Acting Faithfully

Dear friend, you act faithfully in whatever you do for our brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers. 3 John, verse 5

During the recent global pandemic, I read about a village in England that was hit by the Black Death - the Bubonic Plague - in the 1300s. Some places in Europe had over 60% of their population die as waves of plague crossed the land during this time.

This one village saw someone get sick, and they had a meeting. They didn't want to be the village that passed the plague on to someone else in another village. So they went to a big rock outside town, and carved two holes in the rock. When they needed to trade for supplies, they would go out and put their products or money in one hole, and the visiting traders would put their supplies or money in the other hole. This way they could trade and communicate without close contact spreading the plague to more people.

I thought this was a great story of people who stayed in their village to take care of each other, but also cared for strangers in other places by finding a way to trade without close contact. In our reading for today, the writer of 3 John celebrates that other believers are living in such a way that others can see their faithfulness, even strangers.

Another part of the John letters reminds us that people will know we are followers of Jesus because of our love for others, even strangers. Sticking around and taking care of the people around us is an act of faithfulness.

What choices do we make each day that show our faithfulness to God and God's creation? Do we pick up trash on the ground? Do we smile at cashiers and people at stores? Do we track local news so we can participate in community events and volunteer to help others? Do we give time and money to strangers?

I don't know what the people who got this letter were doing that was faithful, but Jesus made it clear what a faithful life looks like: feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, visiting the lonely, healing the sick. Jesus said that when we do this for the least of our neighbors, we are doing it for Jesus.

As part of our next worship series that starts on November 23, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Story, we will consider the innkeeper in Bethlehem who didn't have room for Mary and Joseph, but made sure they found a safe space to sleep and welcome the baby Jesus. Let's take our feelings of gratitude and generosity during the holidays and collect money to help our local housing program provide safe housing for families this holiday season. Over the next two months we will be collecting funds for the Ecumenical Partnership for Housing to upgrade the flooring in their houses for families moving out of shelters into stable homes. Please consider giving to this project that will help neighbors, even if they are strangers, find warmth and safety

in a new home.

Let's keep showing the world that Christians live faithfully through acts of service to those around us, even strangers. Amen.

Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter

November 18, 2025