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?
What if we, who make up the Bodymind of Christ, start identifying with Jesus in these stories. Instead of waiting for magical healing or magical insights, what if we sought to be the healers – less literally and more actually.
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.
What if we’ve been going about being Christian all wrong, or at least partially incorrect? What if it isn’t about personal salvation at all? What if it’s really about acts of healing (hesed in Hebrew) and acts of mercy (eleos in Greek)?
The first time I went to the Arizona desert was a little over ten years ago. My mother had moved from Cape Cod to Arizona when she retired a year or so before my first visit. I went out there because I had just left my marriage and felt like I had lost everything. My … 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
With the news of Jordan Edwards’ death echoing the deaths of so many others, I find myself asking where all the fear and hatred has come from. It is not hard to answer this question from a sociological perspective or a historical one. I could even make a stab at a psychological explanation. What I … Read More
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. These few words from Psalm 51 could be a daily prayer for most of us, even multiple times a day. Truth and honesty abide here. I read these and these words follow: Have mercy on … Read More
Orlando Istanbul Dhaka Bagdhad Baton Rouge Falcon Heights Bullets, bombs, and hatred violate the sanctity of life every day because people hate each other. What can I say as I stand at a homicide scene in today’s early morning on a Minneapolis street bearing witness to the pain of a sister, a wife, a daughter? … Read More
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. I don’t know about you, but I am appalled by the news of churches burning in St. Louis. Six black churches in a week and mainstream media has barely picked up the story! Why is it that when an oppressed people cries for justice … Read More