The Challenge of Love: A Sermon on Luke 6:27-38 for Epiphany 7C
How do we as followers of Jesus reclaim this command to love our enemies and treat others as we wish to be treated?
How do we as followers of Jesus reclaim this command to love our enemies and treat others as we wish to be treated?
The choice remains ours. Do we seek to be the body and blood of Christ or do continue to pretend we don’t know why our congregations are getting smaller and smaller? Jesus went where the vulnerable people were. We expend so much effort to keep our buildings and our worship exactly as they have been in the memory of our oldest members. What has this got to do with being bread for the hungry and forgiveness for the broken?
I’ve been on vacation for the last few days. These days this means time at home to relax, to watch TV, to read, to be creative, and to think. I haven’t even been able to really enjoy the approach of spring because I am still healing from a stress fracture in my shin.
Okay. I’m just going to say it: I like Paul. The older I get, the more I appreciate Paul for his passion, conviction, and unapologetic humanity. What the church has done with what he wrote and what has been (falsely) attributed to him, isn’t his fault. The man had some serious endurance. Prison, floggings, shipwrecks, … Read More
Holy and merciful God, we would raise our voices with the Psalmist to sing your praises. We long to rejoice in you and tell of all the wonderful works you have done. We want to trust in you like Moses and Miriam, Peter and Mary, Paul and Lydia, yet we are distracted by the troubles … Read More
I was raised by a racist who would likely have sided with the Nazis, White Supremacists, and White Nationalists in recent events. She would have done so without thinking about the potential consequences to me, her bisexual daughter. She would have done so without thinking about her Jewish friends or knowledge of the fact that … Read More
One: Holy God, you ask so little of us. You shower us with grace upon grace, flooding our hearts with love and forgiveness, and still we fail to notice you. We keep insisting that you come to us on our terms to comfort us and heal us. We want spectacular evidence of your love while … Read More
Centuries have passed since Hosea was preaching to the people of Israel. However, the words could be applied to the people of God today. We who are so lost that we hardly hear the words of love God speaks to us daily could easily be the children of Hosea. The children whose names were an … Read More
It’s just after Super Tuesday and I’m having trouble reconciling the atmosphere of this election cycle with the messages of this week’s text. The common themes in the RCL this week are repentance, forgiveness, and restoration. When religion, Christianity in particular, has been used (or abused) to further the agenda of presidential candidates, then it’s … Read More
God sets a table overflowing with grace and invites all who hunger and thirst to come and eat and be satisfied. Yet, we claim the table for ourselves alone and then fail to sit still and drink deeply. With generosity and steadfast love God provides bread enough for the journey and longs to satisfy our … Read More