Sermon Illustrations for Proper 17 | Ordinary Time 22 (2018)
Illustration
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
I can understand the rationale of the church fathers determining that the Song of Solomon must be an allegory about God and the church. The words are sensual and earthy, not distant, aloof and pure in the usual scriptural sense. But anyone who has been in love knows the joy of this book and the relationship it has to the sorrows and joys of human love and relationships.
“For lo the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” Who can’t understand the joy of a relationship mended or a time of pain and sorrow healed -- an issue of distance overcome. Surely God who made us in God’s own image knows our human capacity for sorrow and for joy, for love and for passion. In my own relationships I have known the moments of winter, of coldness and distance, of separation and tears. I, too, have known the joy of reconnection, of deepened closeness and the deep comfort of being close again. “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” It seems all the earth celebrates and sings with my heart when a relationship is restored or reborn in a new way. May we cherish those human moments of closeness and love, as God cherishes us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Song of Solomon 2:8-13 and Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
Eternity is a hard thing to imagine. We would not enjoy it if some of the experiences in our life never ended; A long hospital stay, for example, or a job that we did not like, even though we needed it. For a child it could be a class in school that was boring. Even some things we enjoy we might not want them to go on forever -- like a delicious meal. I love ice cream, but at some point I have had enough.
We may live in a place we can enjoy as long as we live. If we have a mate we love dearly we may not want our relationship to ever end.
If we love our Lord we don’t want it to ever end. That is the only eternity we should want. We are his bride. We hope that never ends as long he is the center of it.
I made a list for my children of all the places I had lived. In every place there were things I liked and some I didn’t care for. The thing that made some acceptable was having someone I loved with me. For children it can be parents and for married couple it can be your mate. For a Christian it is our God.
I’ve tried to picture heaven in my mind. Would I be living in a nice home with comfortable furniture and some kind of entertainment. I even had odd concerns about that banquet that has no end. Were there restrooms available?
Finally I came to the conclusion that it didn’t make any difference. If “God is love” then all we have to do is show our love for him by trying to live the kind of life that will please that god of love. We have to love righteousness. Only God can help us do that.
The first text sounded like the loved one could be male, but it sounds more like a wife or mistress.
We are the bride of Christ, male or female. We are still his! That can also apply to denominations. We are one. We are not Baptist or Roman Catholic or Lutheran. We are one.
I discovered as a missionary in Nepal that we are all one! We all only have one groom. Love in Greek in our relationship is agape and not eros.
We must be careful when we interpret scripture that we translate words in the Bible carefully. I helps us to understand that is the duty of a pastor.
Bob O.
* * *
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
“Love Makes the World Go Round,” sang Perry Como, Jane Morgan, and Paul Anka to different tunes. Human beings are love-crazed. We are addicted to it. Mother Teresa essentially made this point as she once observed: “The hunger for love is more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” Famed Psychologist Erich Fromm concurred, as he once contended: “Love is the one sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” Christians understand this lesson, the whole book of which it is a part, as a love dialogue with God. Concerning the love of God and how it changes us, the Medieval German mystic Hildegard of Bingen once said, “... the Holy Spirit is the kindler and illuminator of the hearts of faithful men... who gently kindles the hearts and minds of the faithful.” (In Her Words, p.110) C. S. Lewis nicely pointed out the difference between God’s love and ordinary human love, as he observed “But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference...” God never gives up on us.
Neuropsychological research has established that in the practice of both spirituality and human love our brains are bathed with the neurochemical dopamine, which is responsible for relaxation, creativity, and energy. It also makes human beings feel good, as its components belong to the same family as amphetamines, creating similar dynamics in the brain as when cocaine is injected (Helen Fisher, Why We Love; Dean Hamer, The God Gene). God’s love is a high.
Mark E.
* * *
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
This love-song for a wedding may be taken as a love song between Christ and the church, at least this is how Martin Luther saw it (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, pp.208-210). Reference is made to one of the lovers’ (to the king’s) handsomeness (v.2). For John Wesley the reference is to the handsomeness of Christ (Commentary On the Bible, p.283). About this alluring meekness and kindness of Christ, John Calvin would have us “promptly and submissively yield to his authority...” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.V/1, p.182) In this spirit, Martin Luther claims that the reference to handsomeness refers to how we are changed by grace (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, p.218). God’s love makes us beautiful!
Mark E.
* * *
James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:27).
The Greek and Roman gods who supposedly reigned on Mount Olympus did not create the universe. That was done by the gods’ grandparents, who were overthrown by their children, and who in turn were overthrown by the Olympian gods.
By contrast James/Jacob, the younger brother of Jesus, used the title “Father of lights” to affirm what we learned in the first chapter of Genesis. The universe is created by God, the one God who reigned from the beginning to the present and into the future, unchanging. This term is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
When James said there is no variation or shadow in the Father of lights, he was using two astronomical terms. The first, here translated ‘variation,’ is the word we know as parallax, which refers to the way astronomers ancient and modern can estimate the distance of distant objects on earth or in the heavens, by observing a closer object from two different places. Seen from different places, the closer object seems to move in relationship to other, farther objects. God does not move.
The term translated as ‘shadow’ is “eclipse,” which happens when the moon covers the sun. The sun and moon are both subject to eclipse, but not God!
Frank R.
* * *
James 1:17-27
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States and was in office from 1901 to 1909. While in office he became good friends with the naturalist William Beebe. Beebe is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological Society. Their friendship would last until Roosevelt’s death in 1919. Beebe admired Roosevelt's skill as a field naturalist as well as his advocacy of conservation, and Roosevelt's fame made his support highly valuable in Beebe's scientific endeavors. Roosevelt in turn admired Beebe's writing and his respect for the natural world. Roosevelt frequently provided praise for Beebe's books, and wrote introductions to two of Beebe's books: Tropical Wild Life and Jungle Peace. Beebe described a ritual that he and Roosevelt shared together each night when they were together. The exercise was designed to restore their sense of wonder. Beebe wrote, “After an evening of talk we would go out on the lawn and search the heavens until we found the faint spot of light mist in the constellation Pegasus and one of us would recite: That is the Spiral Galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It is 750 thousand light years away. It consists of 100 billion suns -- larger than our sun. After a moment, Col. Roosevelt would grin at me and say, ‘Now I think we are small enough. Let’s go to bed.’”
Application: James teaches us the importance of being humble.
Ron L.
* * *
James 1:17-27
I read about a man in New York City who died at the age of 63 without ever having had a job. He spent his entire adult life in college. He had acquired so many academic degrees that they looked like the alphabet behind his name. Why did this man spend his entire life in college? When he was a child, a wealthy relative died who’d named him as the beneficiary in his will. It stated that he was to be given enough money to support him every year if he stayed in school. It was to be discontinued when he had completed his education.
The man met the terms of the will, but by staying in school indefinitely, he turned a technicality into a steady income for life -- something his relative never intended. He spent thousands of hours listening to professors and reading books but never really “doing.” He never put into practice that which he’d learned.
This is, as I see it, a tragic story. It is one of misapplied learning and unutilized knowledge. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "One act of obedience is better than one-hundred sermons." James is challenging his readers in the same way. It isn’t enough to merely hear the word. A hearer only of the word is like one who looks at his reflection and turns away, forgetting what he sees. Those, however, who look into the perfect law of liberty and persevere; those who do or act, they are blessed.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Those Pharisees sound like my mother telling me I can’t eat till I wash my hands. In her case it was not a ceremony. I never washed them in a ceremonial way -- whatever that might be. My wife does the cooking and I clean up -- putting used cups and saucers in the dishwasher. It is never a ceremony. I just washed my hands because I loved and respected my mom. I did the dishes because I loved my wife and wanted to help her. I felt it was also my duty to do something to help out. Signing my name to my check or credit card is also a tradition plus obeying a law if the check or card is required.
Every family has some traditions like father always cutting the meat and mother pouring the tea.
I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, a mostly Danish community. When some Polish people moved in from Milwaukee, they were treated as foreigners, like Jews might treat Gentiles. Their customs were different.
I should also say that I never tried to be a good child so I would inherit my folk’s estate. I hope my kids aren’t loving and kind to us just to inherit our estate.
Our Lord loves us so much that he sacrificed his son so that someday we would be with him in his eternal home.
Ceremony may not be totally wrong in itself. A couple should not get married just for the sake of the ceremony. We should not baptize our children just for the ceremony nor should we receive communion just for the traditional ceremony.
The Pharisees were so proud of themselves for keeping the traditions. Some Lutherans are too.
The Nepali converts had no traditions except for the Hindu faith they grew with, yet they came to church out of love and thanksgiving for what God had done and was doing for them. Gratitude, not pride, should be our motive.
Bob O.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
In his book Thus Spoke Zarusthustra, famed 19th-century author and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche well described the futility in how we live and behave, a futility Jesus notes in this lesson. Nietzsche observed that life lived by human prudence requires good acting, people who invent themselves. Wanting people to enjoy looking at them, their wisdom is not very wise and is rather laughable (The Portable Nietzsche, pp.255-256). It’s the dynamics of doing what society expects that lead men to feel that they cannot cry on most public occasions or forces women to face the impossible expectation of being “feminine” (not too strong), but not appearing to be weak in the public world either.
It is not just the world that has rules to its games that we must play. The church has its “games,” its artificial expectations that it expects members to play -- the raffles and other “churchy” activities, the artificial shows of affection, certain worship styles, even the “be-nice-to-their-face” while you gossip behind their back syndrome.” Jesus’ words are directed against such behavior. About such behavior, John Calvin once wrote:
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was all right and to tell him how sorry they were. In the middle of the chaos and words of pity from all who’d gathered, one man handed the boy a quarter. Then he turned to the group and said, “I care 25 cents worth. How much do the rest of you care?”
“How much do you care?” It’s a good question. It’s one that’s asked of Jesus. A Gentile woman of Syrophoenician origin and some friends of a deaf man want to know. The woman even has a possibly humorous and pointed discussion with Jesus about who he came for and what even the dogs get. The bottom line: both the deaf man and the woman’s daughter were healed. These stories remind me of the words of an old hymn; “Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth or song; as the burdens press, the cares distress, and the way grows weary and long? O yes, he cares. I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief.”
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
My work in the church brings me face to face with tradition and ritual. I love tradition and history. I love the rituals and rites of the church. I also recognize that sometimes our comfort with those traditions, rituals and rites, blinds us to what the church, as a community of faith, can be. The mainline church is in decline -- and I don’t think it is because people need faith or community or God less than they have. Of anything, in this tumultuous world, we may need faith, community and God more than ever before.
But unless we can show the church’s relevance and love, its mission and compassion, its hope and joy, people who do not know church, will not come into the church. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the “letter” of the law is less important than the love and faith, the compassion and kindness, in the hearts of those who follow Jesus into relationship with God. Perhaps a loosening of traditional actions, the adopting of new rituals that promote community and relationship, and the outward expressions of the love, hope, joy and grace of God are more important than clinging to the past. What is God calling you to be in this moment in time?
Bonnie B.
I can understand the rationale of the church fathers determining that the Song of Solomon must be an allegory about God and the church. The words are sensual and earthy, not distant, aloof and pure in the usual scriptural sense. But anyone who has been in love knows the joy of this book and the relationship it has to the sorrows and joys of human love and relationships.
“For lo the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” Who can’t understand the joy of a relationship mended or a time of pain and sorrow healed -- an issue of distance overcome. Surely God who made us in God’s own image knows our human capacity for sorrow and for joy, for love and for passion. In my own relationships I have known the moments of winter, of coldness and distance, of separation and tears. I, too, have known the joy of reconnection, of deepened closeness and the deep comfort of being close again. “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” It seems all the earth celebrates and sings with my heart when a relationship is restored or reborn in a new way. May we cherish those human moments of closeness and love, as God cherishes us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Song of Solomon 2:8-13 and Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
Eternity is a hard thing to imagine. We would not enjoy it if some of the experiences in our life never ended; A long hospital stay, for example, or a job that we did not like, even though we needed it. For a child it could be a class in school that was boring. Even some things we enjoy we might not want them to go on forever -- like a delicious meal. I love ice cream, but at some point I have had enough.
We may live in a place we can enjoy as long as we live. If we have a mate we love dearly we may not want our relationship to ever end.
If we love our Lord we don’t want it to ever end. That is the only eternity we should want. We are his bride. We hope that never ends as long he is the center of it.
I made a list for my children of all the places I had lived. In every place there were things I liked and some I didn’t care for. The thing that made some acceptable was having someone I loved with me. For children it can be parents and for married couple it can be your mate. For a Christian it is our God.
I’ve tried to picture heaven in my mind. Would I be living in a nice home with comfortable furniture and some kind of entertainment. I even had odd concerns about that banquet that has no end. Were there restrooms available?
Finally I came to the conclusion that it didn’t make any difference. If “God is love” then all we have to do is show our love for him by trying to live the kind of life that will please that god of love. We have to love righteousness. Only God can help us do that.
The first text sounded like the loved one could be male, but it sounds more like a wife or mistress.
We are the bride of Christ, male or female. We are still his! That can also apply to denominations. We are one. We are not Baptist or Roman Catholic or Lutheran. We are one.
I discovered as a missionary in Nepal that we are all one! We all only have one groom. Love in Greek in our relationship is agape and not eros.
We must be careful when we interpret scripture that we translate words in the Bible carefully. I helps us to understand that is the duty of a pastor.
Bob O.
* * *
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
“Love Makes the World Go Round,” sang Perry Como, Jane Morgan, and Paul Anka to different tunes. Human beings are love-crazed. We are addicted to it. Mother Teresa essentially made this point as she once observed: “The hunger for love is more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” Famed Psychologist Erich Fromm concurred, as he once contended: “Love is the one sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” Christians understand this lesson, the whole book of which it is a part, as a love dialogue with God. Concerning the love of God and how it changes us, the Medieval German mystic Hildegard of Bingen once said, “... the Holy Spirit is the kindler and illuminator of the hearts of faithful men... who gently kindles the hearts and minds of the faithful.” (In Her Words, p.110) C. S. Lewis nicely pointed out the difference between God’s love and ordinary human love, as he observed “But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference...” God never gives up on us.
Neuropsychological research has established that in the practice of both spirituality and human love our brains are bathed with the neurochemical dopamine, which is responsible for relaxation, creativity, and energy. It also makes human beings feel good, as its components belong to the same family as amphetamines, creating similar dynamics in the brain as when cocaine is injected (Helen Fisher, Why We Love; Dean Hamer, The God Gene). God’s love is a high.
Mark E.
* * *
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
This love-song for a wedding may be taken as a love song between Christ and the church, at least this is how Martin Luther saw it (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, pp.208-210). Reference is made to one of the lovers’ (to the king’s) handsomeness (v.2). For John Wesley the reference is to the handsomeness of Christ (Commentary On the Bible, p.283). About this alluring meekness and kindness of Christ, John Calvin would have us “promptly and submissively yield to his authority...” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.V/1, p.182) In this spirit, Martin Luther claims that the reference to handsomeness refers to how we are changed by grace (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, p.218). God’s love makes us beautiful!
Mark E.
* * *
James 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:27).
The Greek and Roman gods who supposedly reigned on Mount Olympus did not create the universe. That was done by the gods’ grandparents, who were overthrown by their children, and who in turn were overthrown by the Olympian gods.
By contrast James/Jacob, the younger brother of Jesus, used the title “Father of lights” to affirm what we learned in the first chapter of Genesis. The universe is created by God, the one God who reigned from the beginning to the present and into the future, unchanging. This term is also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
When James said there is no variation or shadow in the Father of lights, he was using two astronomical terms. The first, here translated ‘variation,’ is the word we know as parallax, which refers to the way astronomers ancient and modern can estimate the distance of distant objects on earth or in the heavens, by observing a closer object from two different places. Seen from different places, the closer object seems to move in relationship to other, farther objects. God does not move.
The term translated as ‘shadow’ is “eclipse,” which happens when the moon covers the sun. The sun and moon are both subject to eclipse, but not God!
Frank R.
* * *
James 1:17-27
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States and was in office from 1901 to 1909. While in office he became good friends with the naturalist William Beebe. Beebe is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological Society. Their friendship would last until Roosevelt’s death in 1919. Beebe admired Roosevelt's skill as a field naturalist as well as his advocacy of conservation, and Roosevelt's fame made his support highly valuable in Beebe's scientific endeavors. Roosevelt in turn admired Beebe's writing and his respect for the natural world. Roosevelt frequently provided praise for Beebe's books, and wrote introductions to two of Beebe's books: Tropical Wild Life and Jungle Peace. Beebe described a ritual that he and Roosevelt shared together each night when they were together. The exercise was designed to restore their sense of wonder. Beebe wrote, “After an evening of talk we would go out on the lawn and search the heavens until we found the faint spot of light mist in the constellation Pegasus and one of us would recite: That is the Spiral Galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It is 750 thousand light years away. It consists of 100 billion suns -- larger than our sun. After a moment, Col. Roosevelt would grin at me and say, ‘Now I think we are small enough. Let’s go to bed.’”
Application: James teaches us the importance of being humble.
Ron L.
* * *
James 1:17-27
I read about a man in New York City who died at the age of 63 without ever having had a job. He spent his entire adult life in college. He had acquired so many academic degrees that they looked like the alphabet behind his name. Why did this man spend his entire life in college? When he was a child, a wealthy relative died who’d named him as the beneficiary in his will. It stated that he was to be given enough money to support him every year if he stayed in school. It was to be discontinued when he had completed his education.
The man met the terms of the will, but by staying in school indefinitely, he turned a technicality into a steady income for life -- something his relative never intended. He spent thousands of hours listening to professors and reading books but never really “doing.” He never put into practice that which he’d learned.
This is, as I see it, a tragic story. It is one of misapplied learning and unutilized knowledge. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "One act of obedience is better than one-hundred sermons." James is challenging his readers in the same way. It isn’t enough to merely hear the word. A hearer only of the word is like one who looks at his reflection and turns away, forgetting what he sees. Those, however, who look into the perfect law of liberty and persevere; those who do or act, they are blessed.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Those Pharisees sound like my mother telling me I can’t eat till I wash my hands. In her case it was not a ceremony. I never washed them in a ceremonial way -- whatever that might be. My wife does the cooking and I clean up -- putting used cups and saucers in the dishwasher. It is never a ceremony. I just washed my hands because I loved and respected my mom. I did the dishes because I loved my wife and wanted to help her. I felt it was also my duty to do something to help out. Signing my name to my check or credit card is also a tradition plus obeying a law if the check or card is required.
Every family has some traditions like father always cutting the meat and mother pouring the tea.
I grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, a mostly Danish community. When some Polish people moved in from Milwaukee, they were treated as foreigners, like Jews might treat Gentiles. Their customs were different.
I should also say that I never tried to be a good child so I would inherit my folk’s estate. I hope my kids aren’t loving and kind to us just to inherit our estate.
Our Lord loves us so much that he sacrificed his son so that someday we would be with him in his eternal home.
Ceremony may not be totally wrong in itself. A couple should not get married just for the sake of the ceremony. We should not baptize our children just for the ceremony nor should we receive communion just for the traditional ceremony.
The Pharisees were so proud of themselves for keeping the traditions. Some Lutherans are too.
The Nepali converts had no traditions except for the Hindu faith they grew with, yet they came to church out of love and thanksgiving for what God had done and was doing for them. Gratitude, not pride, should be our motive.
Bob O.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
In his book Thus Spoke Zarusthustra, famed 19th-century author and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche well described the futility in how we live and behave, a futility Jesus notes in this lesson. Nietzsche observed that life lived by human prudence requires good acting, people who invent themselves. Wanting people to enjoy looking at them, their wisdom is not very wise and is rather laughable (The Portable Nietzsche, pp.255-256). It’s the dynamics of doing what society expects that lead men to feel that they cannot cry on most public occasions or forces women to face the impossible expectation of being “feminine” (not too strong), but not appearing to be weak in the public world either.
It is not just the world that has rules to its games that we must play. The church has its “games,” its artificial expectations that it expects members to play -- the raffles and other “churchy” activities, the artificial shows of affection, certain worship styles, even the “be-nice-to-their-face” while you gossip behind their back syndrome.” Jesus’ words are directed against such behavior. About such behavior, John Calvin once wrote:
Now as he [God] permits believers to have outward ceremonies, by means of which they may perform the exercises of godliness, so he does not suffer them to mix up those ceremonies with his own Word, as if religion consisted in them. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, p.249)Martin Luther wrote a hymn that puts all these behaviors, the games we play to blend in, into society. The verse epitomizes Jesus’ teachings in the lesson:
My own good works availed me naught,Mark E.
No merit they attending:...
But God beheld my wretched state
Before the world’s foundation,
And mindful of His mercies great,
He planned my soul’s salvation.
(What Luther Says, p.719)
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was all right and to tell him how sorry they were. In the middle of the chaos and words of pity from all who’d gathered, one man handed the boy a quarter. Then he turned to the group and said, “I care 25 cents worth. How much do the rest of you care?”
“How much do you care?” It’s a good question. It’s one that’s asked of Jesus. A Gentile woman of Syrophoenician origin and some friends of a deaf man want to know. The woman even has a possibly humorous and pointed discussion with Jesus about who he came for and what even the dogs get. The bottom line: both the deaf man and the woman’s daughter were healed. These stories remind me of the words of an old hymn; “Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth or song; as the burdens press, the cares distress, and the way grows weary and long? O yes, he cares. I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief.”
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
My work in the church brings me face to face with tradition and ritual. I love tradition and history. I love the rituals and rites of the church. I also recognize that sometimes our comfort with those traditions, rituals and rites, blinds us to what the church, as a community of faith, can be. The mainline church is in decline -- and I don’t think it is because people need faith or community or God less than they have. Of anything, in this tumultuous world, we may need faith, community and God more than ever before.
But unless we can show the church’s relevance and love, its mission and compassion, its hope and joy, people who do not know church, will not come into the church. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that the “letter” of the law is less important than the love and faith, the compassion and kindness, in the hearts of those who follow Jesus into relationship with God. Perhaps a loosening of traditional actions, the adopting of new rituals that promote community and relationship, and the outward expressions of the love, hope, joy and grace of God are more important than clinging to the past. What is God calling you to be in this moment in time?
Bonnie B.
