Reflection For October 18

The beginning of the Worship Service prepared us for the sermon. The Call to Worship said, “Let every living, breathing creature praise God.” The Prayer for Confession asked God to forgive us for the times we sinned in our thoughts, words, actions, and inactions. The Prayer for Illumination was “seeking fresh understanding and guidance to act according to God’s will after hearing the parables”. Then the sermon centered on covetousness which is an excessive desire for possessions, status, or things belonging to others. The desire is presented as a form of idolatry since it places worldly interest and self-interest above God. The teaching of Jesus emphasizes that the worth and value of life does not come from the abundance of what a person owns, since everything a person has is a gift from God. The parable of the Rich Fool was about a man who lived a life centered on himself. The focus should be on eternal life with God as our true treasure. Modern society, driven by social media and marketing, promotes the belief that more 'stuff' leads to happiness, which is why we compare ourselves to others and keep accumulating things. It was fascinating to see the graph that showed the increase in the need for storage units, which highlighted that we have an overabundance of stuff. (One in ten Americans rents a storage unit.) Jesus says don’t let these things have power over you. The message stressed that our focus should be on eternal life with God as our true treasure. The final call was a powerful reminder: we are called to be a blessing to others by using our gifts generously. This was beautifully illustrated with the Rope example—representing the vastness of our existence, making our earthly life a very short part. By giving little attention to our eternal life, we allow temporary possessions to have too much power over us. We need to seek fresh understanding and guidance from God about how to move forward. Reflections from Deborah Kelly. Share your reflections with deborah@rbcommunity.org and let me know your thoughts.