Prayer: Lord, help me to live humbly with others.
Reading: Romans 12:1-8 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: I often use a line in this passage. “Somebody is thinking more highly of himself (or herself) than he ought!” (And when I say that, I am probably thinking more highly of myself than I ought.) St. Paul connects the ideas of community and discerning the will of God. As I read the passage, the humble, sober individual contribution to the whole community seems to be “what is good and acceptable and perfect.” And if we think of ourselves as being better than others in the community, how can we receive the other’s gift? If we think that it is my way or the highway, we lose all the contributions of others in the whole community. But we can take it a step further, I think. St. Paul urges us to present ourselves as holy. I recall from time to time Kenneth H. Blanchard’s quote, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” (One Minute Manager.) In this passage, I think the quote could read, “None of us is as holy as all of us?” What do you think? One, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. --Jim Bricker
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