No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,
God lives in us and his love is made complete in us
1 John 4:12

I recently read the results of a national survey reporting the number of people in our country who did not believe in God has risen 10% since the last time the survey was taken. I wonder why?

Jesus says,

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)

The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson writes,

"I can't believe it, but there are people living today who don't believe that wind moves the trees. Rather, they think that the moving trees create the wind. They have difficulty in believing that the invisible can affect the visible. You can't see the wind, but when the wind moves the leaves of the tree, you know the wind is there. So it is with people who have the invisible Spirit of God living within them. When that spirit moves them into Christ like action, we know that God is there."

Perhaps the people who don't believe in God don't realize it is God who moves people -- perhaps even themselves -- to respond to social-ministry needs. God, the invisible spirit, moves people to action.

I look, and find, God in social ministry efforts. I would like to share with you one example. You will find that it is so true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Please take the time to Watch This Short Video (Sorry, this video is no longer available for viewing).

The video is a pictorial review of one of the monthly efforts of the church in which we worship during our "snow-birding-time' in Florida. The first Saturday of each month finds The Community Church of Miami serving the homeless of south Miami Beach, where the church is located. They ministered to 270 homeless people the first Saturday in February of this year, the day the video was made.

Did you note the haircuts and toenail clippings? When seeing that kindness, I could hear words taken from one my favorite hymns, They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love, written by Peter Scholtes:
    "And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride.
    And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love...."

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Mathew 5:8) Create in me a pure heart, O God (Psalm 51:10) so that the invisible Spirit that lives within me, the spirit of God that moves me to perform social-ministry acts, will demonstrate to others that there is indeed a God. Amen.

(When you click on the video link, you will see a blank, mostly black screen. Click on the Play button, in the center of the screen. Depending upon your computer system, it may take several seconds before the Play button appears and then several more seconds before the video starts.)

Contributed by Nancy
unday May 3, 2009
Liturgical Year B Week 23
Sunday Gospel Readings:
Fourth Sunday of Easter