Shepherd of Hermas

January 17, 2019

DAILY READING

Acts 8:18-24
This weekend’s reading: Revelation 2:8-11

FIELD NOTES
I pray that you will be inspired, challenged and given hope by the stories and words of faithful Christians I share throughout the week.  These Christians were ordinary humans just like you and me, loved and cherished by Christ and confronted by everyday real challenges to living faithful lives.
 
What does it mean to “have your heart right before God”?  Hear these words from the Shepherd of Hermas, whose second-century writings were cherished by the early Christians:
 
 “You know that you who are God’s servants are living in a foreign country, for your own city-state is far away from this City-state.  Knowing, then, which one is to be your own City-state, why do you acquire fields, costly furnishings, buildings, and frail dwellings here?  Instead of fields, buy for yourselves people in distress in accordance with your means.  It is far, far better to buy this kind of field, property, or building, which is quite different and which you can find again in your own City when you come home.  This ‘extravagance’ is beautiful and holy; it brings no grief and no fear; it brings nothing but joy.”

QUESTIONS FROM THE FIELD

• How do the words of the Shepherd of Hermas challenge you?
• How do the words of the Shepherd of Hermas inspire you?

PRAYER

Lord, apart from you our fragile lives would crumble into ruins.  Sustain us by your mighty power, and help us rebuild our lives among those who have no home to call their own- the poor of heart and pocket, the homeless, the hungry, the unattended sick, and the imprisoned. Amen.
 
(In part from “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals”)