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“Do to other as you would have them do to you.” – Luke 6:31 

This Sunday our theme is Serve Our Neighbor. Everywhere we look there are people in need. Turn on the news, and you’ll hear nothing but bad news: earthquakes, hurricanes, pandemics, war… it can be overwhelming. Where do you start? And how can you make a difference? 

Susan Gavle last week shared an old Zen parable with me that I think is a perfect image of serving our neighbor and a good starting point: 

Once upon a time, in a temple nestled in the misty end of south hill, lived a pair of monks. One old and one young. 

“What are the differences between Heaven and Hell?” the young monk asked the learned master one day. 

“There are no material differences,” replied the old monk peacefully. 

“None at all?” asked the confused young monk. 

“Yes. Both Heaven and Hell look the same. They all have a dining hall with a big hot pot in the center in which some delicious noodles are boiled, giving off an appetizing scent,” said our old priest. “The size of the pan and the number of people sitting around the pot are the same in these two places.” 

“But oddly, each diner is given a pair of meter-long chopsticks and must use them to eat the noodles. And to eat the noodles, one must hold the chopsticks properly at their ends, no cheating is allowed,” the Zen master went on to describe to our young monk. 

“In the case of Hell, people are always starved because no matter how hard they try, they fail to get the noodles into their mouths,” said the old priest. 

 “But doesn't the same happen to the people in Heaven?” the junior questioned. 

“No. They can eat because they each feed the person sitting opposite them at the table. You see, that is the difference between Heaven and Hell,” explained the old monk.  

Sometimes you have to start small. What has God put in front of you today? You might not be able to solve global problems, but you can make a difference, one brick at a time. Taking time to think about where you are spending your time, and where are you spending your money can be a start. Do these prioritizes reflect your faith in Christ? 

Come Lord Jesus, Lord we know you are always at our table but guide us and support us as we also pray, “come brothers and sisters (children, hungry, homeless) be our guests and let our ministries to you be blessed”.  We pray that we bless others with generosity as we have been blessed and pray....and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen (written by Susan Gavle)