Prayer:
Loving Lord, let your rule of love so shape our lives that they may be for others the taste of your servanthood, your sacrifice, your love. Amen.
Bible Reading:
Matthew 20:17-28
Silence:
One to two minutes
Reflection:
Success, advancement, status, promotion, upward mobility – these are the terms that describe the march up the corporate ladder. Winner, champion, first place – these reflect the advances in sports. Powerful, dominant, superior – these denote the sentiment of political activity. All these are well and good given the fact that the world requires these qualities in order to sustain the systems. However, in the church a different sort of dynamic is called for – servanthood, slave, sacrifice, self-denial, service to others. In order to maintain the life giving spirit of God within this community called the church, we are not to live as the Gentiles (world) do, lording over other with authority, but rather, serving, loving, sacrificing,
Action – Repentance and Creation:
Take your membership list and read through it. Over the course of the day, remember this brothers and sisters in your thoughts and prayers.