My Library... and the things which intrude upon it.

In a recent article from the website pschye.co I read about personal libraries and their role in our lives. (On a side note, I highly recommend finding this article if you, like me, love to read and have your own personal library). 

The article detailed how each library reflects the owner's tastes and preferences. The article even concludes by stating that a library could 'store memories' as a way to 'rediscover and revisit ideas and feelings, and also help you enjoy the pleasures of re-reading.' As I finished the article, I paused, and thought about the implications of what was written, and I wondered: 

Does my library store memories for me? The answer is without a doubt yes. 

Over to my left I have a copy of my old Boy Scout manual and my uncles as well. They sit next to a set of children's books I am keeping safe of JonMark and Emma until they are ready for them. By my favorite reading chair sits, neatly organized by author and subject, all of the books I used when I studied for my Doctorate in Missional Leadership. No other books are shelved on those three shelves. 

Directly in front of me are the Bibles that I use daily and next to them are my favorite commentary series (Feasting on the Word). 

Up high to my right are my favorite authors to ready all in alphabetical order: Bono, Bowler, Horowitz, May, Robinson, Winn, and Young. 

I could go on and on about the organization of my library, but it is true that my library is designed with a purpose to help me 'remember.' 

Then something came into library and upset the flow. A pile of boxes. There are eight of them (I just recounted). They will be gone in a week. They sit on my couch and they are not in the way. But something about them troubles me. I never sit on my couch. Instead, I prefer my favorite chair from IKEA. Yet the boxes distract me... and I wonder why? 

Why does something seemingly insignificant come into our lives, into what we think of as perfectly organized and honed, and upset the flow? 

I suppose this is a question that also is applicable in our faith journey. For in one moment everything seems right and proper with God; everything makes sense to us. Then we get distracted, perhaps by something that posses no actual harm or risk to us and we cannot find the focus again on what was is the most important thing for us. We forget how God called us to serve and care for others. 

In my case, I realize the boxes serve a purpose and I smile. I case of my faith, I realize that I too get distracted by details and sins that only serve to keep me separated from deepening my love of God and serving my community and the church. 

Perhaps we all can learn something today about that. I wonder if we can all refocus ourselves on how God is with us and not let a little distraction move us away from being the people God calls us to be? 

How to Prayer--Luke 11:1-13. Sermon from July 27, 2025

            “Lord, teach us to pray. . .” this one little phrase, simple as it might be, is profound.

For we conceive of God as far off, out there. In this one little phrase that often gets forgotten among the format of prayer that we are accustomed to, I hear an invitation: you and I asking God to come in close. We petition God. . . come close, be our teacher. In this one little phrase, we also infer that the lesson(s) that we are about to learn will contain something that we will take into ourselves. We will learn it; we will apply it.

            For there is not one person here, or one who is watching or hearing this at home, who cannot testify that prayer has a meaningful impactful in your life. 

Now that is not to say that prayer always mend what was broken. And prayer does not always drive away sickness and it does not always restore the body. Prayer does not always keep death always at bay. Yet we know for certain that prayer changes us as we interact with the Lord. 

            Our text today teaches us that as this unnamed disciple asks Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” there is an intimacy in those words and there is also a persistence in lesson that Jesus teaches as well. 

            Today I want to explore Luke 11 with you and see if we can discover how deeply that intimacy runs and how hard the persistence must be on our part as we offer this formulation of prayer to God. 

Move 1- intimacy

            A first, quick, glance at this text causes us to link “Lord, teach us to pray,” to the next statement… “just as John taught his disciples.” 

            Yet to me the implication of this query of Jesus, is that if Jesus shows the disciples how to pray, as they have seen him retreat and spend time with God alone and presumably pray, then they will take that model or that lesson to heart, and they will follow it. This shows a level of intimacy in their request of Jesus—it is almost a profession of faith as well. It is like this person is saying to Jesus:  

            Jesus, we believe in what you will teach us so much, blindly so much, that what you about to say, is so important to us that we will hold it close to our hearts, even though we do not know what it is yet. 

            And we have a word for this type of blindly, accepting, action. . . we call it faith. The disciples have faith in the teaching of Jesus that they are willing to accept it without fulling understanding that nature of what he will teach yet as it is being taught. For over the years of walking with him, they have developed a rich intimacy with the Jesus. And that intimacy speaks in their request to learn how to pray, presumably as he prays. 

Knowing this, Jesus gives them, and us, the right way to begin their prayer: Pah-TAIR. Father.

            In Greek this is a word that indicates a depth of human relationship between God and humanity. Occurring over 400 times it spans the divine-human relationship and is far deeper than any human relationship we have.[1] Pater is intimate. Spanning all four gospels, Jesus uses this word, Pater, Father, whenever he wishes to indicate to us how deeply connected, we are to God.

            It defines the nature of his relationship with God, and it is how He wants us to develop our relationship with God also. 

            While there is a time and a place for reverent, humble prayers, the prayer of Luke 11 is not that place. Jesus does not teach the disciples to begin their prayer with: “Lord of heaven and earth” language. Jesus does not say we are always to begin our prayer with: “All great and powerful, One who sees all.” And this is not “Creator God.” Again, there is a time and place for that type of prayer.  

Instead, here Jesus teaches us that we are to begin our prayer intimately with our Father who does happen to live in heaven and away from us. The word opens the door to the intimacy that Jesus shares with HIS Father—the same intimacy that he finds when he retreats to be alone and, we presume, contemplate things one-on-one with God. 

            There is a closeness in this type of prayer. . . or there should be from us to God. In the day that we live in, and in the struggles that we face each day, Jesus wants us to begin our pray intimately with God. 

Do you have that type of faith in Christ Jesus? Does your faith in Jesus manifest itself in that way? Does your relationship with Jesus run that deeply that you trust Him enough to speak in this way? 

Move 2- persistence

            The second thing that we discover in this text is what one author I read calls: the shameless persistence of prayer.[2] We find this concept in the illustration that Jesus offers after he teaches them the words to pray in verses 2-4. 

            You know the story. A man is tucked into bed with his children all safe and sound. But there is a knocking at his door. I imagine that the man tries to roll over pretending that he does not hear it. Pulling the blankets over his head. But there it is again. . . and again. . . and again. He does not want to answer it. He wants to let someone else do the work. But he cannot. 

            But something in his heart, Luke calls it friendship in verse 8, draws him out of bed and he helps the one at the door. That friendship is based, according to Jesus we can supposed, on two things.

            Intimacy. He would not go to the door for a stranger for it is not safe. He would not want to end up in the ditch being beaten and robbed and needing the Good Samaritan to come and save him—a reference to two weeks ago now. 

            But it is also based more specifically now on a sense of shameless persistence. The friend won’t go away. This friend persists and keeps knocking. This friend keeps asking for help. This friend does not kick the door in. They do not shout profanities at the man asleep in his bed. The person outside the door does not demand anything or shake his fist at the locked door. Rather, they keep petitioning and keep pressing in relying on the depth of relationship to do draw the sleepy, groggy man out of bed. 

Persistence.

Sometimes we have keep approaching God. Not brow-beating our Father in heaven. We just keep returning over and over to Him trusting in the depth of our relationship with him. For he is there. Our Father is there. And he is listening. 

            Do we persist enough before God… not to get an answer specifically, but because we trust God so much that we would not leave God’s presence? We persist and remain close to God in these moments.  

Move 3- personal.

            We end our text with a promise from Jesus. God our heavenly Father will respond to us when we pray. Then we held up with verse 10-12 which are transaction. Asking. Seeking. Knocking. Fish and bread being given to anyone who asks not stones or serpents. And we naturally come to think that if we pray, if we are intimately connected to the Father in heaven, then won’t he hear us and respond always to our prayer? 

            And the church, quietly, whisper… not always. For we have all prayed and it has not always worked the way we wished. We have all read verse 10-12 and believed, and persisted, and yet. . . 

            Yet this text says, if we carefully consider it says: Yes. God always responds.

But that response is not always what we think it will be. Because another thing that this prayer from Jesus is that it is quite personal. Go with me to verse 13. For in verse 13 we read: 

“How much more will the heavenly Father

give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

            Yet in the personal nature of prayer, again, Jesus never says that we will get everything that we ask for. But instead, what are we given? What is the promise that all who prayer are given? The text ends with the loving Father, the one who intimately loves us, he gives us the Holy Spirit. 

            There is nothing more we can persist in hoping for because when we are in the ditch, when we struggle, when are faith is bleak, or when we look out into the community around the church and wonder what God is going, God says, “I will send the Holy Spirit to be with you when you feel the most alone because our relationship means that much to me.”

Conclusion

            Yet another form and proof of the intimate love of God to us. When disappointment comes, and it will, and prayer seems not be answered, and it does, we fall back on the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. 

            How do we pray: we pray in honesty and we persist with God. 

 

DM

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[1] www.biblehub.com Strongs #3962.

 

[2] Cathy H. George. Lectionary article in the June 2024 Christian Century. Page 27. 

A short phone call.

Next week Bethesda is offering food assistance to our community. The Lord has blessed us with both frozen food and non-perishable food and we will share our supplies with those who need them. 

Now I know it is going to be very hot on Thursday. When I opened my weather app, I saw the early forecast says that it is going to be 97 in York (that does not take into account the heat index which will likely be higher, I assume). 

It will be hot. But we live and work in South Carolina so what do we expect in July. 

Making the flyers, posting them on social media, emailing the flyers to the church, and coping them for members to pass out to their community, it took me less that 30 minutes (I am being generous. . . it probably took less than that). 

Within a few minutes of posting the flyer to social media, the phone at the church rang. 

Our church secretary, Pat, answered the phone. I do not know the substance of the call. I only heard a small amount of the conversation, but I can guess by her answer what the caller was calling about. The call lasted less than 2 minutes. But I heard Pat say, "Yes, next week. From 4-6pm." The rest of the call was a mystery to me. I did not ask about it either. 

The call ended shortly after that detail. The air conditioner came on so nothing else could be heard. 

I kept working on the message for Sunday which is from Luke 11 about prayer. But that phone call has been in the back of my mind since then. That person was calling about the food assistance that we are offering next week and they wanted to confirm the details. 

A small step. A chance to Be the Church in the community, has already been heard by the community and people are responding and they are making plans. We do not know how our actions either as a church or as individuals will impact others. And we cannot meet all the needs around us, but perhaps today, there is something that God is inviting you to do that will help one person? 

It could be big, but often times, it is as simple as just showing up and sharing what the Lord has blessed you with. I wonder what that looks like in your life today? 

Martha and Mary--Luke 10:38-42. Sermon for July 20, 2025

            Sitting together in Bible Study, or here in the worship space, that takes one level of concentration and discipline—an expected level. There is an unspoken understanding of how, and what, we are to be focusing upon in these moments. 

            Paying attention in the moment. For some people it is harder than the words imply for we are a culture that prides itself on multitasking and being in two places at once. If you don’t believe me, then answer for me, and I don’t want anyone to do it out loud (please don’t): what are your plans for lunch today? 

            I suspect that as soon as I asked the question a fully formed image, and a plan, and even perhaps, a smell came crystalizing into place. Whether you are at home watching the service, or here with us, we do many things at once. You knew exactly what the next steps look like and when and where you needed to be even if your attention should on God’s word here—and don’t worry my mind would do the same thing.  

            Currently my Apple Watch is tracking my heart rate and respiration levels, and I will check that data later today to see. But also, my iPad has been updating me in real time if anyone comes too close to the manse. Our Ring doorbell will alert me, even in church when I should be thinking only about what God’s word says to my heart and soul, but then the I get alerted and my focus drifts away. . . And don’t worry no one has come close to the house. 

            My point is that our focus moves back and forth from what one thing to another often without us even knowing it or without us choosing to allow it. And that second phrase: choose to allow it, is the most important part for our reflection today on this Bible passage. But this story asks us to dwell in this moment, in this story, in these words only and not get distracted. 

            Jesus has just finished teaching us the parable of the Good Samaritan. And as I said last week, I believe that He is the Good Samaritan. I believe we are the ones in the ditch who need Him to pick us up out of that ditch and to care for us. 

            Perhaps the only way that we will be fully able to take this lesson into ourselves is if we resist the urge to be distracted by what is happening all around us—a very real temptation for most of us. A temptation that manifests itself in our next story.  

            I want to continue asking us to look at these familiar stories. Today I wonder, what matters most? 

Move 1- the context

            From teaching the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus will next travel to the home of Mary and Martha—which is a safe place for him. But overall, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the final time. So, his mind is on his final destination and work to be done once he reaches that place. There is a heaviness that lives behind this story. 

We know much about the shape of evening at the sister’s home. Mary does one thing… Martha the other. Then Jesus, as he often does, offers a commentary that is designed to bring them both together under God. 

Neither is condemned or rebuffed for their choice.

For starters, Martha is the host of the evening. As the host her role is set. She is responsible for Jesus’ care and everything that happens that night. From the conversation to the food, to the overall atmosphere while everyone is with her, Martha’s watchful eye is on each detail. And we can infer that she takes this responsibility seriously. 

Then we have Mary, who in contrast, seems to sit passively by Jesus’ knee. But the wording used here by Luke is anything by passive. Instead, Mary’s choice is spiritually mandated. She is listening to Jesus as a form of preparation. Hearing to heed. 

            And so, it seems that Luke sets up a choice for the reader: Mary or Martha. Luke seems to ask the reader to look at their own life and wonder which character they identify with more: Martha the host, or Mary the listener? 

            And then, as we begin to feel ourselves drawn to one or the other, as our internal traits draw us to either the host or the listener, Jesus enters the story again. And as Jesus enters the story, he tells Martha that only one thing is necessary (or needed). And while he then says that Mary has chosen it, he does not fully say what that thing is. We are left to infer it while not judging Martha for seeming to have missed it or lost it. 

Move 2- the choice.

            And so, I wonder: What is the better choice?

            Now we always say that the better choice is to be Mary. To sit at Jesus’ knee. To be the disciple who listens and absorbs the teachings of Jesus. I will tell you that is where my mind and spirit naturally gravitate when I first read this account. 

Yet someone must make sure that the evening is running smoothly. Someone must make sure the church is functioning properly. There are guests in the home; guests who are hungry, guests who need to experience and receive hospitality and the warmth of Christian love. Someone must do this work too. For it is important and it cannot be left to someone else. 

Not everyone can sit and let someone else do the necessary work.

But make no mistake, Jesus tells Martha that in her work, Martha has become distracted. . . frantic. . . she has taken a misstep. 

            The challenge is that in Martha’s distracted state she has become so frantic; so, pulled apart by what she is witnessing on this night. And while there is some justification for her state, and some, like myself, would say she is justified at times for it, her choice risks damaging the potential for discipleship that is necessary and essential for the church to flourish and function—an important distinction. 

As Cynthia Jarvis said: “A church [or a person like Martha] that has been led to be “worried and distracted by many things” (verse 41) inevitably will be a community that dwells in the shallows of frantic potlucks, of anxious stewardship campaigns, and events designed to perpetuate the institution. Decisions will be made in meetings without a hint of God’s reign. Food and drink will appear at table without Christ being recognized in the breaking of bread. . . [Then she concludes by saying] This often leads to a congregation getting downright ornery.”[1]

 

            But Mary can also be no different from her distracted sister. For she too could just sit there and not realize that the call to hear the Savior, and hear His teaching, must lead her to further her discipleship. It must lead her to examine the very things that distract Martha. Jesus’ teaching must lead Mary to stand up from Jesus’ knee and ‘do’ something. For Mary, and we, cannot just sit here and hope that it will all be okay because we came to church today. 

            Because the church cannot function in this community, or in its day-to-day work, if we are not asking “Who is God calling us to be? And what is that meaningful thing, the meaningful work, that we should be focusing upon because of what we are hearing from the mouth, and the word of the Lord?” 

Be it stewardship. Be it evangelism. Be it service.

            The choice sits before us to pay attention to the voice of the Lord and act accordingly to how God is speaking to us for if we are rushing around too much, or if we are just passively sitting here waiting for someone else to fix things, then we could miss what the Good Samaritan might be doing in our midst and how the Lord calls each of us to focus on what is necessary and what is vital as we hear from God.

Move 3- what is the choice?

            The better choice than is simply to focus on Jesus. And while that sounds simplistic and not revolutionary. 

            If Martha focused only on Jesus, she might find that place where the preparations stopped and the joyfulness of church functioning returned. The place where personal stewardship returned and she use her gifts to their fullest while not overdoing it and not burning out. She would not be frantic. She would not be distracted. But would serve God fully and completely in a way that makes use of her gifts to glorify the Lord. 

            And if Mary focused on Jesus’ words and what they called her to do, she too would stand and carry the message of the cross with her to others. Now with Mary it is likely that she would do this. But the temptation is there for us to just sit here and let our focus drift away idly. 

            No, we must take the word of the Lord with us. We must remain focused while functioning as the church in service, in faith, in evangelism, and stewardly as we use what God has given us to care for the church and see that Bethesda continues to flourish as the church God calls us to be. 

            For we can be distracted, and we can become frantic, and we can become passive and wait for the world to figure out that Jesus is Lord. 

Conclusion

            I hope that as you leave church today, you will take Mary and Martha with you into each encounter that you have. And as you take then with you, you will use their lessons to help show others the value of noticing and paying attention to how Jesus is with them. 

Dm

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[1] Feasting on the Word. 

Oh, so many stories to hear. . .

One of the great joys in serving the Church of Jesus is the opportunity that I have to serve members of the church communion in their home. I enjoy these visits for they give me the opportunity to dwell with the Body of Christ in a personal way. I have the chance to listen and to hear so much. 

Of course, each visit begins in a similar fashion. We begin by catching up. . . "How are you? How you are feeling?" But it isn't long before the sacredness of the visit takes over, and if you are not careful, you might just miss when God walks into the room. 

Hearing about the joy of the hummingbirds coming to the windows, or the pride in how a granddaughter comes to get a soda and sandwich often, those are more than just casual stories. They tell of a sacredness, a richness. They have a depth to them that speaks about how God is at work in the life of a family, and in that person, specifically. 

As I listen I have the chance to sit back and enjoy the blessing of just being present while hearing about the daily miracles that take place in someone else's life. Then, just as the story begins to take shape, God steps in and reminds all of us, that He was here the whole time just waiting for us to be still. 

It was God who brought the squirrel onto the porch. God moved that person to send the card of blessing to another friend who needed it. God nurtured the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter. God fostered a home of peace where health might be failing but where God is present all the more as a resolute foundation. 

Healing flows in each story... if we take the time to dwell and to listen. 

J. Parker Vaughn said it this way: 

"We can remind the church that healing comes not through assent to a particular doctrine, but through the struggle and development of a caring relationship. We can model for the community of faith, a form of evangelism that strives to be responsive to the metaphor of the cross. As [and the church] we hold forth [this] good news for the church!"

Every time we come together, either as the church or as friends and family, we have the opportunity to continue in this work of listening and relationship building. It can be formal or informal--but it should always be done in Christ. So I wonder today, if God is asking you to dwell with someone, listen to someone's story, as a way to help them heal and be heard? 

What does that look like and I wonder how that might help healing come for you both? 

The Good Samaritan--Luke 10:25-37. Sermon for July 13, 2025

            One of the benefits of the parables of Jesus is that there is always something to learn when the church takes the time to consider them. As we slow down and meditate upon each story, and lesson, the church can grow in their faith by wondering what Jesus is teaching—even in a parable as familiar as the Good Samaritan—there is the opportunity for us to grow. 

            So today I want us to think about these familiar words from Luke 10 which is a story that we have read and considered since early in our faith walks. 

            But before we consider any application of these words, let’s first see how the parable begins.

Move 1- Who is Jesus talking about? 

            Our passage begins with an encounter. A lawyer is talking with Jesus, and he has a question. However, this person is more than a simple lawyer as we would define them by 21^st century standards. 

By station this person was tasked with 3 distinct roles marking him as different from the Pharisees who normally challenge Jesus’ authority and question him. And those roles are:  

A. Continuing to master the Torah. This individual studied the Torah and considered it often. This would something like what you and I do in Sunday School or Bible study. 

B. Familiarity with the oral traditions. More than just copying and considering the Torah (which was part of their daily task), this person was also familiar with the teachings (or the applications) related to the Torah that was passed down from the rabbis. So, he knows the text and he also is aware of the interpretation of the text. An important distinction here to note.

C. Recognized authority over difficult legal cases. When a legal dispute came into the community, this person was charged with adjudicating these disputes fairly based on their studies and their understanding of God’s Law in totality taking oral tradition and the formal text and holding them both before the dispute and then making a ruling.

            In this case, we might consider the lawyer who is speaking with Jesus in Luke 10 to fill a position that looks more like a hybrid between judges and lawyers in our current cultural context. 

            While they might have interacted with Pharisees often, and have frequent run-ins with them, a lawyer such as they, was not the religious arm of the nation of Israel. 

            So, when this person, whose name is lost to history, asks Jesus these two questions that begin our text, he knows where they questions originate from in the Torah, and he would have a solid understanding of how Mosaic Law would prescribe, and he would know the mandated answer to both questions. 

            So, Jesus is confronted by this person who should know the answer to the very question being asked of him. 

            And we can conclude that Jesus is being baited into a trap. . . But a trap he won’t fall into. 

Move 2- Jesus is the Samaritan

            When we come to Jesus with a question, we think we have the answer to and want Jesus to affirm our answer, there are times when the Lord offers us a different direction to reflect upon. . . this is one of those moments. 

            Jesus offers a response in the form of a parable that you are familiar with. 

A man is travelling the 17 miles between Jerusalem and Jericho. The road is treacherous, sloping down 3,000 feet from the Holy City of Jerusalem to its destination in Jericho.[1] As such it is rocky, and it is curvy. The topography is a mixture providing suitable places for bandits and criminals to hide—and you know what happens next. 

            The man in our story is robbed, beaten, stripped, and left for dead.

            Three people come by and all three have the same choice in how to act. Two ignore him; one does not. 

            It is the last one that we always focus upon for he provides a rebuke, we believe, of the legalism of the first two.

            We typically consider the first two (the priest and Levite) to represent the institutional church—and we are cautioned to be careful that we do not become like those two characters. Uncaring. More worried about the letter of the law that does not consider who our neighbor is and what the Lord asks of us. 

            Then we naturally focus on the last person who finds the beaten man, and we are then drawn to wonder about that person.  

            So, let me ask you to consider the Samaritan. . . Who is this unnamed man? The text gives clues for us. 

            For me the most glaring clue is found in verse 33. Luke says that the Samaritan was “moved with pity.” And the verb used here is translated as pity, but it is also rendered accurately as compassion. 

Whenever we hear the word pity in our context today, we often think of it negatively or in condescension. But the word here carries none of that tone. As does happen at times, we add the negative tone. 

Every narrative use of this verb in the gospels is a hinge between human need and divine intervention. The nine other times it is used narratively in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke have Jesus displaying COMPASSION as he looks out at the very people that he has been sent to. For instance, “Jesus looks upon the people, and he has COMPASSION upon them for the were like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36. Not a use of negative pity but loving compassion.

            The other three times this word occurs in the New Testament? 

We have the Prodigal Father seeing his son coming home and he is moved with COMPASSION and runs to restore his lost son. 

            In Matthew 18, the Lord of the house sees that his servant cannot repay his debt, and he has COMPASSION on him, and he releases the debt. 

            And finally in Luke 10, the Good Samaritan, has pity, or COMPASSION, on someone who through no fault of their own is beaten, wounded, and in need of salvation.

            In this case, who is the Good Samaritan? 

I wonder if it is Jesus and not the Church Universal, not the Church local, and the aspiring Church-to-be. 

I wonder if parable is telling us today that Father, has sent the Good Samaritan, an outsider, someone who does not belong here, someone who was not born here, to come and to find the broken, the lost, and the wounded, and to give of Himself, sacrificially, to help and restore the one in the ditch?

So, when the lawyer asks who is my neighbor, and who does the law call me to care for, we find Jesus offering a very specific answer? 

Move 3- the one in the ditch.

            So then this begs the question, who’s in the ditch? 

            And I suspect that you can guess that I think the one in the ditch is you and me. The church both local and historic. For through no fault of our own we have found ourselves in the ditch separated from wholeness with God. 

            In the case of our parable, the Good Samaritan does what the institutional church, and the lawyer, will not do, as he looks for his neighbor. Jesus practices being with, and from last week— Jesus shares the burden—when he is free to pass the work off. 

The Good Samaritan Lord has COMPASSION on those who are broken, and he is willing to care for each of us for we know what it feels like to be beaten down as we travel from one place to another along the path of life. We know what it feels like to be set upon and left for dead by people who judge us to NOT be their neighbor by the letter of a law that they choose to elevate.  

            This then leads me back to our conversation from Galatians from the last two weeks. 

If we are truly in the ditch, and if we need a Good Samaritan, a Savior, to find us, to give of himself for us, to make sure that we are cared for, and to come back at a later time for us to insure that we are fully healed and restored, then should we not be working testify about the goodness of the Savior who helped us and found us when no one else was willing to do that work on our behalf? 

For in myself I am not redemptive. You are not redemptive. No church building is redemptive, and neither is a church ministry—only the Lord who pulls us out of the ditch can save us. We may aspire to be the Good Samaritan, but this text causes me to pause and wonder about the nature of the one would willing care for the broken when others pass by. 

            Should we not be working together to make sure that we are not biting and devouring one another and then the share the burdens with those we know who are hurting and beaten just like us? 

            While others have passed right by us, while they have walked right by thinking they have all the answers to all the questions, the Good Samaritan has sacrificial compassion on us, and actually on them. For nowhere in the parable do we see him judge them or complain about them either. 

Conclusion

            If the Lord is indeed the Good Samaritan, then we have an important role in this parable—even if we are in the ditch. And as I have said it is one of testimony and it is one of evangelism. 

            So, as we think about our Good Samaritan who finds us and rescues us, can we also notice how we are then called to be present in the lives of other members of the Body of Christ who themselves have been wounded and left by the wayside by others? Can share this good news with them and help to turn to the one who loves them and will care for them as we too have been cared for? 

---

[1] https://www.rotation.org/topic/bible-background-for-the-good-samaritan. Accessed on July 9, 2025. 

Bread crumbs on my hands.

Having just partaken in Holy Communion, my mind has been thinking a great deal recently about the nourishing nature of bread. One detail that often comes to mind when I stand behind the Table of the Lord, and before the Body of Christ, is the crumbs that fall into my Book of Common Worship as I break the bread during the Communion liturgy. 

I often find myself rubbing my hands together as I finish the liturgy as a way of cleaning them off before proceeding. A fine dust of flour and crumbs falls on the pages of my book each time and I wonder if Jesus had the same experience during His Last Supper? 

Those crumbs stay wedged in my book until the next time I open the pages and begin the liturgy again and I invite the Body of Christ to come to the Table of the Lord with me. 

In my heart the Communion Table is a sacred space and a space made open by Jesus for us. 

As a Presbyterian student pastor, I was unable to administer communion for 4 years when I first began preaching God's word, so now communion remains very special to me. It reminds me that God's care of myself, my family, and the Church, takes on a form that I often cannot vocally express. How is it that simple bread and juice means so much to me that I wept the first time I stood behind the table and said those words of Jesus to the Body of Christ? 

This morning I was reading Isaac S. Villegas' words about manna, and as I read them, I heard echoes of Communion and God's care for us that I wanted to share with you. He wrote:

"God sends manna because God cares for the human needs, God's love matters for our lives. To talk about care is to get specific about the nature of God's love. God's care is what God's love looks like; care is what God's love feels like."

You may not be taking communion today, but I suspect that you will have the opportunity to enjoy some bread, and as you do, maybe you will feel the crumbs on your hands. As you to, I wonder if you might pause and remember the care of God and the love of God that can be found in bread? And if you feel the crumbs, give thanks to the Lord for the care that He offers to you. . .  

Bearing Gently--Galatians 6:1-6. Sermon from Sunday July 6, 2025

     Last week I ended with the word that I believe sums up the freedom that comes in Christ, a word that speaks about our value to God. It is also the word that symbolizes how Jesus invites us to come to him, to be with him, to dwell with him, and last week I said that word is: communion.

Now as we return to Galatians, we finish around this table with Paul’s concluding words to the Church. For chapter 6 invites us to adopt a posture when we are together.    

Move 1- sharing the burden

         While one concept in verse 2 gains the lion’s share of the emphasis and consideration when this chapter is read, I want us to remember what Paul says to the church in Galatia—but from a slightly different emotional direction. For the church in Galatia is a church that in chapter 1:4, is guilty of, “turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.”[1] This is how Paul began his letter. 

         These are people of the church, like you and me, people who are called by God, and people who have turned their calling. And while we do have chapters in Galatians to articulate that ‘turning,’ the same sin is always at work in the church.   

For five chapters now Paul has called the Church back toward Christ. 

He has called them to live faithfully in response to their high calling from God. As I said last week, Paul reminded them of their freedom in Christ. This freedom leads to care for one another, and it leads the Church to serve their community. And while that calling, to a people who appear lost, or confused, or misguided, could be seen as a word of rebuke. . . at the end of this letter, Paul uses a different approach. 

         Rather than hold some up, or wag his finger at others, in verse 2 Paul, draws out humility. . . Paul calls forth gentleness in our practice of faith when we are together and as we go out among the people. Paul asks each of us to look at the works of other members of the church and to take a sense of pride in their work and not in ours. 

         In the concluding words from Paul the church is told to gently and humbly help one another (verse 1). And in verse 2, “share each other’s burden.”[2]

If you were following with me in your Bible, you might have read, “bear one another’s burdens,” that is the rendering from the NRSV and KJV is close to that. And while that is right, and I do not want to fault any translation committee or the work they have done, I wonder what it would look like if the church of Jesus saw what we do not as ‘bearing a burden’ but as ‘sharing the burden?”

And there is a significant difference to consider here. 

         As we come to the Table of the Lord, that is the focus for you, and that is the invitation for us. As we think about as the bread that is broken and the cup that is passed, how are we ‘sharing the burden?’ 

But this is not the end of our thinking or reflecting. . . As you leave this service, or watch it later, or listen to it in the future, think about what happens in your life, and the life of this community as we stop simply ‘bearing burdens’ but ‘sharing that same burden?’

         And as I said there is a difference. 

Move 2- the difference.

         The first thing to note about the difference is that for Paul and in his word choice here, there is a sense of gentleness in this pericope when we share the burden as the church. Throughout verses 1-6 Paul reinforces his meaning by using words that are filled, or identified with, gentleness. . . Gentle verbs. . . And gentle actions. Just a quick glance at the text and you will find them: 

         “A spirit of gentleness”—verse 1. Right from the beginning Paul sets the table for how the posture of this work should look. Gentle. . . humble restoration taking place. In a community where this choice is not often elevated, consider how counter cultural this choice would be?!? 

         Then carries that tone forward in verse 3 where he writes: “If you think you are too important to help someone…you are not.” While we might read it, and add a tone of rebuke to these words, Paul does not. In his writing that tone is missing.  

         But the Apostle is not done yet in helping to remind us of our place with each other, In verse 4 Paul says, “you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to others.”[3]  

         On and on it goes. We are responsible for our own actions and we are called by God to be gentle when considering the actions of others. We are called to be humble and kind, rather than brash, aggressive, or judgmental. That posture is left for God alone. Our eyes firmly fixed on who Jesus calls us to be and not on what someone else is doing. This choice, this posture helps return to back to verse 2 where we are sharing the burden. And the word for sharing also occurs in this formulation in Luke 10:4 where the disciples are sent out into their community and told to ‘carry’ or ‘bear’ nothing with them. But to rely on the gentleness and goodness of the people to whom they travel and witness to. 

Further, when we dig a bit deeper into the text and into Paul’s theological lexicon again, we learn that for Paul:


“The community [of the church] is obliged to rally around the overwhelmed [rally around each other], while individuals remain responsible for the stewardship God assigns [to] them. . . Here the ‘call to share the burden’ functions as a call for patient, and sacrificial fellowship.” (Taken from Biblebub.com)

           In this sense we are not doing the work for someone else, but we are providing the space, the safe space, for them to encounter God and allow God’s self-revelation to mold, shape, and change them.
For congregational life thrives when believers share one another’s burdens while not neglecting individual responsibility that comes from discipleship and the faithful on God’s word personally. We do not do the work for the other person. But when we are with them, when we hold them, as we have done before at this church with those who grieve, those who are healing, we share a burden as the Body of Christ and as Paul calls us to do.

               We surround each other, providing a safe space to work out own salvation and faith continually in the Freedom that comes in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion
        And this freedom leads us back to the Table of the Lord which is set before us.

[1] Galatians 1:4 NLT. 

 

[2] Galatians 6:2 NLT. 

 

[3] All scriptures in this section are taken from the New Living Translation. 

Time to replant. But I have not done this before.

This past spring JonMark helped me select three plants to put in my office (four if you count the one he gave me from his biology class). We left the nursery and he repotted them and gave me some basic instructions: water them (but too much), and make sure they get plenty of sun... but not too much. And throughout the spring my plants prospered. 

The cactus, well, I just left that one alone. Cactuses thrives with little water and plenty of heat. So this summer, I am seeing what I assume is signs of vitality and joy. Spikes have grown all over the cactus as have a white, cottony, substance on the top. That one is doing well. 

The succulent is growing like crazy. I water it once a week. Turn it occasionally so each side gets plenty of sun and, as Elsa would tells us. . . I let it go. This one started close to four inches high and now it is about a foot tall. As I look at it I think, 'yeah I can do this.'

The aloe plant in my coffee cup also is doing fine. Five mini stalks are growing and I will need to do something about that. It is getting too big for the cup. We put this in a cup without repotting it so the water can drip through the soil and not get overwatered and the evaporate back into the soil--I think. JonMark said something about this being a special way to help to grow and not take on too much water.

But the orange marmalade. That poor plant. Today I went to check on it, and, well now I have an empty pot to work with. The plant completely broke free from its root system and died. Truth be told I was wondering what I was doing wrong with this one for some time. I never saw a flower bloom which is why I bought it in the first place. So now I need to move the aloe into the former home of the marmalade. It needs more space to grow anyway. 

Truth be told though I have too much to do today! 

I am too busy to take the two pots to the kitchen counter and perform the task of repotting a plant. While I know it will only take five minutes at the most, I am just too busy. Maybe I will call Emma and ask her to do it? 

While you may not have had the same struggles that I am having with plants today, I bet you are familiar with the mindset--too busy for a five minute task. Maybe even too busy to spend a little extra time with the Lord. 

In her book Sabbath in the Suburbs, I remembered the words of MaryAnn McKibben Dana where she wrote something to my heart as I kept looking at the pots on my window sill throughout this morning: 

"I didn't want to live the kind of life in which an extra four minutes were so crucial to my schedule that I would petition the county government to get my way. . . [But] I, too, treated time as a sacred commodity to be hoarded. It was a constant struggle to keep from gripping tightly to every four-minute nugget of time, maximizing every moment, multitasking as if my life depended on it." 

I wonder if today, you can locate those extra four minutes... maybe five. Give them over to the Lord and notice how differently your day will become. I bet you will be surprised.  

Oh, as for the fifth plant. The African violet is fine... I think. It is still just a leaf that I water and wait, but I hear those plants are often tough to deal with. But I will be patient and watchful.