By Judith Guthrie
If we’re being completely honest, there are days we float through feeling like we are the least of these. Often, it’s easier to throw a pity party and envision ourselves as the figurative hungry with no food or the stranger with no welcome than it is to open our eyes and try to identify the least of these around us. (At least that’s how teenagers work. If that changes in adulthood, feel free to let me know!) We go around trying to offload blame onto others and questioning why we’re not being graciously received by sheep, as today’s Scripture describes, when we feel unwelcome somewhere.
When I feel like this, the place that reminds me of who I am without fail is Wilshire Student Ministry … I bet you saw that coming. When I need to be grounded, I head to the basement. When I’m with WSM, I’m reminded that no, I am not a stranger, and yes, I am always welcome with the youth. I am amongst the righteous sheep, as today’s Scripture describes, and I can refocus my energy away from myself and toward the world around me, which is what God is actually calling us to do.
That refocusing happens in two big ways with WSM: on an individual scale, weekly, and on a group level, annually. In any given week, we go to Sunday School and Watershed to remind ourselves of our community and learn about what the Bible asks of us, just like the rest of the congregation.
But the youth get a unique opportunity to do something with what we learn during the school year, which comes in the form of Choir Tour. Our week of ministry and service puts all the concepts of the school year to the test. We’re surrounded by our familiar community and called to serve new ones, asking us to transform the concepts we talk about throughout the year into meaningful, faith-guided action. And from there, we’re tasked with taking our “Choir Tour High” with us throughout the rest of the year.
I like to see today as a sort of midyear check-in on the work we do in the basement. We’re a little over half a year away from the best week of the year, and today is a reminder of the importance of holding onto the spirit of Choir Tour for the months leading up to it. I hope today’s music and Scripture calls you to examine some of the topics WSM has been working on, and that we as a congregation can strive to seek out how God is calling us to act on that work.