Dear Congregation,
our watchword for the month of November comes from Jes 1,17:
Learn to do good! Uphold justice! Help the oppressed! See to justice for the orphans and stand up for the right of widows!
I won’t be telling you something new if I told you that our world is filled with all sorts of religions and faiths, not just our Lutheran faith. You will have met them in all types and varieties! It is almost like a packet of Liquorice Allsorts: different colours, different flavours, yet somehow all very similar. How do we distinguish between all these?
The first way of separating the sheep from the goats is how they stand to their social responsibilities. Already in the Old Testament those claiming to be believers and followers of Yahweh were advised in no uncertain terms that social responsibility towards socially and economically weak (oppressed, orphans, widows) is a non-negotiable for true religion or faith. All talk of faith or religion becomes feeble and unreal if the weak in this, our, world are disregarded or even trampled on and deprived of their rights and basic needs. We can surely measure our own faith with this measure too!
But we as Lutherans; we would like to add: We would protect and help the weak because the love of Christ compels us, not in order to score merit points in some personal, celestial, bank account for future merit in heaven! And here we have a second point of discernment regarding faith or religion: When the weak are being helped, is it the helper who actually benefits (through the acquisition of celestial bonus points, or perhaps emotional wellbeing, or a sense of satisfaction or importance) or are the weak being helped in such a way that they end up thanking God for their deliverance?
That is why Jesus advised us not to let the left hand know what the right is doing! The right hand is controlled by the left brain (common sense). The left hand is controlled by the right brain (seat of emotions)!
Kind regards,
Pastor Peter
