Worship - June 28, 2026 10am - "Become Holy Interrupters

Love answers the question, What does love do, by moving from warm feeling to visible action. The baptismal vow to resist evil, injustice, and oppression names love’s lane and sets its pace. Compassion feeds a neighbor, sits beside the hurting, and shows up in disaster. Justice asks why harm keeps happening and refuses to let the cycle spin. Advocacy, then, becomes one of the ways love shows up in public, because belief in the image of God in every person cannot stay inside church walls. Naming matters. When a community names who has been ignored or erased, dignity takes form and neighbors can breathe again.

Jesus shows what this looks like. In John’s story of the woman dragged into the middle, the crowd carries stones and a verdict. Jesus will not match their volume. He kneels. He writes in dust. He slows the rush toward condemnation and creates space for grace. His single sentence, Let anyone without sin throw the first stone, breaks the spell of a mob and returns each accuser to honest self-knowledge. Stones drop. The crowd disperses. Mercy, not violence, gets the final word.

Hatred still depends on momentum, crowds, and silence. It banks on good people assuming someone else will speak. Love interrupts that machinery. Holy interrupters become the people who step in, not with more shouting, but with courage, dignity, and steady love. Sometimes the interruption looks like a resolution that protects the vulnerable, because naming matters. Sometimes it looks like standing beside students whose work was sidelined and finding a way for the music to be heard anyway. Sometimes it sounds as simple as refusing to laugh at a cruel joke or sitting beside someone who feels alone.

The image of God promises that the more diverse the table, the fuller the picture of God. That conviction calls the church to choose courage over fear, welcome over exclusion, and action over apology. Perfect love drives out fear, not by avoiding conflict, but by entering it with mercy that tells the truth and makes room for a neighbor’s future. Jesus interrupted shame with grace, exclusion with welcome, violence with mercy, and hatred with love. Now love sends his people to do the same.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Love moves from compassion to justice [26:27] Compassion tends to wounds; justice asks why the wounds keep appearing. Love has to do both if the neighbor is to be truly honored. When love asks hard questions, it does not abandon tenderness; it protects tenderness from endless triage. [26:27]
• 2. Baptismal vows demand public courage [26:04] Resisting evil, injustice, and oppression cannot be fulfilled privately. The vow takes shape in how speech is used, how neighbors are treated, and what policies are supported. Courage here is not noise for its own sake, but faithfulness that aligns public action with confessed belief. [26:04]
• 3. Jesus interrupts condemnation with mercy [34:52] By bending low and writing in dust, Jesus slows a hot crowd and gives room for conscience. His mercy does not deny sin; it denies violence the last word. In that pause, truth and grace become possible for everyone involved. [34:52]
• 4. Naming dignity makes love visible [32:45] When a community names who has been left unnamed, it refuses erasure. Naming signals belonging, protection, and accountability for harm. Love becomes legible, not just felt, when dignity is spoken aloud and backed by action. [32:45]
• 5. Perfect love drives out fear [39:35] Fear shrinks tables, narrows voices, and feeds on silence. Love widens the table, lends its voice, and steps forward even when outcomes are unsure. Fear loses power when love tells the truth and stays put beside the vulnerable. [39:35]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [16:31] - Created in God’s image
• [24:15] - You are loved and called
• [24:38] - Prayer for open hearts
• [25:20] - What advocacy has to do with Jesus
• [26:04] - Baptismal vows and resistance
• [28:50] - Ben’s testimony of courage
• [32:45] - Naming matters in the church
• [33:27] - Jesus and the woman in the crowd
• [35:35] - How hatred gains momentum
• [36:30] - Watertown example of solidarity
• [37:25] - Everyday ways to interrupt hate
• [38:48] - Jesus models holy interruption
• [39:35] - Sent as holy interrupters
• [71:43] - Closing reminder of belovedness

1. In John 8:1-11, how does Jesus physically respond to the crowd’s anger (e.g., kneeling, writing)? What does this contrast with the crowd’s actions?
2. The sermon mentions that “naming matters” for restoring dignity. What specific example was shared about a community refusing to let exclusion silence music? [36:30]
3. According to 1 John 4:18, what effect does “perfect love” have on fear? How does the sermon connect this to widening tables and lending voices? [39:35]
4. What two promises are linked to baptismal vows in the sermon (e.g., feeding neighbors vs. asking why harm happens)? [26:04]

1. Why might Jesus’ act of writing in the dust (John 8:6) have been significant in slowing the crowd’s momentum? What does this teach about confronting hostility?
2. The sermon argues that “compassion tends to wounds; justice asks why the wounds keep appearing.” How do these two actions depend on each other to honor someone’s dignity?
3. Genesis 1:27 says all people reflect God’s image. How might excluding or erasing certain groups distort the church’s witness of this truth?
4. The phrase “holy interrupters” describes people who disrupt hatred with courage. What risks or challenges might this involve in everyday life?

1. When have you witnessed or experienced a moment where “naming” someone’s dignity (e.g., advocating, listening, refusing a cruel joke) changed a situation? What small step could you take this week to “name” dignity in your circles? [37:25]
2. Baptismal vows include resisting injustice “in whatever forms they present themselves.” What is one area in your community (e.g., hunger, discrimination, isolation) where you feel called to move beyond compassion to ask “why does this keep happening?”
3. Fear “shrinks tables and feeds on silence.” Where do you feel hesitant to speak or act for others because of fear? How could focusing on love’s power (1 John 4:18) shift your response?
4. Jesus interrupted shame by creating space for grace. Is there a relationship or situation where you could “slow down” judgment this week—listening first or asking questions instead of reacting?
5. The sermon says holy interruption can look like “sitting beside someone who feels alone.” Who in your life needs that kind of presence? How will you intentionally offer it?