Ordinary Time

Pause

Pour your Spirit upon us, O Lord,

We are your sons and daughters.

Animate us with your gifts

To serve your people.

Listen

Two men had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the second named Medad, and the spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they hadn’t gone out to the tent, so they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

Numbers 11:26-27

Think

What if we viewed asking others for help as an opportunity to invite them into God’s mission? Think what it must have felt like to be Eldad and Medad. These men got so caught up in God’s Spirit, that they didn’t go out with the others to the tent of meeting. They stayed with God’s people and shared what they had experienced of God. How extraordinary to encounter God so intimately! And how wonderful to have the opportunity to share that experience with others.

If Moses had not asked for their help, Eldad and Medad may never have been able to meet God in that way. Nor might they have built the relationships they did with those who heard their stories in the camp. When we ask for help, we are not just admitting that we can’t do it all, that our way isn’t the only way to serve God; we are also making space for other people to have experiences they wouldn’t otherwise. What a gift!

Jordan Haynie Ware

Pray

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

Go

Breathe upon us, breath of God,

young and old alike.

Send us forth, gifted with your power,

To serve your people.