Love is an action verb
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O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. - this Sunday’s collect
As Paul opens his letter to the Galatians, he prays for them, asking not only that they “be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” but also that they will live their lives in a way that bears good fruit. In other words - may they both know and do.
And the very well known parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates the same idea. Although the priest and the Levite clearly knew about God’s commandment to love our neighbors, it was only the Samaritan who actually lived out that commandment in deed and action.
Hypocrisy has been around as long as people have. Jesus used the word hypocrite in the gospels many times. And face it, we’re all prone to hypocrisy all the time, whether that means saying one thing and doing another, or saying one thing and then not following through on doing that thing at all. But even though we human beings are prone to practice hypocrisy (whether we intend to or not,) God calls us to practice putting our faith into action.
Brother Todd Blackham from SSJE wrote this week, “There may be any number of ways that you are being called to act courageously in witness to Christ right now – whether you are being called to a new form of service, or a tangible response to injustice, or a particular way of stewarding God’s resources. You may have readiness and momentum, but at some point, you will have to make an act of faith in an outward direction.”
God, grant that we may know and understand what things we ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them.
