“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” (James 1:22)
We need to hear the word. My Dad liked to say, “God gave us two ears and one mouth and most of us haven’t taken the hint.”
And yet, we are more than ears! We are hands and feet and mouth; we are heart and soul and mind. God calls us to walk in love, to pray constantly, to speak the truth in love, to offer a healing touch…to love the Lord our God with all our being and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
In the early 1980s, I was part of a church-sponsored study tour to Mexico. We saw vividly the pervasiveness of poverty and hunger. At the end of our journey, someone in the group asked one of the Mexican leaders, “The needs are so great. What can we do?”
She responded, “Thank you for coming. We value your support. Go home and work with your own poor people.”
Think globally, act locally, do something.
This message is adapted from a stewardship devotion written by John L. Halvorson for Women of the ELCA in 2001.