[Propertalk] 5 Easter b 2018 - part 2 a

[Robert P Morrison]

Well, the black hole took my post of the second part so I'll split it
in two

	 WOULD anyone really notice if I, or any other individual, simply
disappeared? WOULD the whole of creation be altered significantly if I
disappeared? 

	 The answer to both of these is a definite, “YES!” Because God
loves me, and God has a hope that I’ll be able to accomplish renewal
and refreshing through the way that I – and you’re in this
equation too – God hopes that we’ll all accomplish what God would
like for and from us. 

	 Our behaviour, our interaction, our demeanour, our love for others
and for all of creation DOES matter. THAT’S 

	why Philip was there on that road, no matter how he got there. As
simply as I thought it might appear from the Gospel 

	verse, THIS is what it means to live in Christ. 

	 Nearly always, however, there’s a second side to the picture.
Sometimes we’re called to be Philip to all those on the road of
life; and sometimes we’re called to be those on the outside, willing
to ask for help to understand what’s going on and how to make the
best of our lives. 

	 We CAN be both people, called and placed by God so that others may
find us and reach out to us. 

	 God, as Jesus afformed, doesn’t leave us comfortless, no matter
which of the two roles we may be fulfilling. Nor does God leave us
without the ability to respond and to receive, in one way or another. 

	 This seemed to ring a bell with me when I read an article by Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks. 

	 “Have you ever felt inadequate to a task you have been assigned or
a job you have been given?” Rabbi Sacks wrote. It’s worth hearing
that first sentence again. “Have you ever felt inadequate to a task
you have been assigned or a job you have been given? Do you sometimes
feel that other people have too high an estimate of your abilities?
Has there been a moment when you felt like a faker, a fraud, and that
at some time you would be found out and discovered to be the weak,
fallible, imperfect human being you know in your heart you are?” 1 

	 Rabbi Jonathan wrote about an eleventh century French rabbi, Rashi,
and described the situation when Moses was completing the sanctuary
during the exodus. Everything was being set in place, including the
training and the blessing of the priests, Aaron being the chief
priest. 

	“For seven days Moses had consecrated Aaron and his sons to serve
as priests. Now the time had come for them to begin their service.
Moses gives them various instructions. Then he says the following
words to Aaron: 

	 “‘_Come near to the altar_ and offer your sin offering and your
burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people;
sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for
them, as the Lord has commanded.’ (Lev. 9:7)


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