A Reading
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2: 10)
A Thought
This week we ventured back to the cinema for the first time since Covid lockdown and streaming services interrupted our entertainment habits.
We watched The Courier, a true story set within the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. It told of a Soviet officer (Oleg Penkovsky) who became convinced that Khrushchev posed a substantial risk of global nuclear war, and of a British businessman (Greville Wynne) recruited by MI-6 and the CIA as an operative to collect intelligence from Penkovsky. The intelligence was crucial to awakening the Americans to the Soviet threat on their doorstep in Cuba, and subsequently forcing a Soviet backdown.
Aware of the risks they were taking, Penkovsky said to Wynne: ‘Maybe we’re only two people, but this is how things change’.
There are many unpleasant situations in the world that we are unable to remedy or solve. But if we as individuals stand away and do nothing at all, these situations will inevitably be worse.
As believers in and beneficiaries from Jesus Christ, we especially are expected to act for the good of others. God desires us to live a righteous life, not merely to listen to the Word that brings freedom, but to do what it says.
So where there are small actions that we can take to give help or hope to others, we should take them.
Wynne was incarcerated in a harsh Russian prison for 2 years. Penkovsky was shot.
A hymn (MP 857)
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord.
Is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord,
if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.
Amen