Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet." Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2: 5-9)
On Sunday we held our first Adult Forum of the year. The topic was hospitality. We used the book of Hebrews as our guide. Hebrews is a letter of encouragement to early Christians who had become discouraged in their faith, and were beginning to fall away. The author of Hebrews reminded these early Christians, and he reminds us, that God knows our frustrations and our sufferings because of Jesus, who stepped into the world and experienced what it was like to be you and me. Hebrews teaches us that Jesus truly understands our weakness and that he truly cares. As disciples, we are called to to the same to those around us. That's what hospitality looks like.
During our discussion, someone asked about the confusing sentence from the bible passage above. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control.
Why, we pondered, does he use this word: control? Personally, I spend a lot of time working on the reality that God is in control and I am not. I find over and over that this applies not only to my personal life but to the world around me. The whole world. We try to make things happen the way we want them to go, and then BAM! something happens that reminds us that no matter what we do, how hard we work at whatever we are working at, how smart or thrifty or efficient we are, things will inevitably take an unexpected turn. And we're reminded that we are not in control. God is, and we do not know the mind of God.
What if, we asked, we thought of the word control in this passage as responsibility? God subjected all things to us, and left nothing outside of our responsibility. God left this world to us for our purposes. We live here and it is indeed under our control, that is, our responsibility. We are the ones who are charged to care for it, keep it clean, maintain peace, feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We are the only ones.
It's something for us to ponder. Have a great week.
Pastor Carrie
On Sunday we held our first Adult Forum of the year. The topic was hospitality. We used the book of Hebrews as our guide. Hebrews is a letter of encouragement to early Christians who had become discouraged in their faith, and were beginning to fall away. The author of Hebrews reminded these early Christians, and he reminds us, that God knows our frustrations and our sufferings because of Jesus, who stepped into the world and experienced what it was like to be you and me. Hebrews teaches us that Jesus truly understands our weakness and that he truly cares. As disciples, we are called to to the same to those around us. That's what hospitality looks like.
During our discussion, someone asked about the confusing sentence from the bible passage above. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control.
Why, we pondered, does he use this word: control? Personally, I spend a lot of time working on the reality that God is in control and I am not. I find over and over that this applies not only to my personal life but to the world around me. The whole world. We try to make things happen the way we want them to go, and then BAM! something happens that reminds us that no matter what we do, how hard we work at whatever we are working at, how smart or thrifty or efficient we are, things will inevitably take an unexpected turn. And we're reminded that we are not in control. God is, and we do not know the mind of God.
What if, we asked, we thought of the word control in this passage as responsibility? God subjected all things to us, and left nothing outside of our responsibility. God left this world to us for our purposes. We live here and it is indeed under our control, that is, our responsibility. We are the ones who are charged to care for it, keep it clean, maintain peace, feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We are the only ones.
It's something for us to ponder. Have a great week.
Pastor Carrie