10/10/16
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
When doing the work of ministry, it is not always possible to see results. People will sometimes have discussions based around how large a church congregation is, how many people have joined the congregation, how many conversions there have been, etc. Yet this is normally not an adequate measure.
In John 4:27-30 the woman to whom Jesus had been speaking left the group. We do not find a profession of faith. She makes no clear commitment. She leaves her water jar, which is extremely kind. Then again, it may show that she was distracted, intimidated, and in a hurry to rush off.
What does she go and do? She tells everybody in town about this Jesus whom she had met. She brings them out to see Jesus. The woman acts as a tireless evangelist, though she knows relatively little about Jesus.
As we meet people, as we talk with them, as we live together in community, we too serve as ambassadors for Jesus. Then again, maybe some reader is an ambassador for someone else. How do we judge the impact of our words and actions? Often we cannot. Yet the almighty and omniscient God who knows the hearts of all is trustworthy. He will attract his people to himself.
Christianity presents salvation as being of the Lord. Not of us. We are simply faithful servants.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
When doing the work of ministry, it is not always possible to see results. People will sometimes have discussions based around how large a church congregation is, how many people have joined the congregation, how many conversions there have been, etc. Yet this is normally not an adequate measure.
In John 4:27-30 the woman to whom Jesus had been speaking left the group. We do not find a profession of faith. She makes no clear commitment. She leaves her water jar, which is extremely kind. Then again, it may show that she was distracted, intimidated, and in a hurry to rush off.
What does she go and do? She tells everybody in town about this Jesus whom she had met. She brings them out to see Jesus. The woman acts as a tireless evangelist, though she knows relatively little about Jesus.
As we meet people, as we talk with them, as we live together in community, we too serve as ambassadors for Jesus. Then again, maybe some reader is an ambassador for someone else. How do we judge the impact of our words and actions? Often we cannot. Yet the almighty and omniscient God who knows the hearts of all is trustworthy. He will attract his people to himself.
Christianity presents salvation as being of the Lord. Not of us. We are simply faithful servants.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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