Embracing God's Love: Healing Beyond Boundaries

Devotional

Sermon Summary

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

You see, Jesus sees these people. He sees them and he knows them. And I'm going to submit to you that that is the first place that healing starts to begin. It's when you are seen, when you are known, when you are loved without question, when there's not any test to make sure you're in or you're out. You are just loved from the beginning. And that is the beginning of healing for all of us. [00:32:22] (33 seconds)  #ChurchOnTheBorderlands

``Jesus heals in the borderland. He honors the Samaritan. We didn't know that there was a Samaritan among them until later in the story. Healing just took place. The one who was despised by religious insiders wasn't even named until later in the story. After the healing, after the blessing, after the go and show the holy man that you have been healed. When this healed man returns to give thanks, Jesus lifts him up and says, you, faith has made you well. Not your conformity, not your citizenship, not your ability to fit in your faith. Your trust in the Creator's goodness has saved you. [00:33:57] (60 seconds)  #UnityInDiversity

For centuries, the dominant church has confused unity with uniformity. And they are not the same thing. You don't have to be uniform to be unified. You get to be you, just as God made you. You don't have to fit in a certain box. You don't have to be like everybody else. You get to be you. And here's the news. Breaking news, right? God loves you just like God made you. All day, every day, all day, every day. [00:35:07] (55 seconds)  #UndoingColonialHoliness

The gospel is making a bold claim that those who are labeled outsiders may see God more clearly than the rest of us do who think we are insiders. Maybe because we're insiders, we don't think we need God as much as maybe because we're insiders, we think that we've got a lock on God already and we don't have to. But those who are welcomed in, those who have lived on the outside, who have lived in the borderland, who have been pushed out, maybe they see God more clearly because it wasn't readily available to them. [00:37:23] (44 seconds)  #AuthenticHealing

When someone dares to come out, they're stepping into a truth, often at a great cost. And Jesus, who's walking on the border, who heals those declared unclean, also welcomes all the outsiders. Jesus is there saying, stand up. Be on your way. Your faith has made you well. [00:39:43] (26 seconds)  #GratitudeAsResistance

Gratitude becomes resistance. Gratitude Refuses to let fear or shame define the story. For indigenous peoples, for queer folks, for all who've been told you're on the wrong side of the border, Thanksgiving is a radical act. It's saying the Great Spirit. It's saying that God has already called me beloved, and I will not forget who I am. [00:41:24] (36 seconds)  #MercyCrossesLines

Jesus. Final words were stand up. Stand up. Be on your way. Trust. Trust that you're already healed. Trust that you are already healed. It's not just a blessing. It's not just a blessing. It's a commissioning. You are already healed. Be on your way. Go. Share your healing with others. Share your love with others. Share with others. You have been commissioned to do this. [00:42:01] (43 seconds)  #ReturnToGratitude

The Samaritan is sent out as a living witness that God's mercy crosses every line that any bit of humanity can draw. The Samaritan becomes a storyteller. He becomes a truth teller. He becomes a border walker. And maybe, just maybe, that's what discipleship looks like in today's world, too. That we erase the lines that divide us, that we bring healing, that we tell the truth, and that we are giving thanks and refusing to conform to the empire's demands. [00:42:43] (44 seconds)  #HealingInTheLiminal

The gospel calls us to return, to turn back toward gratitude, to turn back from colonial arrogance, turn to humility, to turn back from exclusion and to turn toward belonging, to turn back from shame and to turn toward joy. [00:43:44] (20 seconds)  #BorderlandCalling

Friends, Jesus is still out there between Samaria and Galilee, between the colonizer and the colonized, between the closet and the church, between calling us to get out, get up, and calling us to go be healed, to be whole and to be free. God is already there in that liminal space with us, with us, calling us to be healed. [00:44:05] (38 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon