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 97)
A Collect for Quiet Confidence
O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 832)
A Collect for the Presence of Christ
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen. (BCP, 124)
A Collect for Mission
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Epistle Reading, Galatians 5:25-6:10
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
6:1My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. 4All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. 5For all must carry their own loads. 6Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. 7Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. 10So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.
Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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