Our suffering king points the way to a reign which reverses everything we know about how human kingdoms work. Rather than assume the privileges of his divinity, Jesus lives his life as a servant to all. Rather than calling for God’s vengeance on his tormenters, Jesus seeks their forgiveness, “for they do not know what they are doing.”

Yes, there will be moments of grief along the way, but practicing gratitude, and living into Jesus’s mission of helping others experience God’s love will be life-giving in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.

I have joined with you in the ministries of St. Andrew’s for the last 11-1/2 years…so it is both with great excitement and deep sadness that I tell you I’ve accepted a call to serve as the new rector of Holy Communion Church in a suburb of St. Louis called University City.

As we wait for our place in the world which was, is, and is to come, Jesus is calling us to make our time in this world a little more like God’s vision of hope, love, and dignity. Theologian Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “If you can breathe into it—well, that’s when heaven comes to earth, because earth is where heaven starts, for all who are willing to live into it right now.”

Essentially, Jesus is trying to help his disciples—as well as us—understand the difference between the way of the world and the way of God…the way of God is based on how much we are willing to share our resources with those who have less than they need.

As we strive to bring God’s hope to a hopeless world, may we all remember that our job isn’t to be successful, it is to be faithful. Act justly, love mercy and walk—perhaps march—humbly with our God.

The Samaritan’s response is to praise God and give thanks for Jesus’ gift of healing; the Greek word for thanks here is eucharisto, from which we get our word Eucharist. Jesus says that faith has made the Samaritan not just well, but whole – restored in body and soul.

In many ways, Francis lived out what is a very simple understanding of Jesus’s teachings. While he believed it was important to study and have an intellectual grasp of the Gospel, he insisted it was more important to live the Gospel. At the same time, Francis understood that, though that sounds easy, it’s quite challenging to actually live the Gospel.

As we live out our faith in the days, weeks and months to come, may we seek out the lost and the overlooked, remembering the truth of that quote: that often the weakest among us is the most indispensable. And let us become more and more intentional about turning our lament into intercessory prayer.

Jesus cares for those gathered in the large crowd so much that he wants to be perfectly clear with them and us about what it means be his disciple. Jesus doesn’t want us to be unprepared for what lies ahead. The price of this singular focus on God seems enormous, but the reward is immeasurable.

As children of God, we are all invited to the Heavenly Banquet. God loves all His children equally with divine love.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a prophet? People usually think of a prophet as some sort of fortuneteller—a gifted one who can foresee the future. But that's not actually the case—especially in terms of a biblical prophet. A better understanding of prophets would likely help us realize that, sometimes, even we are called to help speak God’s truth.

Theologian Megan Watterson calls this kind of anger “sacred rage.” She says “It’s a rage that clarifies what we care most about in this world, about what we will put our bodies on the line to stand up for. Rage, like a slow controlled burn, can fuel and inform us….”

In other words, to be prepared to do the things God will call on us to do—which might be caring for a loved one, or stepping in to advocate for a work colleague—we need to: 1) nourish ourselves spiritually; 2) engage in a supportive, loving community, like St. Andrew’s; and 3) challenge ourselves through activities like theological studies.

Siblings in Christ, our possessions, our status, our wealth will not add value to our relationship with God. We are called to share God’s blessings of creation and of life.

May you leave this space today with a quieter heart and a steadier step, trusting that the ember of hope is already within you. May your listening be as holy as your doing, your resting as faithful as your serving.

Jesus sees the Divine law of love — for God, ourselves, and our neighbors — as a plumb line we can use to construct our lives. It requires us to move beyond platitudes and performative gestures and take action to alleviate the suffering all around us. Radical grace commands us to stay curious and build relationships based on listening and learning, across borders and divisions that separate “us” from “them.” 

St. John of the Cross once wrote, “Silence is God’s first language.” So in times of silence, trust that God is here. Some of us might have memorized the line from Psalm 62 that says: “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” But that indicates it’s us waiting on God to show up. Instead, Teresa and John might point us to Psalm 95: “O that today you would listen to [God’s] voice!”

So how does the unified Body of Christ dissent when confronting inequitable demands? … By re-interpreting Christ’s message of love to a fractured humanity, even as we cherish God’s promise of its future rebirth.  

Spiritual teacher Esther de Waal wonders if in God’s realm, “there is a great room, rather like a vast property office, filled with parcels of every shape and form, unclaimed blessings, that God has given us and we have failed to notice, to receive and make our own.”