for the least of these
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who loves us and calls us to love others.
By now you’ve heard that First Pres has joined with the Matthew 25 coalition of Presbyterian churches. We’re entering a season of commitment to explore ways that we can live into the words of the King in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
There’s a reason this parable is so important to us. It teaches us, in story form, that God sees our love for others as a measurement of how much we love God. That’s tough to hear. I don’t love everyone I see—I don’t even love everyone I know most of the time. But this parable is meant to be an encouragement—it’s meant to be an inspiration and a challenge to see the image of God in every person we see. It’s an invitation to living according the values of the Kingdom of God.
The three emphases of the Matthew 25 Project remind us to take care of each other in our churches, but also to have eyes for the suffering of others, and to do something about it. We’re looking forward to growing into that challenge over the next year. You can read more about it here.
In the meantime, we’re moving into the season of making choices about the ministries we plan to accomplish together. That’s really the heart of what we call
The Stewardship Season—it’s a time when we prayerfully consider what God is doing in our congregation, and in our community through our congregation, and commit to supporting it with our finances, our time, and our prayers.
Over the next few months we’ll be engaging in a little Show and Tell. We’ll highlight ministries of the church, invite people who have been blessed by them to tell some of their stories, and ask you to pledge your support so that we can continue and grow our work together.
I’m looking forward to this part of the year!
For now, though, let me invite you to read the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25 a few times for yourself. Allow it to inspire and challenge you, and never to shame you. It’s meant to call us out of our complacency and into humble action. Let it do that for you.
May God bless you and keep you,
Pastor John