Today my brothers and sisters in Christ, we come together as the church to commemorate the memorials of three siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were close friends with and were followers of Jesus. Together they hosted Jesus in their home on more than one occasion. Yet, on one such visit from Jesus, they Martha and Mary chose two very different actions, and the way that Jesus reacted to their choices is a very valuable lesson for us today. Let’s review the story (Luke 10:38-42):

Martha is worried

Martha was rushing around, serving and doing her best to make everything good for their beloved guest. And where was Mary when Martha needed a hand? She chose to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening as He spoke.

It’s pretty easy to imagine how that made Martha feel. Irritated, frustrated, resentful. Why should she be doing all the work? Wasn’t it only righteous for Mary to be helping out? In fact, Martha felt so justified in her indignation that she went and talked to Jesus about it. “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me,” she said to Him.

But, instead of backing her up in her demand, Jesus rebuked her! “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

This must have felt like a slap in the face for Martha. Here she was, doing everything in her power to be hospitable and make it good. And Mary just sat there, and what she was doing was the right thing?

Sound familiar?

Getting our priorities right

It can become so easy for us to get wrapped up in all the things we need to do and the things that need to be accomplished that we lose sight of what the most important thing is. Isn’t it possible that we can get too wrapped up in the cares of life? Jesus makes this even more clear in the parable He told about the sower. “He who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” Matthew 13:22.

The highest priority in our lives needs to be choosing the good part, as Mary did: to learn of Jesus so that we can become like Him. It’s a love and devotion to Him that makes everything else of secondary importance. It is to seek the riches of wisdom and understanding that are in Him. If we don’t do this, how can we follow Him, how can we be His disciples? A disciple learns of the Master.

This is not an excuse to be lazy, and not take responsibility for anything. That is another trap entirely. We are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only! (James 1:22) But what we do has to be led by the Spirit, whose voice we learn to hear by choosing the good part. There is no blessing in running our own lives based on our human understanding of what is important. Mary understood that she needed to learn more of her Master and to seek the things that have eternal value. It’s when we do that that we can be a blessing, because then all of our works are Spirit-driven. Love causes us to listen, to learn, and to keep His commandments. (1 John 5:3)

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27.

Take heed to yourself

We can be in danger of falling into the same trap that Martha did. We can be so troubled by what we perceive as negative behavior in others, and become so self-righteous in our good works that we start to judge others for not doing as we do. Satan is the one behind these kinds of thoughts. He whispers lies and accusations, trying to create as much conflict as he can. His aim is to lead people as far in the opposite direction of “the good part” as he possibly can – to lead them away from Jesus. To listen to him and agree with him leads to all kinds of unrest and trouble and worry. We need to slam the door on his deceitfulness!

“Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you,” it’s written in 1 Timothy 4:16. Only that will do us any good in life. The wrong choice that Martha made wasn’t that she was serving and doing good. It was that in her work she had demands and criticism on Mary, rather than doing what Jesus taught herself! If we are living before the face of God, we have no cause to look around at what others are doing and feel that we have a right to pass judgement on them. We live in obedience to the Spirit’s promptings in our own lives, and what others do is none of our business. We don’t know how He is leading others.

Let’s rise above all the noise and pursuits of this world and seek those things which have eternal value. Like Mary, let’s find that fellowship with the Master and with those who follow Him so that we can learn of Him and become like Him. Through the Word of God, fellowship, and prayer we become rich in our spirit, and God will give us everything we need in abundance.

 “Finally, dear brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8.

We all know some people who have very high ambitions. It can range from wanting to win the lottery maybe, or getting a certain perfect job. Maybe a top-class car, a mansion or lots of wealth and possessions. Even in some churches, I have seen those whose only ambition is to become a Bishop, nothing else is good enough for them, the ambition of power and status.

Whilst some ambition is a good thing, if you are setting goals for yourself or for an organisation, it is when our ambition loses its balance and ignores the consequences for others, that ambition can become toxic and corrupt.

We have an example of over ambition in our Gospel reading today from Matthew. James and his brother John, who together with Peter are the three favoured apostles, approached Jesus together with their mother. According to Matthew, it was indeed their mother who asks Jesus to promise her sons would get the highest places in His heavenly Kingdom. Jesus responds directly to James and John and Jesus recognising the possibility of corruption in their ambition, Jesus puts a stop to it by asking them, “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” Without truly understanding what they had agreed to, they replied that they could. Jesus knowing full well what awaited them, concurred with their agreement. Just like a good parent will give their teenage children a realistic picture of what to expect in Adult life, Jesus tells them that indeed they will have much to suffer.

James the Apostle that we celebrate today, became the first Martyr amongst the apostles. Jesus knew that ambition wasn’t a bad thing in itself, and he didn’t wish to extinguish his apostles enthusiasm, indeed it’s an enthusiasm about eternal life, it’s a goal that each and every one of is should indeed have as great things are rarely achieved without both enthusiasm and suffering. Jesus just needed to refocus their ambition, so that they would truly understand not just the goal of eternal life, but also the true nature of the pathway that that is required to achieve this goal. Jesus knowing that the Apostles could possibly succumb to the temptations of personal ambition, gave the Twelve apostles a lecture on power and authority to remind them that authority in the kingdom must not imitate the authority that is ever so present in the world.

Jesus tells them that their role as his apostles =the first shepherds of His church, was not to rule but instead was to serve. Jesus didn’t only tell them to serve only each other and the lowly of the world, but offers himself as an example -revealing to them that he will go so far as to sacrifice his very life for the sake of all humanity. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many”. Jesus is telling James, John and the other apostles that the ambitious are blessed, but that their ambition must not be driven by self=assertion, but by self=extinction. This message also goes the same for us today, that we always act with Thanksgiving and praise :Thanksgiving because all that we have, all that we are, all that we achieve =all of this is solely given to us by the Grace of God, and praise because all that we do must be for the Glory of God and not for ourselves.

Let us pray :

O Gracious God,

We remember before you today thy servant and Apostle James, the first amongst the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the name of Jesus Christ ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that Spirit of self=denying service by which alone they may have true authority amongst thy people, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

In the ✠ Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

This passage in particular naturally presents itself as a challenge to many preachers, including myself. These holy words from our Lord and Savior have been weaponized and misrepresented by humans to condemn other members of the human family in pre-judgement of their salvation for centuries. We see this by many Christians who explicitly and outwardly spew hate against our neighbors. But even more subtly, we also see this in our own congregations– against each other and even amongst ourselves.

It begs asking the question of what even is the place of gnashing of teeth anyway? If we were to ask Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, the three children who were visited by Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 in Portugal, they would be very illustrative in their descriptions. In Lucia’s own words, as later recorded in her memoirs, she said: “Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.” The children were profoundly affected by this vision, which contributed to their later lives of prayer and penance. The Roman Catholic Church has officially endorsed the Fatima events as worthy of belief, and Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis have all made hefty endorsements.

CS Lewis, a legendary theologian and Christian apologist thinks otherwise, however. In his work “The Great Divorce,” Lewis presents an allegorical vision of Hell as a gray, dull town where it’s always raining and everyone is distant from each other. The residents are free to leave at any time for Heaven but often choose not to, either because they’re comfortable with their habits or they have nurtured some resentment or desire that they refuse to give up. In this sense, Lewis viewed Hell less as a place of fiery torment, as it is traditionally conceived, and more as a state of self-chosen isolation from God, others, and one’s own best self.

In “Mere Christianity,” Lewis wrote, “In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of Hell, is itself a question: ‘What are you asking God to do?’ To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does.” Essentially, Lewis viewed Hell as a product of human freedom. God has made a way for people to come to him, but he also respects their free choice to reject him. This notion is sometimes summated by the saying “the doors of Hell are locked from the inside”.

As is evident, there is a wide range of theologies regarding what happens in Hell, who goes there, and why some are sent there. This becomes further complicated by the fact that many allegorical depictions of Hell in the western world are inadvertently conflated with the fictional work of Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno”, wherein nine concentric circles, each of which punishes a different category of sin with a torment that reflects the nature of that sin.

It is important to note that regardless of one’s own personal theological opinion on this matter, that we center our hearts on the truth that Christ Jesus has already prevailed over the gates of Hell, and through his Passion and Holy Sacrifice, has purchased the salvation of all of our souls. We also know from the Gospels that those who were victims of public casting of stones were actually the closest to receive God’s grace and mercy.

My siblings in Christ, the best way we can assure our place in the Kingdom of Heaven is to help make Earth as it is in Heaven. Through radically recognizing the Christ in all peoples, we use our souls and our bodies to invoke God’s grace and mercy in our communities. Rather than quick condemnation, we ought to trade in our judgment gavels for opportunities of patience and empathy.

Pope John Paul II’s Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima

Mother of all individuals and peoples, you know all their sufferings and hopes. In your motherly heart you feel all the struggles between good and evil, between light and darkness, that convulse the world: accept the plea which we make in the Holy Spirit directly to your heart, and embrace with the love of the Mother and Handmaid of the Lord those who most await this embrace, and also those whose act of entrustment you too await in a particular way. Take under your motherly protection the whole human family, which with affectionate love we entrust to you, O Mother. May there dawn for everyone the time of peace and freedom, the time of truth, of justice and of hope.

“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

In the ✠ Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Historically, when Dominicans are taught to preach, we are generally told not to view Holy Scripture as historical documents that necessitate eloquent interpretation. Likewise, we are not supposed to read the Holy Gospels with the intention of discovering a hidden meaning or a novel theological epiphany that hasn’t already been debated by biblical scholars and theolo-gicians throughout the ages. While at first glance this might appear seemingly contrary to the very nature of preaching, it calls us to be attentive to the text in a rather mystically intimate way.

When we prepare to preach at the pulpit, our heart is set on discerning how the living Word is speaking to us in the context of today. The Spirit kindles our heart, and our heart informs our mind to articulate aspects of the divine essence in human words. This is the same Spirit that bestowed the gift of speaking the language of the people on the day of Pentecost. The Dominican is first called to contemplate, and then consequently, has a responsibility to share the fruits of our contemplation for the salvation of souls.

The United Church of Christ in particular does an excellent job of nurturing this truth that “God is still speaking”. Furthermore, not only do we interact with the living Word, we believe every Christian has an apostolic call to bear witness to how God authors the Gospel in our everyday life as an extension of our shared priesthood gifted to us at baptism.

Aside from preaching, we have already iterated that a prerequisite to faithful speech is to start by actively listening with open ears, a curious mind, and a softened heart. On the Feast of Thomas the Apostle, you might even recall that we previously discussed how listening to God requires a risky leap of faith that flies in the face of societal norms. It has become normative to subject Christ unto our own desires as opposed to submitting ourselves fully unto Christ’s subjection. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

We also discussed how taking this leap of faith is inherently sacrificial. By rejecting the world and submitting ourselves to the will of God, we die to the world and increase in God’s abounding merciful grace.

Each day we discern God’s will and make a considerable attempt to choose Him over the world,  “we offer and present ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice.” That we might be filled with His grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with Him, that He may dwell in us, and we in Him. In fact, we affirm this every Sunday in the ultimate Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Indeed, seeing and hearing are choices we make using our freewill. In doing so, we look intently towards the heavens, and we lift up our hearts to listen to the Word that comes from the mouth of God. My beloved siblings in Christ, God is speaking to you every single day. Are you listening?

Prayer Attributed to St. Dominic

May God the Father, who made us, bless us.

May God the Son, who redeemed us, send healing into our midst.

May God the Holy Spirit, who gives us life, move within us.

May God give us eyes to see to God, ears to hear God, and hands to bring God’s work into the world.

May we walk with God and preach the word of God to all. May the angel of peace watch over us and lead us at last by God’s grace to the eternal Kingdom.

‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ (“Matthew 11:29 ESV – Take my yoke upon you, and learn from – Bible Gateway”)

Karl Marx notably wrote that religion was the ‘sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it was the spirit of a spiritless situation’. At first glance, Jesus’ words in the gospel of this Sunday may seem to offer a rather simplistic and strange way to follow. Come to me, all who labor and are oppressed, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke, and you will find rest.

In fact, we would not be far from Marx’s view if we were to interpret these words as an invitation to accept our labor and predicament without complaint, as oppressed people accepting everything in the hope of finding the pie in the sky!

So, how could we properly understand these words? Christianity does not invite us to accept any kind of yoke like oppressed creatures. Rather, Christianity is a call to simplicity and authenticity.

Jesus’ words are first of all a call to simplicity: as human beings living in society, we build our lives on principles, rules and laws, and we think that this will help us to grow. Yet, these laws and rules are necessary, but their existence cannot lead us to lose sight of the only reason why we need them: to reinforce our love for God and for our neighbors.

What Jesus invites us to discover is to do by love what we have been taught to do by duty, and this is simplicity, because, in this way, our only rule is the Love of God. Too often, however, we fulfil our duties simply by duty, like religious petty bureaucrats without freedom who forget the spirit of our rules and laws. This is precisely the reproach Jesus made to the Pharisees: to lose sight of the center implies to make things more difficult.

Therefore, against the Pharisees who made the ancient law more oppressive, difficult and heavy, Jesus invites his disciples to take upon themselves his yoke, which is simple and light: the spirit of the law, which is Love. Deeper than the letter, which may seem heavy, lies the Spirit, which invites us in a life of freedom, aware of our boundaries and limits.

Jesus invites us, then, to take his yoke and to be simple by having only rule: his rule of love, hidden to the wise and understanding. Jesus invites us to live in the spirit, and to discern the Spirit behind the letter of the principles of our lives. As Paul reminds us in the second reading, we are not in the flesh, but we are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in us?

Therefore, we are invited today not to make our rules more oppressive, complicated but more accessible, like true children of God. Of course, it does not mean that everything can be done, but rather that we do not have to be fettered by principles only but bound first and foremost by love for God and our neighbors.

We are invited not to be ‘religious petty bureaucrats’, who follow exact rules because they have to be followed, but to discern the spirit of love which underlies them. Too often, we are likewise bright people, unable to discern what is simple and essential in our lives. We focus on details and on the letter of our principles – which can enslave ourselves – rather than on the spirit of the letter, which may set them free.

Jesus’ words are therefore a call to authenticity. He invites us to be spontaneous and authentic, with an undivided heart. As the Son knows and is one with the Father, we must be one in mind and not to have individualist Christianity. Let us learn from their mutual love how to be fully ourselves, without transforming our rules and principles into a fence cutting us off from what we truly are and what we have to do.

Y’all, today is our nation’s birthday.  The United States is 247 years old.  And never since the Civil War has our country been more divided.  We frequently hear certain politicians claiming to be “Christian” and actively espousing the desire to ‘take the country back’ and to ‘put God first,’ and to make sure that the United States follows only their brand of “Christianity.”  These are the folks who have declared a War on Woke.”  These are also the folks who distort the Constitution, and the Scriptures, using selective editing and mental gymnastics to claim these documents say things they don’t say.  Often they insist on a literal reading of Scripture and an originalist interpretation of the Constitution; other times they claim the Bible doesn’t mean what it says or they ignore the explanations given by the Constitutional framers. This is hypocrisy, something Jesus repeatedly condemns.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors — no exceptions. (How very “woke” of him!)  The Gospels emphasize this commandment in dozens of different verses about love (particularly in the Gospel of John) and lay out specific blueprints about what love in action looks like throughout Matthew 25, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, the Sermon on the Plain in Luke, the beginning of his ministry in Luke 4:18, Mary’s song about the rich and the lowly in Luke 1, and more.

There are those who claim  that America was founded to be – and should remain – a so-called “Christian nation,” despite the clear intent of the Constitution to separate church and state and to honor religious liberty for all.   It most assuredly was not.  Many of our Founding Fathers were not Christian.  Many of them were Deists, among them were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.  (Yes, I know some of you will disagree with me.  However, check out the “Jefferson Bible” before you say anything.    Heck, check out your own Bible, in a direct translation and proper context, before you say anything.)     These are also the people who advocate for oppressive legislation — rooted in far-right religious beliefs — that strips away equal rights the LGBTQ community, non-Christians, women, people of color, and immigrants, among others.   Where is God in all this?  Where is the love that Jesus has said that we are to show to all?

I am weary of hearing about how evil those of our brothers and sisters are who “woke.”  I am even more weary of hearing things like  “Pray for America,” and “Jesus Heal Our Nation,” and “Let God Fix It.”  I mean, really?  “Let God Fix It?”  What kind of warped theology is that?  God is not Zeus and He will not send lightning bolts to the earth to ‘fix things.’  God is not some genii who is going to magically go “POOF” and all will be right with the world.  God is not some fairy who will grant your wish.  There is not a thing that God will do to make our world a better, more just, happier, more loving place.  He has done it already.  However, what He has done has been ignored for centuries now.  He gave that power to us, we’ve blown it, and it’s catching up with us.

We were, all of us, created with that pesky little thing called ‘free will,’ that allows us to choose how to behave, how to act.  God is not going to force any of us to do anything, just as He does not force us to believe in Him, worship Him, or follow Him. 

It is time to stop giving lip service to our faith and actually live it.  It is time for us to, as they say, “put up or shut up.”   It is up to each of us to conduct ourselves in a manner fitting our faith.  By all means, pray for America.  But don’t you DARE then sit back and do nothing to heal our nation. 

We are taught in Galatians 3:28 that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  That also means, by extension, no race, no nationality.  Isn’t it time we act like it?  Isn’t it time that we hold those in power accountable if this is what we wish?  We are taught in the book of James to “ show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-26   Further, we are taught, again in James, that faith without works is dead. In other words, if the faith inside of us doesn’t get expression through our actions and words, it will no longer be alive. If we don’t use it, we will lose it, so to speak. We have to step out in faith in order to keep faith alive.  (James 2:26:  For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.)

It is up to us, each of us, every one of us who profess to be followers of Christ, to BE the change, to work for the change, we so desperately need in this world.  Again from James:  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  James 1:22-25  I have said, over and over again, that WE are the only Bible some folks will ever read.  WE are the only Jesus some folks will ever see. 

I think we all of us are familiar with the song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”  And what is the next line?  Yep.  “And let it begin with me.”  Isn’t it time we lived up to that?   What are we doing to bring about change?  To bring about equality?  To bring about that healing this country so desperately needs? 

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let There Be Peace on Earth
The peace that was meant to be

With God as our Father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.

With ev’ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Jill Jackson / Sy Miller

Let There Be Peace on Earth lyrics © Music Copyright Consultant Grp

Ya know, sometimes Jesus says stuff that is difficult.  Like the Gospel appointed for today:  Matthew 10:37-39  (NIV)

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Say what?  Whatever does this mean?  You say to me, you say, “But Jesus taught us to love and respect and honor our parents!  It’s even one of the Ten Commandments!”  And I’d say right back to you, “Yep.”

 So what gives with this?   I have to believe that what Jesus is saying to us is this:  If we are going to walk with Jesus, we have a price to pay. Sacrifice and suffering and making difficult choices are part of the journey.

Earlier, Jesus has warned His disciples that He had come to bring a sword of division to Israel. This wasn’t a reference to violence or revolution, but to the separations that the gospel can cause. Those who refuse to accept Christ and his message of love and acceptance will hate and persecute those who believe (John 15:18–21). The division will take place even between immediate family members. Fathers and sons will turn on each other, as well mothers and daughters. The issue will be belief in Jesus Himself. Is He the Messiah, the Son of God? Is what he says right and true and good?  Those who refuse to acknowledge Him will reject those of their own family, who put their faith in Jesus and begin to follow His ways (1 Peter 4:3–4).

Jesus is demanding His rightful place in the hearts of His people.  Us.   We must love Him more than all others and demonstrate that  this is true, especially if we are forced to make a choice. This does not change Scripture’s demand that children honor their parents (Ephesians 6:2) and that parents provide for their children (Ephesians 6:4; 1 Timothy 5:8). Jesus does not say “do not love” those other people—what He says is that we ought to love God more.  And in so loving God more, in following his path, will folks bewilling to lose connection to their family members, friends,  or political party in order to continue to follow Jesus and acknowledge to others that He is the Christ? 

Loving others is the second greatest commandment, but it is behind the first: to love God with everything we have (Matthew 22:34–40). In making this statement, Jesus continues to make the claim that He is God. Love and obedience to Him must come before obedience to any other person or group (Acts 5:29).

And how do we show that love?  That willingness to sacrifice it all for Jesus?  Be merciful.  Be kind.  Show love.  It’s pretty much one of the key recurring factors of Jesus’s ministry.  Love God.  Love people.  Love God.  Love people.

Jesus tells us in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”    How do we show that love?  Again, Jesus tell us, and again, very specifically in Matthew 25:35-45:   For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’   “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’   “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

The least of these….who then, are ‘the least of these’ in today’s society?   Probably those who make many of us uncomfortable.  The homeless?  People who are of a different color?  Sexual orientation?  Gender identity? Ethnicity? Who are “the least of these” to you? 

Throughout his ministry, Jesus showed that he did, indeed, love everyone, even to the point of dying for their sins, but you know,  he went out of his way to intentionally help specific groups of people — the alienated, mistreated, and those facing injustice. 

We as Christians must recognize that our society today is filled with numerous groups and communities facing systemic oppression, and we must act. We must be willing to admit and address the complex realities within our world that create such problems, and avoid the spiritual laziness that tempts us to rely on generic excuses and solutions.  Loving as Jesus loved us is hard.   Loving Jesus more than anything and anyone is harder.

Christians do a disservice to the gospel message by removing the cultural context from Jesus’s ministry and watering down his message to one of religious platitudes. We like to generalize the words of Jesus and transform his life into a one-size-fits-all model that can apply to all of humanity.  He intentionally, purposefully, and passionately addressed very specific causes. He radically addressed the diverse and complicated conflicts of the time and shattered the status quo.  Are we, as Christians, not called to do the same?  By addressing racism, immigration, gender equality, gender expression, and a litany of other issues, we are following in the steps of Jesus.

Justice.  Mercy.  Kindness.  Love God.  Love people.

Amen.

In today`s reading we learn two very important things for all of us who are Christians. The first one is about the sin, and the fact the sin has no power upon us if we are washed with the blood of Jesus through our faith. That does not mean that we are now sinless and that we will never sin again. But it means that God does not see us anymore as sinful and God sees us through His Son Jesus Christ who died for us. Those things many Christians nowadays do not understand. Being forgiven does not mean that we will never sin again. We have sinful nature which we inherited from Adam. But we, who are saved also have the forgiveness of our sins which was gifted as a free gift from Jesus. As we read in Romans 5:12-15 through one man the sin had entered the world. And that man was Adam. We all, a human creatures inherited this sin and our nature became sinful. And since the sin was an obstacle and barrier between God and man there was a necessity for something to happen in order to break this barrier. Centuries after Adam brought the sin into this material world, God gave Moses the Law. And again, there were many centuries needed to let people aware that the Law cannot be fulfilled and that every single person is a sinner and should be always separated from God. Unfortunately it seems that even today in some Christian denominations people do not believe in this gift and are trying to earn their own salvation. They do not feel secure in mercy which God promised but they are trying to be very pious and through religious rituals try to earn forgiveness of their sins. They light candles, incense, they donate money to the church, give charity, pray a lot and pray rosaries etc. I must say that all of these things are good but they should be result of being saved. Not to do all those things aiming to earn what cannot be earned and it is precious and uncountable gift of God`s eternal mercy and gift of salvation. And then God decided to send into the world our Savior, Jesus Christ. The only man who was sinful, the only man who was able to put away the sin of humankind. And as the sin step into the world through one man (Adam), also the sin stepped out from this world through one man (Jesus). And this is how it happened, we are now able to have a close relationship with God, not because of our own deeds or merits but because we believe in Jesus and through that faith and love God sees us sinless, free from sins and saved. This is why we know we are saved by grace. This is how great is God`s grace and mercy.

The second thing that we learnt today is that we should not be afraid. Even though it could sometimes be very difficult. People usually tend to believe their own feelings and thoughts. When we think that something negative is going to happen we often lack the faith in God and we lack the awareness that everything is happening with the will of God. If we have problems at work, or bad communication with our colleagues, financial problems, health issues or even emotional problems with our loving partner or our marriage seems to be broken. We should raise awareness that there are no coincidences in our life and that everything can be a new lesson or a new door that needs to be closed for another door and another possibilities to be opened. What we read today is from Matthew 10:29-31 – `Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.` This sentence is so amazing and so full of hope. God is aware even how many hairs we have. And he cares literally about all the things about us even some of them that we are not conscious. Our God is awesome. In our God we have forgiveness of sins, a loving relationship and he cares about us. My prayer today is that you all could feel such a great love and security in God. Amen.