Sermon - 2020 - 06 - 21

 

Today Jesus places before a challenging text to wrestle with and in light of the recent events of the world in which we are enduring a global pandemic and difficult discussions that are coming to the forefront of the nation. Jesus gives us a reminder of how to approach.  

Jesus highlights the reminder that we are all made in the image of God and that no one is above one another.  We are in this together as a people of God.  Here at the solid foundation of the cross, We find the life-giving hope and promise that we return back to week after week.  The place where we all need to be reminded of, especially in the challenge of something that can take our life in an instance and when we are having difficult discussions that will change our own sights of who we are and what we are doing.  

Jesus comforts the people and ourselves in reminding us that God will care for us with every fear that we bring to him but also and more importantly, everything that will attack the soul of who we are.  However, it is here where we are also found with the great challenge and divide that many of us face and truly wrestle with every single day.  Are we following the loving, giving, and caring that Jesus did when he was here on Earth?  Are we acknowledging the path that God is calling us to travel even when there are challenges, obstacles and we are uncomfortable to go on the journey?  

However, there will be those who will deny Christ and what it is the Father in heaven is calling us to do and be in the world.  Yes over and over again, there are going to be paths that will lead us astray from God however, there will also be calls to action and moments of grace that break into our lives to set us back right into the world.  

Now, this is where I will call your attention to what it is I so often remind you to do in your daily life.  How are you aware of your own strengths and weaknesses?  How are you able to see from someone else’s point of view and more importantly know the path that you are being called to walk down?  For you will need to know the path but you also need to know when it is you have gone away from the path and are being led astray by your own stubbornness to not change to where the Holy Spirit is calling you or to remain upon the solid foundation that is Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.  

Jesus goes on within the gospel to highlight the divisions that will be present in this world but there will be something far greater than the bonds and love of family.  It is your love for God and God’s love for you.  Jesus goes on to foreshadow how it is he shall die in this world.  On a cross.  Yes here on the cross, a very public and painful death, Jesus will show his love for you and for the world.  Demonstrating to all the very degree that he has the will to go for you.  

It is this symbol, this event, this moment of the cross that becomes our point of reflection.  By looking at the very death of a loved one.  How then shall we live our lives?  What are we going to do?  What shall we do to make an impact in improving others around us and sharing with them the very same life and love that Jesus Christ our own Savior and Lord has shared with us?  

So today, no matter what battle you are facing, what struggle you are being challenged by, I want you to know and hear clearly that God loves you, God calls you by name and draws us all together at the cross.  Amen.