Readings:
Genesis 45: 3-11, 15; Psalm 37: 1-11, 39-40
1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50; Luke 6: 27-38

Collect:
O Lord, you have taught us that without love
whatever we do is worth nothing:
Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift,
which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue,
without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you.
Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Reflection:
2025 seems to have dawned a new age, the age of the deal and it doesn’t feel a very comfortable one to be living through.  We have powerful men making decisions that affect the whole world, making decisions that impact billions of people who seem to have lost their voice and have no say in what the future holds for them.  Some of those men feel they have been appointed by God to bring about this new world order and are being encouraged in this thought by those who preach a gospel of prosperity where those who have will be given more and those that have little will have that taken away from them.  It all seems a long way from the God whom I believe in and the generous God we see emerging in our readings today.  Although, I am sure, that those who preach the gospel of prosperity would strongly disagree, just as they vehemently disagreed with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde when she was brave enough to speak truth to power.

To me, this age of the deal is extremely exploitative with people doing everything they can to get the most they can for themselves, and it doesn’t matter what the consequences are for anyone else.  It’s an attitude of ‘I’m all right Jack!’  We see it in global and national politics, in our communities, and in the church.  The whole safeguarding scandal rocking the Church of England at the moment can be linked to this attitude with the institution trying to look after its own self-interest and is failing to hold dear the central tenant of the Gospel – that of love.  

The readings today challenge us to not only do the easiest bits of love but to be completely generous in the way we love.  We hear Jesus in Luke teaching the people about what it means to live by the values of the kingdom.  He is teaching us to take our eyes off ourselves and to look at the people around us, to become more aware of the needs of others,  both those we like and those with whom we may have a more strained relationship with.  In other words we are being called to reflect the generosity of God in the way we treat those around us.  A generosity which God shows to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  When Christ died on the cross, he took with him the sins of all people.  This ultimate act of love wasn’t just for the people he liked but was for all.  That’s why we are called to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who ill-treat us.  This isn’t at all easy, but we ask God to give us the courage and strength to help us to love generously. 

This selfless generous love is the heart of the Gospel.  It’s an extreme love for all that means we as Christians are meant to live differently, to live generously.  This generous love causes us to stand up to those who act selfishly, who look after their own interests and exploit those who are powerless.  We are called to make the world a better place for all by showing those in power that there is a better way of being.  A way where all are valued as children of God.  Living this life of generous love isn’t easy, as the story of Joseph shows us.  Joseph showed his generous love to his brothers by forgiving them for all the hardship they had brought into his life by the way they had treated him.  No one ever said that the way of Christ was the easy option, it is the road less travelled but is the road that we’re all called to walk along.  If we are serious about our relationship with God, then we have an obligation to live lives of generous love.  

May we have the courage to love generously, to speak truth to power and challenge unjust systems.  

Generous God,
Thank you for loving me and placing your love in my heart.
May I have the courage to be especially generous with that love, without exceptions,
each and every day. Amen.

Revd Mike Morris