Tuesday, August 16, Romans 15:22 - 33

Here’s another non-sequitor, reframing the letter as preparing for a trip to Spain with a visit to Rome en route. ‘Itineracy’ is the term for a vocation that keeps moving from place to place. Our Methodist forebears moved each 2 years as itinerants, Presbyterians stayed ‘called and settled’ in one place indefinitely. Which is better for the clergy – and which for the congregation?

The other narrative here is of financial support by one congregation for another, from Macedonia and Asia Minor for Jerusalem. What do strong and affluent congregations owe the sisters and brothers in weaker and poorer communities? There are risks in delivering the aid – what are the risks of declining to provide or deliver it this directly? It’s an old set of aid issues!