The theme that ties all these lessons together today is faithfulness. It is good news to us to read that the Lord blesses the faithful, the beloved of the Lord.  Yet, as I reflect on these lessons, it seems the emphasis on faithfulness suggests that there is a big difference between faith and faithfulness.  We may have faith, but are we faithful?  Even Jesus is concerned that there might be times when there are too few faithful on this earth.  Faith is difficult to see, it is in our hearts, but faithfulness can be observed.  The faithful are active in their faith. They serve others, especially strangers. The faithful testify to their love of God before the Church. They delight in the commands of the Lord. They are generous, merciful, and just. They pray constantly. And most importantly, they support others who are faithful as co-workers in the truth. 

Well, that is a lot of work  Faithfulness has us in church every Sunday professing our faith in the company of others.  It has us serving on the committees in the church that serve others.  It has us giving generously to support the work of the Lord through others.  Faithfulness has us studying the word of God. It has us doing a lot of praying. It has us working toward justice on this earth. And faithfulness has us standing by each other supporting each other in our faith journeys.  All of this is just a lot of work for those who are not called through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  They have not yet learned that for the faithful, it is a privilege and a joy for our faithfulness to be a light that shines through the darkness.  I pray today that we will all experience our faithfulness as blessedness and that we will all be a light in the darkness for someone.