10/04/20

Sermon Notes:

For our service on Sunday we will hear from Paul’s letters to the Philippians and another of Jesus’ parables from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the wicked servants.

One of the ideas connecting these two passages is the notion of our human tendency to fall into self-absorption. Paul talks about the uselessness of having all the “it” factors a culture might hold in esteem, and Jesus tells of the folly of those who do not recognize the truth when they encounter it because it does not “look” a certain way.

When we are young, it is natural to imagine oneself at the center of it all. As infants, we even believe the mother is simply an extension of ourselves. It is a matter of survival. As we grow in stature and in grace over the decades of life, our sense of life expands and we sense that our own experience and existence occurs within a larger stream of life that contains others who have similar or very different lives. As Christians, we believe all these lives of all the different people are held in one love, the love of God. 

It would be nice if we came to that realization and lived in that acceptance, but often we do not.  Instead, we develop ranking systems of worth, we fail to see with God’s eyes of love and abundance, or we imagine that somehow we are more or less important to God than others. Both Paul and Jesus (through his parable) ask us to step into the mystery of acceptance, accepting that God is in charge and that God is leading us somewhere good.

I pray you sense this goodness in your life this week, and always. 

See you Sunday!

Jane