Scripture Readings: Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14: 1-12
“Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these,” says Jesus in today’s Gospel Reading.
40 Years ago there was a group of university students who decided to find every verse in the Bible that spoke of the works that God called us to do.
It turned out to their great surprise that they all related to issues of: justice, care of the poor, the abandoned, and the neglected. That amounted to over 2,000 texts.
The works that I do, the works that we do, are meant to be the very ones Jesus did: healing the sick, washing the feet of others, feeding the multitudes, and throwing arms of forgiveness around prodigal sons and daughters.
Robert F. Kennedy once wrote:
“Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope.”
You and I are not Jesus and will probably not heal sick people as Jesus did, but we can certainly be attentive to them.
You and I are not Jesus and are probably not going to raise anyone from the dead, but we can grieve with those who have lost a loved one.
You and I are probably not going to solve the problems of the day, like human trafficking, the rise in heroin addiction, or income inequity, to name just three issues of the day… BUT… what we can do is to act with courage to become a tiny ripple of hope, that joined with others, can become again as Robert F. Kennedy shared, “a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
We believe, as least I hope we do, that we belong to God. We are his presence in the world in which we live. We are his face, his voice, his hands, his feet, his heart.
And how do we do this? By doing the very works that Jesus does.
And how do we know what these works should be?
Ask yourself this question, “What in the world today most breaks your heart, most offends your sense of justice, most inspires passion within you?” DO THAT!