Our pastor's sermon on Sunday focused on the idea of being in the world and not of the world. For his children's sermon, he used an interesting swimming pool metaphor: children get in the pool, but they're not part of the pool, the way the swimming pool liner (above ground) or the tiled walls (in-ground) would be.
For the adults, he reminded us that the religious officials of Christ's day had learned to live and work with the Romans. They had become part of the social order that Jesus came to upset.
The Gospel is not such good news for those who are comfortable with the System as it is. Still having Walter Wink on my brain, I thought of his ideas of Domination Systems and the Powers and Principalities.
Our pastor circled to those ideas by looking at the prayer of Jesus and focusing on Jesus praying for protection for his followers. He's not praying just in case. He knows that that there are fierce forces in the world that will oppose the disciples.
He talked about a past governor of Alabama, Bob Riley, who tried to govern based on his understanding of the Bible's command to look out for the least members of society. As we might expect, fierce forces organized to oppose his legislation.
Our pastor warned us about the upcoming campaign season that promises to be nastier than usual. He cautioned that we'd hear lots of hate and fear. He urged us to remember that when we hear such things, we're not hearing our Gospel.
He concluded by invoking this hope, that we live what we proclaim, the Good News.
Amen to that!
but bestows favor on the humble
6 months ago
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