Give Me Your Hand: Cultivating a Catholic Spirit

Devotional

Day 1: Chariot Invitation: When Opponents Become Allies

When ideological enemies meet on dusty roads, radical hospitality begins not with debate but open hands. Jehu and Jehonadab model a disruptive unity that transcends tribal loyalties. Their chariot becomes holy ground where differences remain yet partnership thrives. This ancient story mirrors Jesus’ call to break bread with those we distrust. True connection starts by asking “Is your heart oriented toward love?” not demanding uniformity. Unity isn’t sameness—it’s shared motion toward God’s justice. [55:01]

“When Jehu came out to meet him, he said, ‘Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?’ ‘I am,’ Jehonadab answered. Jehu said, ‘If so, give me your hand.’ So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.” (2 Kings 10:15, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life feels like an ideological “opponent” yet shares your heart for justice? What would it look like to invite them into your “chariot” this week?

Day 2: Roots Deep, Branches Wide: The Paradox of Conviction

A tree survives storms through hidden roots and sheltering branches. Wesley’s “Catholic spirit” demands both unwavering conviction and radical openness. Being rooted in Christ means loving your theological soil without demanding others abandon theirs. This tension births communities where diverse voices grow together under God’s expansive sky. True faith digs deep while stretching wide—offering shade to all who seek light. [01:11:11]

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height... The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you prioritized “sameness” over shared purpose? How can your convictions become shelter rather than walls?

Day 3: Provoking Love: Disturbing Complacency Gently

Love sometimes wears work gloves. Wesley’s call to “provoke” isn’t about irritation but awakening dormant grace. Like friends who nudge us from hiding places, spiritual companions disrupt comfort to reignite purpose. This sacred disturbance mirrors Jesus stirring the disciples from fear to courage. True community doesn’t let us settle—it whispers, “Remember who you’re called to be,” then walks the road together. [01:08:03]

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together... but encouraging one another.” (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: Who gently “disturbs” you toward Christlikeness? Who might need you to be that loving disruptor today?

Day 4: Washing Judas’ Feet: Love Before Alignment

Jesus knelt with dirty water and clean heart, loving the betrayer still holding silver coins. His act defies transactional relationships, offering intimacy without guarantees. This is the scandal of divine love—it initiates connection before repentance, trust before agreement. Our call isn’t to withhold hands until others deserve it, but to wash feet while disagreement lingers. Grace moves first. [01:12:33]

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you waiting for others to “earn” your love? How might you imitate Christ’s initiative this week?

Day 5: Ruach Over Walls: When Spirit Breaks Barriers

The same wind that parted seas now whispers through our fortresses. God’s ruach—wild, untamed—blows where it pleases, mocking human divisions. Like Pentecost’s rushing wind, it propels us beyond comfort to build bridges with unlikely allies. Our choice: hunker behind walls or let the Spirit draft us as co-conspirators in reconciliation. The chariot awaits. [01:13:51]

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, ESV)

Reflection: What “wall” have you built that the Spirit is urging you to dismantle? Who waits on the other side for your hand?

Sermon Summary

Second Kings 10:15 drops an abrupt little encounter into a violent and complicated story. Jehu is riding along, known for driving his chariot like an absolute maniac and for doing some pretty brutal political overhaul work. Jehonadab comes from the Kenite clan, a nomadic, anti-agricultural people who refused the settled life other communities were building. The question Jehu asks cuts through all the cultural distance: “Is your heart right with my heart just as my heart is with yours?” The hand Jehonadab gives becomes the sign that two very different people can move forward together.

The old school word “Catholic” means universal, expansive, all embracing. The Catholic spirit is not Roman Catholic or Irish Catholic, but a heart wide enough to reach across the walls human beings love to build. The basic claim is that human beings cannot think alike. God made people with different brains, different stories, different wounds, different joys, and different ways of seeing the world. God loves diversity; creation itself comes from the ruach hovering over the formless void and bringing forth ecosystems, languages, and varied expressions of life.

Uniformity of thought is not the command. Love is the command. A right heart is grounded in the deep transformative love of God for all creation. Jesus changes the whole game by revealing relationship with God as intimate, loving, and life-giving rather than merely authoritative and coercive. A right heart cannot claim love for God while refusing active love for the neighbor, the stranger, the outsider, and even the ideological opponent. The stranger is still “whole and wholly loved, child of God.”

Giving the hand does not mean abandoning convictions or becoming loosey goosey. Giving the hand means love me, pray for me, provoke me to love and good works, and work with me. Love is not polite tolerance; prayer is not a cheap “thoughts and prayers” dodge; provocation is the trusted disturbance that calls a hiding soul out of the cave; work is joining side by side as cocreators of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

The Catholic spirit stands firmly rooted in faith while growing branches wide enough to shade the next yard. Deep roots do not require narrow love. Jesus washed Judas’s feet before betrayal came, and the disciples built a diverse community that refused to let human divisions dictate who belonged to God. The ruach still urges hearts out of comfortable fortresses, toward the brave question, “Is your heart right with my heart?” and toward hands open enough to transform the world together.

##

Key Takeaways

1. Love outruns perfect agreement God does not demand cookie cutter uniformity of thought, because created life itself is full of difference, texture, and surprise. The danger comes when opinion becomes a fortress and the person across the divide becomes “the other.” Love does not erase conviction, but it refuses to let conviction become an excuse for contempt. [61:54]
2. A right heart stays tender A right heart is not merely correct, informed, or doctrinally tidy. It is broken open by the pain of the world and oriented toward justice, mercy, and the God who loves all creation. Such a heart can look at the stranger and opponent and still say, “You too are whole and wholly loved.” [64:13]
3. Hands mean costly companionship Giving the hand means more than being civil from a distance. It means real love, vulnerable prayer, mutual accountability, and shared work in the kingdom of heaven here and now. A hand extended in faith becomes a refusal to let disagreement cancel cooperation in mercy and justice. [66:12]
4. Deep roots grow wide branches The Catholic spirit is not spiritual homelessness or vague belief. It is a faith rooted deeply enough to know its own soil, yet generous enough for its branches to reach over the garden wall. Strong conviction and expansive love belong together when fear no longer guards the boundaries. [71:36]
5. Holy discomfort opens the chariot Transformation rarely feels comfortable because it stretches pride, safety, and control. The ruach of God keeps urging people out of their fortresses of opinion and into brave, vulnerable relationship. The chariot becomes a picture of shared movement, where different people join hands and do the beautiful countercultural work of love.

## [73:51]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[54:36] - Scripture Reading: Jehu and Jehonadab
[55:36] - A Fractured and Exhausting World
[57:26] - Two Very Different Leaders Meet
[59:04] - Is Your Heart Right?
[59:35] - Wesley’s Catholic Spirit
[60:15] - Human Beings Cannot Think Alike
[61:54] - God Loves Diversity, God Commands Love
[62:36] - What Makes a Heart Right
[65:45] - Give Me Your Hand
[66:12] - Love, Pray, Provoke, Work
[70:07] - Catholic Spirit Is Not Loose Belief
[71:36] - Deep Roots and Wide Branches
[73:19] - The Ruach Beyond the Fortress
[78:16] - Benediction: Go With a Universal Spirit

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

2 Kings 10:15
“And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, ‘Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?’ And Jehonadab answered, ‘It is.’ Jehu said, ‘If it is, give me your hand.’ So he gave him his hand. And Jehu took him up with him into the chariot.” [54:38]

1 John 4:20
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Genesis 1:2
“The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Observation questions

In 2 Kings 10:15, what question does Jehu ask Jehonadab, and what action follows Jehonadab’s answer? [59:04]
What kinds of differences and dividing lines were named as common sources of conflict in church and everyday life? [55:47]
What are the four practical meanings of “give me your hand” in the life of faith and community? [01:06:12]
What pictures were used to describe a person who is deeply rooted in faith while still loving widely across boundaries? [01:11:36]

Interpretation questions

Jehu and Jehonadab come from very different worlds, yet the turning point is a question about the heart rather than total agreement. What does that suggest about what matters most when believers decide whether they can walk together? [59:04]
Genesis 1:2 presents the Spirit of God hovering over the waters, and creation unfolds with great variety. How does that shape the way Christians should think about human difference, personality, background, and opinion? [01:01:30]
First John 4:20 says a person cannot claim to love God while hating a brother or sister. How does that sharpen the meaning of a “right heart,” especially toward strangers, outsiders, or ideological opponents? [01:03:55]
Jesus commands his disciples to love one another in John 13:34-35. If “giving the hand” does not mean surrendering conviction, what kind of unity does Jesus seem to be calling for? [01:10:07]

Application questions

Most people can think of a person they love but struggle to agree with. Who comes to mind, and what would it look like to ask, in spirit if not out loud, “Is your heart right with my heart?” instead of leading with the disagreement? [01:13:43]
A right heart is not just correct; it is tender, humble, and open to the pain of the world. Where has the heart started to become hard, defensive, or suspicious toward a particular person or group? What might repentance look like there? [01:04:59]
Love is more than polite tolerance. What is one concrete way to protect someone’s character, carry their sorrow, or rejoice in their joy this week, especially if that person sees the world differently? [01:06:12]
Prayer is not a way to avoid real work. Who needs real prayer right now, and how could the group pray in a way that deepens love and also leads to faithful action? [01:06:55]
Everyone needs someone who can lovingly provoke them toward love and good works. Who has permission to challenge and stir growth when hiding, withdrawing, or self-protecting takes over? Who might need that kind of encouragement in return? [01:07:45]
Deep roots and wide branches belong together. Where does there need to be greater clarity about personal convictions, and where does there need to be greater generosity toward others who are rooted differently? [01:11:36]
There are needs in the world that should move believers side by side even when they disagree on finer points. What is one local need—hunger, loneliness, religious wounds, welcoming the stranger, care for immigrants, support for women, or something else—where real cooperation could begin now? [01:09:30]

Sermon Clips

44s

“``And here is the countercultural transformative beauty of it. Even though you are deeply rooted in your own soil, your love grows so wide and so tall that it reaches over the garden wall to embrace the trees in the next yard. Your roots are so deep, but your branches are wide enough to provide shade for everyone. They don't require you to transplant yourself in their soil, people with a Catholic spirit, in order to give you their hand. And that's the kind of community that I want us to be.”

59s

“We all have different ideas about theology, different preferences for worship, and different ideas about how the church should operate. And you know what? I think God intended it that way. Think back to the creation story that I talked about maybe a month ago where the ruach, the breath of God hovers over this formless void and brings forth a universe teeming with diverse ecosystems, countless languages, and varied expressions in life. God loves diversity. God never demands a cookie cutter uniformity of thought from us. And while God allows us to have different opinions, God absolutely demands, commands that we love.”

46s

“That is the kind of faith that Jesus modeled for us when he stopped to wash the feet of Judas with tender love and care, knowing full well that the betrayal was coming. Jesus didn't wait for total alignment or perfect loyalty to offer relationship. He offered his heart and his hand first. We don't have to wait for a world for the world to perfectly align with our way of thinking before we start building bridges. We don't have to wait for someone to have the exact same theological vocabulary as us before we can recognize the holy spirit moving in their lives.”

51s

“But it doesn't stop there because Jesus showed us over and over again in his own life and ministry that we cannot say we love God if we aren't actively loving our neighbors. A right heart is a heart that is filled with a tender expansive love for all of humanity, not just the people who look like us or talk like us, agree with us, but every single person. And it's a heart that looks at the stranger, the outsider, and the ideological opponent and says, you too are whole and wholly loved, child of God.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Crescent City UMC This sermon · AI assistant

What does it mean for hearts to be right?

What does giving someone your hand require?

How can firm convictions coexist with expansive love?