Knowing God, Knowing Ourselves
Matthew 25
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
We spoke about the identity of Jesus and our identity in Jesus this past week. We see Jesus as the Messiah, the one who comes to the world to restore shalom, proper order to all things. We see that we continue his mission as he places his name on us. We follow Christ, we carry his name as Christian, we live into his mission to bring grace and restoration to the world.
The parable of the sheep and the goats shows that identity. Restoring order in the world by caring for others in times of need. There are many ways we can see how we, and others from our congregation, live out this part of the mission of God in the world. We have compassion for others around us. We have compassion because we know who we are in Christ, as followers of Christ. It brings us to having compassion for others.
When we know who we are we can live out of who we are. It brings us to a better knowledge of the God who created us. And as we know God better, we find we will also know ourselves better. And the circle of growth continues. Each piece building the other part. Knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves. The two go hand in hand and each piece of knowledge builds up the other.
There are spiritual practices that help us to know ourselves and to know God better.
One is the Prayer of Examen.
- Become aware of God’s presence.
- Review the events of the day with gratitude.
- Take notice of the emotions that arise from that review.
- Choose one event from the day and pray from that event.
- Look forward to tomorrow with hope and optimism.
Another practice is Self-Compassion. Looking at how we would respond to another in the circumstances we sit in. How would we treat them? Likely with the compassion we see in the Sheep and the Goats. Learning to have the same compassion for ourselves that we have for others. Which is the compassion God has for us, but not in the depth with God has compassion on us.