Today’s scripture: Matthew 15:1-9 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Melody Merida):
In January of 2009 I was fortunate to travel to the beautiful country of Sudan. The purpose of the trip was to meet the people of the southern region of Sudan and learn how our church community might best support them in their efforts to climb out of the effects of civil war. This was not a missions trip; it was a learning tour. Our purpose was not to go and present ourselves as the wiser, better Americans; rather our purpose was to show solidarity with the people of Sudan. In the end, I am certain that in many instances it was the Sudanese people who appeared to be wiser than I.
The journey to Sudan took a couple of days travel by air and bus, with our first international destination being Amsterdam. If you’ve ever flown into Amsterdam you know it is a huge airport because of its location in conjunction with the east and the west; it is a popular first stop for missions groups from the States.
While waiting for our next flight to take us into Uganda, the group of us traveling sat in a waiting area with another group from an American church, whose t-shirts proudly proclaimed the name of their church, about to make their way into Kenya. A leader of the group opened a map of Kenya and held it over a trash can lid so that a few others in his group might see it as well. Then I listened as he said to those others, “Okay, now let’s see where those sinners are!”
With that he proceeded to point out their destination spots and discuss their travel itinerary with his travel companions. As I sat there in the airport I was deeply saddened and more than just a little angry at this missionary’s opinion of the Kenyan people. I wondered what Jesus would have thought of that comment.
When I first read the passage in Matthew 15, I had an image flash in my mind of that moment in the airport. Here was a group of people proudly wearing the name of Christ (literally!) while showing such poor judgment in their response to the world around them. Undoubtedly such missions trips are a tradition within their faith family, but I wonder if while going through the motions they are making void the word of God.
Traditions and faith practices are important, but we must be diligent to keep from allowing those things to interfere with loving the way Christ compels us to love. Just as Jesus warns, honoring God with our lips doesn’t do a bit of good if our hearts are far from God. Jesus consistently showed us that people are more important than traditions or even rules; this is the way to keep our hearts close to God. Let’s do our part to live into the example of Jesus, matching our words with our actions of love.
Thought for the day: Are my words and my actions consistent with a follower of Jesus? Help me God, to be consistent with your ways of love. Amen.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.