The Holy Trinity, the 1st Sunday after Pentecost:
Scriptures: Proverbs 8:22-31; John 16:12-15
Key Verse: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:13a)
When was the last time you said you wanted to be a part of something? And why? The first church I attended in the States was a non-denominational church that my roommate and her family attended. The parking lot was huge. I saw at least a hundred people walking into the building and greeting each other joyfully with friendly smiles. While my roommate and her mom were introducing me to their friends on our way to the worship space, someone asked me if I had my Bible with me. I smiled and shook my head. An usher overheard us and told me to wait for him. In less than a minute, he came to me with a new Bible in his hand and said, “A gift from us to you! I love this translation. It’s easier to understand.” “Aww, thank you,” I said gratefully with a big smile. That was my first English Bible.
The moment we entered the worship space, I saw several people onstage, rehearsing their singing and dancing. I enjoyed everything I saw and experienced. I don’t remember what songs they sang or what the message was about that morning. All I remember was that I burst out crying in the middle of worship. I was overwhelmed with joy. My roommate, her mom, and their friends quickly passed tissue paper to me, hugged me and comforted me. After a month or so, my friend's grandma got sick. Since her mom had to take care of her grandma, we didn’t have a ride to church.
Then my husband, who was my classmate in my ESL class at the time, learned that I couldn’t go to church. So, he invited me to a Lutheran Church within walking distance from my dormitory. That was how I ended up being a Lutheran. I was welcomed by the pastor and church members. People took time to build relationships with me, getting to know me as I was getting to know them. There was a couple who always made sure that I wasn’t sitting alone at any gathering. They took time to explain why and what they were doing, their ministries, their traditions and cultures. I felt blessed. I call this process of relationship building as a labor of love.
Not all Christian communities that I have been part of are welcoming or know how to build relationships with newcomers, especially people from different ethnic backgrounds. Some treated others as less by discriminating them, victimizing them, or even pitying them; nonetheless, I give thanks to God for seeing labors of love from an individual and a small group of people who lived out the kind of love that made me want to be part of it. It was contagious. And I wanted to join the labor of their love that healing and hope are proclaimed, witnessed, and experienced.
We have entered the longest season of the church calendar called the Season after Pentecost. It is a season that plants and harvests fruits of the Spirit through labors of love as we join the labor of our Triune God’s love. Our Triune God, the Father, envisions and creates the majestic saving plan; our Triune God, Jesus Christ, the Son, demonstrates and implements the saving plan; our Triune God, the Holy Spirit, guides and assists our faith journey until the fulfillment of God’s kingdom.
May each of us feel as blessed as the author of Proverbs who wrote the passage in 8:30-31, “Then I was beside him, like a master worker, and I was daily his delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” Amen.
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