On any given week, we are awash in stories. Every day, we hear stories on the news telling us that the world is perilous and that power belongs to the few. Advertisements insist we are not enough unless we buy more. Work and school whisper our worth depends on what we achieve. These stories run in the background like noise we can't turn off. They want to tell us what matters. They try to tell us who we are. They seep into our minds, shaping how we see ourselves, one another, and even how we see God. But here in church, in worship, we proclaim a different story.
[00:03:19]
On any given week, we are awash in stories. Every day, we hear stories on the news telling us that the world is perilous and that power belongs to the few. Advertisements insist we are not enough unless we buy more. Work and school whisper our worth depends on what we achieve. These stories run in the background like noise we can't turn off. They want to tell us what matters. They try to tell us who we are. They seep into our minds, shaping how we see ourselves, one another, and even how we see God.
[00:03:19]
But here in church, in worship, we proclaim a different story. One that's richer than wealth, braver than fear, and more powerful than any empire. It's the story of God's people carried from slavery to freedom, fed in the wilderness, drawn into covenant, called by grace.
[00:04:15]
One that's richer than wealth, braver than fear, and more powerful than any empire. It's the story of God's people carried from slavery to freedom, fed in the wilderness, drawn into covenant, called by grace.
[00:04:24]
It's the story of Jesus, broken and risen, who breathes peace and courage into his disciples. And week after week, as we hear it and sing it and taste it and pray it, this story seeps into us.
[00:04:47]
Standing before the Hebrew people after they have been freed from slavery in Egypt, Moses urges them to remember the story. Don't let this story slip through your fingers, he seems to say. Learn from this story, teach it to your children, write it on your doorposts, let it be the rhythm of your days, the heartbeat of your nights. Because without this story, you will forget who you are.
[00:05:11]
And then, centuries later, the apostle Paul says pretty much the same thing, writing to the Christians in...Rome, don't let the world's scripts and slogans squeeze you into their mold. Instead, he urges, let God's mercy renew your mind and transform your desires. Let God's story shape you.
[00:05:46]
Let God's mercy renew your mind and transform your desires. Let God's story shape you.
[00:06:05]
The stories of scripture don't just give us information. They are meant to nurture what theologian Walter Brueggemann famously calls a prophetic imagination, an alternative imagination, a capacity to envision a world that operates by God's values rather than the empires, a world where the last are first and outsiders are welcomed in, where every child is cherished, where abundance flows, and we come to see that there is more than enough to go around.
[00:06:16]
The stories of scripture don't just give us information. They are meant to nurture what theologian Walter Brueggemann famously calls a prophetic imagination, an alternative imagination, a capacity to envision a world that operates by God's values rather than the empires, a world where the last are first and outsiders are welcomed in, where every child is cherished, where abundance flows, and we come to see that there is more than enough to go around.
[00:06:16]
Week after week, as we gather for worship, we practice this way of seeing. We rehearse this different way of being in the world. In a culture that tells us we are what we buy or what we produce, worship reminds us that our truest identity is as a beloved child of God. It's who we are.
[00:07:01]
Week after week, as we gather for worship, we practice this way of seeing. We rehearse this different way of being in the world. In a culture that tells us we are what we buy or what we produce, worship reminds us that our truest identity is as a beloved child of God. It's who we are.
[00:07:01]
And worship is the table where we come to be fed. Here we take in the bread of God's story, letting it seep not just into our minds, but into our bodies, our reflexes, our instincts. We don't just read scripture. We ingest it. That's the invitation.
[00:07:27]
Here we take in the bread of God's story, letting it seep not just into our minds, but into our bodies, our reflexes, our instincts. We don't just read scripture. We ingest it. That's the invitation. So that it works its way down into the marrow, becoming in us what food becomes. Energy. Muscle. Bone.
[00:07:32]
So that it works its way down into the marrow, becoming in us what food becomes. Energy. Muscle. Bone. Gradually, this steady diet begins to reshape our habits of love. We start seeing the stranger differently. We find ourselves responding to conflict with curiosity rather than just defensiveness. We find the courage to speak up for the vulnerable rather than shrinking in fear. Generosity rises where scarcity held sway, and gratitude becomes our native tongue. The story we've been ingesting begins to live itself out through us.
[00:07:50]
Gradually, this steady diet begins to reshape our habits of love. We start seeing the stranger differently. We find ourselves responding to conflict with curiosity rather than just defensiveness. We find the courage to speak up for the vulnerable rather than shrinking in fear. Generosity rises where scarcity held sway, and gratitude becomes our native tongue. The story we've been ingesting begins to live itself out through us.
[00:08:06]
But here's the thing about this transformation. It can happen so quietly, so gradually, that we might miss it entirely. If we keep looking for God to show up in dramatic ways, we might overlook the quiet revolution that happens right in our midst. It's like yeast hidden in dough, Jesus told us, rising in secret until the whole loaf is alive with it. It's like a seed breaking open in the dark soil, its growth invisible until one day it stretches green and then tall.
[00:08:55]
But here's the thing about this transformation. It can happen so quietly, so gradually, that we might miss it entirely. If we keep looking for God to show up in dramatic ways, we might overlook the quiet revolution that happens right in our midst. It's like yeast hidden in dough, Jesus told us, rising in secret until the whole loaf is alive with it. It's like a seed breaking open in the dark soil, its growth invisible until one day it stretches green and then tall.
[00:08:55]
This is often how the spirit works. Slowly. Steadily. Until we wake up to find the life and love that's been taking root in us all along.
[00:09:40]
This is often how the spirit works. Slowly. Steadily. Until we wake up to find the life and love that's been taking root in us all along.
[00:09:40]
Each brother began to treat the others with extraordinary respect and kindness. After all, one of them might be the Messiah. They began to listen more carefully to one another. They forgave more quickly. They served with a greater sense of reverence, noticing the sacredness in every bowl they washed for others, in every floor they swept, in every word they spoke. And the peace that had long eluded them began to settle over the community like morning mist, quietly remaking their hearts and their home.
[00:12:02]
Each brother began to treat the others with extraordinary respect and kindness. After all, one of them might be the Messiah. They began to listen more carefully to one another. They forgave more quickly. They served with a greater sense of reverence, noticing the sacredness in every bowl they washed for others, in every floor they swept, in every word they spoke. And the peace that had long eluded them began to settle over the community like morning mist, quietly remaking their hearts and their home.
[00:12:02]
Visitors began to notice something different, a warmth, a quiet joy, a sacred pulse that seemed to hum through the halls. In time, the monastery began to come alive again, filled with love and life. And new members became drawn in by the love they witnessed. What had changed? Only this. Their minds had been renewed. They had nurtured an alternative imagination shaped by God's story of love.
[00:12:53]
What had changed? Only this. Their minds had been renewed. They had nurtured an alternative imagination shaped by God's story of love. They had ingested it, letting it settle into their bones, into their hearts, into the very rhythm of their lives. And slowly, almost without noticing, the story moved through them, changing how they spoke, how they served, how they saw one another. No longer conformed to the pattern of a dying community, they were transformed and their very lives became an act of worship.
[00:13:22]
They had ingested it, letting it settle into their bones, into their hearts, into the very rhythm of their lives. And slowly, almost without noticing, the story moved through them, changing how they spoke, how they served, how they saw one another. No longer conformed to the pattern of a dying community, they were transformed and their very lives became an act of worship.
[00:13:37]
The monastery story reveals something profound. When even a few people begin to see with God's eyes, entire communities can be transformed. One rabbi's words, carried by one abbot, shared with a handful of monks, changed everything for them.
[00:14:16]
The monastery story reveals something profound. When even a few people begin to see with God's eyes, entire communities can be transformed. One rabbi's words, carried by one abbot, shared with a handful of monks, changed everything for them.
[00:14:16]
It's the same call Moses gave to Israel. Learn this story. Teach it. Write it on your doorposts. Let it shape the rhythm of your days. Please, this story will tell you who you are and who God has made you to be.
[00:14:45]
It's the same call Moses gave to Israel. Learn this story. Teach it. Write it on your doorposts. Let it shape the rhythm of your days. Please, this story will tell you who you are and who God has made you to be.
[00:14:45]
And so, here we are. This community gathered in worship where God's story is told week after week. The question before us is simple and yet profound. How will this story continue to change us? Will we allow the renewing of our minds to reshape the way we live? Will we look at one another and wonder, could the Messiah be among us?
[00:15:09]
And so, here we are. This community gathered in worship where God's story is told week after week. The question before us is simple and yet profound. How will this story continue to change us? Will we allow the renewing of our minds to reshape the way we live? Will we look at one another and wonder, could the Messiah be among us?
[00:15:09]
Because if transformation truly ripples outward, if one rabbi's words could revive a dying monastery, if a handful of slaves freed in the exodus could reshape the world's understanding of justice, if the church born from the life and ministry of Jesus could cross every border with expansive love, then what might happen through us?
[00:15:47]
Because if transformation truly ripples outward, if one rabbi's words could revive a dying monastery, if a handful of slaves freed in the exodus could reshape the world's understanding of justice, if the church born from the life and ministry of Jesus could cross every border with expansive love, then what might happen through us?
[00:15:47]
What if our witness began to change not just our own lives, not just this congregation, but the wider community and even the world? What if the way we love one another and love our enemies and share our resources and welcome strangers and refused to be shaped by fear? What if all that began to offer the world a different story about what's possible?
[00:16:13]
What if our witness began to change not just our own lives, not just this congregation, but the wider community and even the world? What if the way we love one another and love our enemies and share our resources and welcome strangers and refused to be shaped by fear? What if all that began to offer the world a different story about what's possible?
[00:16:13]
This may sound like a huge expectation, an enormous calling, and it is. But that's exactly the size of God's dream for us. The story we have been ingesting longs to live itself out through us in all the ways we show up in the world. In how we serve. In how we love. This story will tell us who we are. And through us, it will invite the world to live more fully into God's hope for the whole creation.
[00:16:47]
This may sound like a huge expectation, an enormous calling, and it is. But that's exactly the size of God's dream for us. The story we have been ingesting longs to live itself out through us in all the ways we show up in the world. In how we serve. In how we love.
[00:16:47]
This story will tell us who we are. And through us, it will invite the world to live more fully into God's hope for the whole creation.
[00:17:25]
