4 Show me your ways, God, teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, God, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, God, are good.
8 Good and upright is God; therefore God instructs sinners in God’s ways.
9 God guides the humble in what is right and teaches them God’s way.
Have you ever been lost? Remember the superstitions we have? If you get lost, turn your shirt inside out.
Have you been with friends on a road trip and you can’t find your way? Some just want to keep on going, like they know the right way, while others are humble enough and willing to ask locals for directions. What kind of friend are you?
Remember the time when we didn’t have GPS and maps on our phones? We just relied on maps. Lots of maps! I am sure younger folks today cannot survive without their GPS and their phones.
Even in today’s world, some still rely on old-style instructions. Even old folks like me can’t work with that! I remember visiting a bishop in Cavite.
His instructions were simple: “Go up this highway and once you pass this store you will find two big twin narra trees. There’s a small street after that, turn right.” Wow. I got lost and finally had to call him.
Today’s Scripture invites us to humbly seek God’s instructions.
We might be confident that we already know a lot, but no one can really fully comprehend the divine, even if we do have sparks of divinity in our humanity.
Humility is the first step in not getting lost. Have you read Scripture lately? Have you prayed? I am sure many want to know how we get divine answers to our questions.
We want to know what God’s ways are but how? Friends, have you immersed in the life of your community to hear and see where God is leading you?
I believe that God is present in communities working for the betterment of all. God speaks even in the most mundane conversations we have and through everyday people, especially the poor and oppressed. I see the face of Jesus in their struggles. Are you watching and listening?
Another lesson here is appreciating that God’s plan is for the good of all. This is grace. Even when we are not perfect, or worthy, we are embraced by God’s love.
That’s very hard to comprehend when we see a lot of evil around us. But God is not a puppeteer that controls what we think or do and the consequences that come with it.
God is about justice and healing brokenness in our communities. This does not happen like magic. We are God’s instruments in justice-seeking and justice-making.
St. Augustine rightly says so: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
Have you been working for the good of those in need? A quote from Methodism’s founder John Wesley is apt here:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Let us humbly seek God’s instructions, listen to God’s beloved community, and seek God’s justice and goodness for all.
God’s beloved community, seeks God’s justice and goodness for all.
Gospel reflection of Rev. Izzy Alvaran, United Methodist Church for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Phil 2:1-11 Mt 21:28-32 Psalm 25: 4-9
Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR). The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action.
