So much of Christianity is lived as a status game. So many churches are busy policing insiders and outsiders But Jesus talked about a banquet, a great feast where no one will have to be anxious about where they are supposed to sit. No one will have to worry about how they should behave. Everyone will be in on the secret: You can just let go. Every seat is a seat of honor at Christ’s banquet; there is room to spare.
Category Archives: Jesus
Jesus and Peace
A lot of the Christian books I’ve read about peace-making include some version of the teaching, “if you want to build peace beyond yourself, you have to first build peace within yourself.” Sure the sentiment makes a nice bumpers sticker, but I know there are a lot of us who aren’t feeling particularly peaceful with the state of our world.
Healthy Fear
If all your fear is doing is shutting you down, if all your fear is doing is making you numb, if all your fear is doing is causing you to buy more insurance for your house, or click “purchase” for survival supplies online then your fear isn’t the fear of God. The fear of God calls us away from all our false fears, that we don’t have enough, that we aren’t enough. The fear of God makes us free to act, free to care for one another.
Mercy makes the Samaritan Good: The Rev. Mike Angell
Today Jesus takes what could have been another legalistic argument, counting insiders and outsiders. Instead when asked “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus gets practical. Your neighbor is the person who treats you with dignity, who treats you with love, who treats you with mercy. You neighbor when you go and do likewise.
Mike Angell 