Proper 17 / Pentecost 15 / Ordinary Time 22
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
-- Hebrews 13:1-2
As Hebrews drew to a close, the author exhorted them to a style of life together that would embody the faith that they proclaimed. It was centered in mutual love that continued to build up the body. It was out of that experience of loving and being loved that Christians found the power to love beyond their community. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). The practice of Middle-Eastern hospitality was lifted to a new level by remembering when Abraham welcomed strangers at the Oak of Mamre (Genesis 18:1-15) and discovered that he was welcoming angels.
Drawing on this ancient story, Christians were urged to always welcome strangers because they might well be entertaining angels without knowing it. Christians were also urged to fulfill the commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself by trying to place themselves in the other person's situation. Particularly they were to think of prisoners and those being tortured as if it were happening for them.
This same manner of identifying with the other and allowing that to shape one's actions led the author to affirm the sacredness of the covenant of marriage. In a community of mutual love, it was important to honor the commitments that people had within the community and not allow lustful impulses to destroy the bonds of trust that were essential.
Finally, there was a warning against the love of money. Clearly the problem of wealth becoming a major factor that divides the community of faith is something that has been true from the beginning. The same instructions could be of value to any Christian community as they seek to embody the way of Christ who "is the same yesterday and today and forever."
-- Hebrews 13:1-2
As Hebrews drew to a close, the author exhorted them to a style of life together that would embody the faith that they proclaimed. It was centered in mutual love that continued to build up the body. It was out of that experience of loving and being loved that Christians found the power to love beyond their community. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). The practice of Middle-Eastern hospitality was lifted to a new level by remembering when Abraham welcomed strangers at the Oak of Mamre (Genesis 18:1-15) and discovered that he was welcoming angels.
Drawing on this ancient story, Christians were urged to always welcome strangers because they might well be entertaining angels without knowing it. Christians were also urged to fulfill the commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself by trying to place themselves in the other person's situation. Particularly they were to think of prisoners and those being tortured as if it were happening for them.
This same manner of identifying with the other and allowing that to shape one's actions led the author to affirm the sacredness of the covenant of marriage. In a community of mutual love, it was important to honor the commitments that people had within the community and not allow lustful impulses to destroy the bonds of trust that were essential.
Finally, there was a warning against the love of money. Clearly the problem of wealth becoming a major factor that divides the community of faith is something that has been true from the beginning. The same instructions could be of value to any Christian community as they seek to embody the way of Christ who "is the same yesterday and today and forever."
