Barry Parish Church

29th November 2022

Daily Reading: 29 November

 

(from www.christianaid.org.uk)

 

Put your faith into action

Something to read

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

- James 2: 24-26.

Something to think about

If Abraham is a strange example of faith and works, Rahab is even more so. The story in the Book of Joshua is quite clear: Rahab was a prostitute, a woman of ill repute, marginalised by her profession, her social status and her gender.

But this unlikely woman is held up as one of the great heroines of faith. She is not an insider to Jewish religion – in the original story, she has only heard of the works of the God of Israel. And yet she plays a crucial part in helping to deliver the story of God, sheltering representatives of the people of Israel from the oncoming Canaanite army.

Christian Aid’s work is rooted in our Christian faith. Sometimes we attract criticism for working with groups of people who seem to contradict this. But we know through our work with partners that it is sometimes through the most excluded and marginalised people that the story of God can be enabled to unfold today.

Sometimes it is through unlikely channels that we can most effectively put our faith into action.

Something to do

Where are you surprised to see God’s story unfolding today? Do you have to confront any prejudices to recognise this?

 

Something to pray

God of the ages, give us the breadth of mind and spirit to recognise holiness in the most unlikely areas of ourselves and the most marginalised parts of the world. Amen.

Today's contributor is Reverend Kate Tuckett, former Church Resources Manager for Christian Aid, now the vicar of St Alban North Harrow, Diocese of London at the time of writing.

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