(Note: I seem to have gotten my weeks mixed up and referred to this week's passages last week. I apologize for the confusion.)
Paul reports on the response he received from the leaders of the church on his first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion. “They asked only one thing,” he says by way of summation, “that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).
Life is filled with things to remember: doctors appointments, bills to pay, soccer practice, pills to take, committee meetings, milk and eggs, oil changes, bank deposits, letting the cat out, and so forth. How often do we add remembering the poor to that list? And does thinking about those in need really rank as the one thing we should do?
From the very beginning of the church regard for others has been a high priority. The apostles constantly saw to the needs of others, healing those who were infirm and providing what they could. Stephen and the other deacons were selected specifically to wait tables (though they soon branched out significantly). Collecting money for believers in Jerusalem was an ongoing task of Paul’s. Frankly the church is closest to Christ’s ministry when its members look beyond their own needs, their own circumstances, and seek to help others. Look at our verse for today. The elders in Jerusalem challenge Paul to be mindful of the needs of others, but Paul was already eager to do so. There were controversies swirling around at the time, but this was not one of them. Maybe if we were to make remembering the poor “the one thing” in our lives we’d find ourselves more readily in agreement with one another.
Maybe it would give us common ground and draw us together. Maybe it would heal our divisions and our self-inflicted wounds. Maybe, just maybe it would save us from our own destructive tendencies. I think it’s worth a shot.
Payer: Lord help us to be mindful of those in need and to do what we can to help others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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