Be Disciples Today, Not Tomorrow

The Gospel for today’s Eucharist is taken from the Gospel according to Luke, who writes:

Jesus said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Lk. 14: 12-14).

Last night, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, reminded the Anglican Communion of the theme expressed in today’s Gospel.  He said that God expects us to be disciples today, not tomorrow.  Archbishop Rowan Williams was addressing the dissention within the Anglican Communion.  He stressed that he believed Anglicans have a message to give the Christian world about how they can be “both catholic and orthodox and consensual, working in freedom, mutual respect and mutual restraint, without jeopardizing the important local autonomy of our churches.”  Addressing the question of authority, Archbishop Williams said: “When people say of Jesus he speaks with authority, I don’t think they mean he’s just a good problem-solver; those words occur when Jesus has performed spectacular acts of liberation. The authority in question is an authority to act and an authority to make a difference, an authority that enables and empowers.”

Archbishop Williams said: “When we stand before the throne of God, it will be a very poor answer if when God says ‘Why did you not preach the gospel and serve the poor?’ we say, ‘We had too many internal problems to resolve, we couldn’t quite decide who had the authority to pronounce things.’ God expects us to be disciples today, not the day after tomorrow.”

So let us be disciples today.  Let us “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” as Jesus asks us to do in today’s Gospel.  Let us reach out to those in need and proclaim the Good News of Christ putting into action spectacular acts of liberation in the name of Him who set us all free by His cross an resurrection.

Let us pray:  O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look  favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred  mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry  out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world  see and know that things which were being cast down are being  raised up, and things which had grown old are being made  new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection  by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus  Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity  of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

Saturday, 10 November, we will have a second work day at the Community Garden.  Following on Karen Lehr’s report to everyone in Church on Sunday, we have an opportunity to reach out to work with the Scott School in our Community Garden.  Please keep this opportunity in your prayers.

Thanksgiving in nearly upon us.  We will donate turkeys to the St. Vincent’s House Thanksgiving Dinner.  Please remember St. Vincent’s House and bring a food donation for the food pantry and place it in the St. Vincent’s basket in the narthex of the Church.

We will have a pot luck lunch for our Thanksgiving celebration at St. Augustine’s this year.

Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially Rosalind Crockett who is looking for a place to live, and all of those who are recovering after Sandy.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550