Embracing God's Inclusive Love and Daily Resilience
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"God of love and life, speak to our hearts this day. Speak words of wisdom and faith. Open our hearts and minds to perceive your message of love, even when it's hard. Now, speak. Open our hearts and minds to perceive your message of love, even when it's hard to hear. Strengthen our faith to answer your call. Even when we don't feel confident or capable." [00:05:15] (24 seconds)
"Jesus walked into the temple in the midst of the people he had grown up with, the people who had known him all his life. Some people who were undoubtedly related to him were in the crowd, or at least were there as friends of his family. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah, a big, heavy scroll. He unrolled it, and he found the passage he was seeking. And he gave a short nine-word sermon, or so it seemed. But then he continued to teach." [00:16:12] (35 seconds)
"If Jesus had stopped there I'm sure it would have been a glorious homecoming they'd slap him on the back take him out to dinner talk about the good old days when he was a little boy and things were so much better in Nazareth in the good old days once upon a time then Jesus would have been some kind of minor celebrity in town they'd all wave to him in the parking lot they'd sit by him at the basketball game I'm teasing but you get the picture right he could have done well in the little town if he just stayed in his place but he didn't stop he kept talking he had a bigger vision than one small town in the hill country of Galilee he actually came for everybody even the other towns even the other countries so he says I know you want me to settle down here because according to you here is where all the people that matter are I know you don't understand why anyone would want to leave Nazareth and go to other towns or other countries I know that many of you probably think we should keep everybody else out but you don't need me here you won't even hear me here wait he said that yeah he did no prophet is accepted in his hometown different translations have slightly different verbiage for that but we remember those words never in their hometown what does it mean why did he say that he said it because he knew what was underneath their approval he knew what they were wanting he knew they didn't want to hear what he actually came to say he did come to say they're important and that much they heard we're important God is going to get the kingdom going right here in Nazareth that'll show the folks down the road in the other country that this is God's kingdom they're going to get the kingdom going and that's country." [00:17:44] (119 seconds)
"He came to say that God thinks even the stranger, even the foreigner, even the enemy is important. Important enough to say, to show compassion, show mercy, show justice, important enough to love. This has been God's plan from the beginning, Jesus says. You remember Elijah and the story about that widow? God thought she was important, saved her, blessed her, loved her, fed her. And she wasn't one of us. She was an outsider." [00:20:00] (35 seconds)
"How dare you, Jesus, tell us to love even those who are different from us? We struggle to love the others in our own pews. Don't go asking us to love across the boundaries that are there to keep us safe. We have to have safe borders. We can't love those other people. But, the gift of love is not just for a chosen few." [00:22:32] (28 seconds)
"It's kind of a sad tale. In some ways, it's evidence that God isn't going to force us to change, to grow, to love as Jesus loves. God doesn't demand that we become something more, something riskier, something with potential to change the world for the better, to be more like it was supposed to be in the beginning. You remember? God created the heavens and the earth and said it was good, and it was good." [00:23:44] (31 seconds)
"God created us and gave us the mind and the spirit and the strength and the soul to choose to follow God and to be responsible for that choice. And Jesus isn't hanging around town to be thrown off a cliff. He goes through them, right through the midst of them, and he says, follow me, and he goes his way. He is going to follow God. He is going to fulfill his calling. He is going to heal, to call others to follow, to share love, to share compassion and mercy." [00:24:20] (37 seconds)
"And she spoke about resilience and how we need to cultivate resilience and build it up. She brought up the example of the very few houses in all these fires who withstood it because they had been built in a way to withstand fire. There were just a few, and she asked the question of how we're built. Are we standing on the rock? Are we getting up? Are we just doing what we're called to do?" [00:25:51] (26 seconds)
"What if the church were to be known? As the place of love and acceptance rather than a division and finger pointing. What if we treated our siblings in the faith with love as true siblings rather than heretics in need of condemnation when they're different? What if we were to approach them in love rather than angry name calling or shunning?" [00:35:37] (22 seconds)
"And if we were able to do this, even a little, then would it be possible that those not yet in the faith, not yet on the path to discipleship, might actually believe us when we proclaim a God of love and not of hate? Would it be possible that they would believe us because they could see it in our lives and the way we live it? In our dealings with one another and in the world?" [00:36:30] (24 seconds)
"The good news here is the seed from which this whole task grows is found in verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 13. The seed is, love never ends." [00:37:24] (14 seconds)
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"Jesus walked into the temple in the midst of the people he had grown up with, the people who had known him all his life. Some people who were undoubtedly related to him were in the crowd, or at least were there as friends of his family. He was handed the scroll of Isaiah, a big, heavy scroll. He unrolled it, and he found the passage he was seeking. And he gave a short nine-word sermon, or so it seemed. But then he continued to teach." [00:16:12] (35 seconds)
"If Jesus had stopped there I'm sure it would have been a glorious homecoming they'd slap him on the back take him out to dinner talk about the good old days when he was a little boy and things were so much better in Nazareth in the good old days once upon a time then Jesus would have been some kind of minor celebrity in town they'd all wave to him in the parking lot they'd sit by him at the basketball game I'm teasing but you get the picture right he could have done well in the little town if he just stayed in his place but he didn't stop he kept talking he had a bigger vision than one small town in the hill country of Galilee he actually came for everybody even the other towns even the other countries so he says I know you want me to settle down here because according to you here is where all the people that matter are I know you don't understand why anyone would want to leave Nazareth and go to other towns or other countries I know that many of you probably think we should keep everybody else out but you don't need me here you won't even hear me here wait he said that yeah he did no prophet is accepted in his hometown different translations have slightly different verbiage for that but we remember those words never in their hometown what does it mean why did he say that he said it because he knew what was underneath their approval he knew what they were wanting he knew they didn't want to hear what he actually came to say he did come to say they're important and that much they heard we're important God is going to get the kingdom going right here in Nazareth that'll show the folks down the road in the other country that this is God's kingdom they're going to get the kingdom going and that's country." [00:17:44] (119 seconds)
"He came to say that God thinks even the stranger, even the foreigner, even the enemy is important. Important enough to say, to show compassion, show mercy, show justice, important enough to love. This has been God's plan from the beginning, Jesus says. You remember Elijah and the story about that widow? God thought she was important, saved her, blessed her, loved her, fed her. And she wasn't one of us. She was an outsider." [00:20:00] (35 seconds)
"How dare you, Jesus, tell us to love even those who are different from us? We struggle to love the others in our own pews. Don't go asking us to love across the boundaries that are there to keep us safe. We have to have safe borders. We can't love those other people. But, the gift of love is not just for a chosen few." [00:22:32] (28 seconds)
"It's kind of a sad tale. In some ways, it's evidence that God isn't going to force us to change, to grow, to love as Jesus loves. God doesn't demand that we become something more, something riskier, something with potential to change the world for the better, to be more like it was supposed to be in the beginning. You remember? God created the heavens and the earth and said it was good, and it was good." [00:23:44] (31 seconds)
"God created us and gave us the mind and the spirit and the strength and the soul to choose to follow God and to be responsible for that choice. And Jesus isn't hanging around town to be thrown off a cliff. He goes through them, right through the midst of them, and he says, follow me, and he goes his way. He is going to follow God. He is going to fulfill his calling. He is going to heal, to call others to follow, to share love, to share compassion and mercy." [00:24:20] (37 seconds)
"And she spoke about resilience and how we need to cultivate resilience and build it up. She brought up the example of the very few houses in all these fires who withstood it because they had been built in a way to withstand fire. There were just a few, and she asked the question of how we're built. Are we standing on the rock? Are we getting up? Are we just doing what we're called to do?" [00:25:51] (26 seconds)
"What if the church were to be known? As the place of love and acceptance rather than a division and finger pointing. What if we treated our siblings in the faith with love as true siblings rather than heretics in need of condemnation when they're different? What if we were to approach them in love rather than angry name calling or shunning?" [00:35:37] (22 seconds)
"And if we were able to do this, even a little, then would it be possible that those not yet in the faith, not yet on the path to discipleship, might actually believe us when we proclaim a God of love and not of hate? Would it be possible that they would believe us because they could see it in our lives and the way we live it? In our dealings with one another and in the world?" [00:36:30] (24 seconds)
"The good news here is the seed from which this whole task grows is found in verse 8 of 1 Corinthians 13. The seed is, love never ends." [00:37:24] (14 seconds)
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