Here's a true story about Carl, a man who thought it would be wise to date two women at the same time. To pull this off, Carl would take each woman on the same date – seeing the same movie, going to the same restaurant or museum, that kind of stuff. Or course, he always sent them the same flowers, bought them the same gifts, and even wrote the same words in the same cards so he wouldn’t slip up.
 
Carl thought he had it all figured out, which he did until one of the women figured him out. She was actually wise! She found the other woman. And together they hatched a plan to surprise Carl by each one showing up to meet his plane when he arrived home from a business trip.

As you might expect, what he thought was wise, those two women ultimately and very publicly proved foolish. Thus, the paradox of life. Wisdom proven with foolishness.
 
This reminds me of last week’s California recall vote. A particular political party thought it would be wise to recall a popular governor. As expected, they lost. But so did the state, which had to spend $267 million in taxpayer’s money to fund their short-sightedness. I’m sure those behind the recall effort thought what they were doing was sound and reasonable politics.

But like Carl, their actions led to a different conclusion - one that ultimately and very publicly proved foolish.
 
Life is full of paradoxes. Some better than others. Take the case of vaccinations. It seems absurd and contrary to inject a person with the disease you’re trying to save them from. And yet, time and time again, science has proven vaccines to be founded and true.  
 
Christianity is also a paradox. One needs to look no further than the cross, the ancient equivalent of the electric chair, which we use to demonstrate God’s power. In a world that looks down on weakness and failure, Christians affirm – lifting up a God who chooses the paradoxical to reveal salvation into the world.

But here’s the thing: God thinks and does things differently. Although we are created in the image of God, God, nevertheless, does things that we humans find surprising; constantly turning our world, all our human wisdom, upside down.
 
A great king, born not from wealth and power but poverty and weakness. A messiah, who comes not on a warhorse but a young colt to liberate people from their oppressors. Instead of raising an army to overthrow the empire, God choose to be executed by it. In doing so, God took all the power of their most brutal killing machine and made it weak; using death to create life everlasting.
 
There is the paradox. God using wise foolishness and weak strong.  As Frank Logue points out, it sounds like an oxymoron, putting two things together that do not go together but are somehow acceptable, like “jumbo shrimp” or “entertaining sermon.”
 
Pointing towards to the cross of Christ, Paul tells those who think they have it figured out that God’s wisdom is very different from their knowledge. He tells those who exercise their strength and power over others that God’s strength is very different from their ideas of power and might. Wise foolishness. Weak Strong.
 
Paul is wise to direct our gaze away from ourselves and onto that cross. And directing our focus on the One who hangs on it. This is not so much for us focus on Jesus’ death, but to keep our eye on where his death leads us – towards resurrection, our eternal salvation.

watch the message here

To those who reject the notion of resurrection, the cross might seem foolish. I get that. But those of us who know God can do things that seem impossible by human wisdom, the cross of Christ and his resurrection, remind of how far God is willing to go out of great love for us.
 
God uses death to create eternal life. Jesus taught us that in order to save ourselves we must die unto ourselves. We must pick up our cross daily and follow him; to set aside your former life and embrace a new life, a Christlike life of cruciform love.
 
By reason alone, Jesus’ death revealed human weakness. In the light of faith, Jesus had a choice; he could have fought the violence of Rome with violence all his own. Instead, he chose to love; even when the cost of that love was suffering and death.

Through Jesus’ death, God subverted all of human wisdom and power with one simple act: resurrection. Who would have thought?
 
In wise foolishness, the strength of God’s love proves death has no real sting. Moreover, the cross tells us that God willingly chooses to love us rather than fight us. This is love that God calls us to enter.
 
This love calls into question all that we value in this world.

During the capitol insurrection last January, the world witnessed thousands of angry protesters, trying to overthrow a democratically elected government. To them, it seemed like a wise thing to do. As it was with Carl, what they thought wise was proved foolish.

Yet their actions revealed how we humans are more enthralled with violent, ravenous power than the nonviolent, self-giving love. The very love of Christ which the cross represents.
 
When we look at Christ’s cross, we should remember that our ultimate allegiance is not to our country, our family, our job, the economy, a political party or a politician. Our ultimate allegiance is to Christ who gave his life so we might live.
 
For every Christian, the cross should be our reason to embrace a Christlike, cruciform life of self-giving. It should be our reason to stand in truth when a lie would be easier. To seek gentleness when force is attractive.
 
A Christlike cruciform life calls us to stand for justice even when it’s not popular to do so. It calls us to practice generosity when hoarding would be more comfortable; to offer forgiveness when a hateful grudge would be more filling. More importantly, it should be our reason to stand together, unified by the paradox of faith.
 
Because here’s the thing we often forget: Liberals, conservatives, moderates, or progressives are all called the same by Christ who challenges each and every one of us to pick up our cross and follow him; to embrace his way of self-giving love. Yes, to love like him will make us vulnerable yet strong. Wise foolishness for sure. Strong weakness no doubt.
 
This is the way of God’s undying love - the very thing that saves us. For when we all live such cruciform love in the world, greed no longer rules us, and fear no longer wins. Love does. When we all live in cruciform love, the world is saved from its own destruction, hatred, and bigotry.
 
Jesus was the perfect example of how to live in such love. And so too are the Amish.
 
In Michigan, we lived near an Amish community. It was not uncommon to get stuck in traffic behind a horse and buggy. I’ll admit, their rejection of modern life seems so primitive, foolish to say the least. I mean, no Netflix? No Amazon Prime? Who’d want to live in such a world?

But this small sect of Christianity has a way of teaching the rest of us, especially Christians, about what it means to truly live life in the paradox of Christ’s cross. 
​
You might remember the story from 2006, when a man nursing a 20-year-old grudge, walked into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and executed five schoolgirls and wounded seven more before turning the gun on himself.
 
Instead of responding to violence and anger with more of the same, here were people who chose to show the world the power of cruciform love. While the police where still at the scene of the crime, this small Amish community sent delegates to the shooter’s wife and children; offering them both emotional and financial support.
 
Struggling with their own grief and pain, they summoned a strength that seemed foolish by the world’s standards. Still, they chose to stand up to evil with self-giving love. By living into their call to be Christlike, this cruciform community directed the gaze of the world away from violence and hopelessness towards the hope and peace of God’s divine light.
 
What seems foolish, God makes wise. What seems weak, God makes strong.
 
As we leave here today, may we all be wise enough to do such foolishness, in the name of the One who saves us by his love.   

 
Work Cited
Bartlett, David L, and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008).
A very special thank you to Frank Logue whose sermon The Love That Binds The Universe I adapted his message. epsicopalchurch.org on March 8, 2015 (accessed on September 17, 2021).

​“The days are surely coming, says the Lord.” But on days like September 11, 2001, I can’t help but ask, “When will you come?”
 
I know as well as you do, that bad things happen every day. Death is inevitable. Not even Jesus, God’s own beloved son, could elude it. But every time I see that plane crash into the second tower, or when I see pictures of the bloody, dust cover rescuers from Ground Zero it makes me wonder if God has forgotten us. Or if God even knows we’re here.
 
Watching that great, dark cloud bury and choke millions of people fleeing from Manhattan, it’s not hard to imagine why some people might question God’s memory, and providence and power. Or simply deny God’s existence altogether. I’m sure some of you, when in facing your own personal tragedies, have thought, “Where was God when this happened to me?”
 
I wish I had the answer. But I don’t. I don’t know why God allowed planes full of people to crash into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. I don’t know why God allowed 343 heroic first responders to be buried in the rubble. Something I do know, is God’s word is good. And God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful back.
 
The Bible is filled with stories of God’s faithfulness being fulfilled in the most unexpected ways, but none is greater than the one of God’s love made manifest in an innocent and vulnerable baby. A love God ordained through hatred, violence, and death.
 
We are a part of that story, of God’s love and faithfulness to all that God created.
 
Yesterday I saw so many posts of memories, pictures, and thought about what happened 20 years ago.  Nearly everyone was had the hashtag never forget. The sentiment is nice. But I fear that maybe we have forgotten. Not the day. Not the destruction or the evil that caused it to happen. But the emotional feelings we had, and the unity that  happen afterwards.

watch the message here

As I look back at all those photos and read all the stories of people helping one another survive, I am led to believe God does not abandon us nor forget us. Even in the horror and pain that was experienced that day, I can say God was there with us in the self-giving acts of love.

“The day is coming when I will fulfill the promise…” God says, “I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Jeremiah’s words remind us of God’s persistent and fierce loyalty. But while such affirmations show us the true character of God, and the ongoing providence of God, bad things can still happen. As long as we allow evil to remain in the world, our faith and faithfulness will remain vulnerable to attack.

We need to be vigilant in our faith, which is so important to our redemption that God willingly came to us, as one of us, to show us how to live our faith faithfully.
 
Here’s what we need to remember. Faith in Jesus Christ is more than a word or making the right statement. It’s also about being the visible presences of God’s glory. It’s about allowing God’s love to become incarnate through our many small acts of kindness.

Our faith must remain “faithful” to the God who loves us and saves us from harming others or ourselves. Like Jesus showed us, wherever God’s love is present, evil cannot prevail.
 
“The many disasters in our world, and all the tragedies that happen to people each day, can lead us to despair and convince us that we are the sad victims of circumstances. But Jesus looks at these events in a radically different way. He calls them opportunities to be living witnesses of God's unconditional love, opportunities to testify and participate in God’s Kingdom and redemption. This is how we look beyond the passing structures of our temporary existence to the eternal life promised to us.” (Nouwen)
 
Placing our faith in a system or an institution that can be attacked or destroyed has historically led to the downfall of every great empire. But the faith that is placed in the indestructible love of God is unbreakable and everlasting.

By putting our faith in the promises that God made to us through Christ Jesus, we can preserver and overcome the obstacles and enemies who try to knock us down.

God never forgets. But have we forgotten that out of this tragedy arose a great opportunity for us to blossom and thrive? Instead of anger or a desire for revenge, neighbors and strangers stood united - defining themselves by their humility and capacity to love.
 
I may not know why God allows bad things to happen, but I now know why we allow them to. I also know that wherever great suffering and pain exist, so do endless opportunities for God’s love to be seen in us and through us. This is not to say that faith and faithfulness is the easy path to take. This was clearly proven when our country was attacked again, not by a terrorist group but by a deadly virus.
 
As of today, COVID has taken the lives of over 660,000 American citizens. And nearly 41 million people around the world. You see, COVID doesn’t have an agenda, it’s not trying to make a political or ideological statement. It doesn’t pick sides or determine who is better than the other. It infects us all just as it affects us all.
 
The difference between September 12, 2001, and September 12, 2021, is mind boggling. Instead of uniting against this common enemy, our country has become more divided than ever. Instead of loving our neighbors and doing selfless acts of kindness for one another, we’ve become selfish, spiteful, and self-centered.
 
Sadly, the Body of Christ is not immune. The church has been infected with this idea that our personal rights are above a call to be righteous. 
 
Jesus himself issued a stark warning to his followers (Matthew 24:36-44). That day will come like a thief in the night. Be prepared.
 
In his letter to the Thessalonians church, the Apostle Paul warns us to remain sober, and be people of the light who encourage one another and build each other up; not divide and tear one another down (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
 
We must remain faithful to God’s incarnate love; helping each other from getting discouraged or depressed; offering hope and forgiveness and reconciliation, no matter the risk or our personal discomfort. Our faith hangs with Christ Jesus whose cross was more uncomfortable than some mask. And whose gospel is certainly riskier than any vaccine.
 
Therefore, I urge all who claim Christ’s name to never forget. Never forget that Jesus showed us a way to live a life of faith knowing our hope and salvation hangs on our faithfulness. To follow Christ through the resurrection requires a willingness on your behalf, to pick up your cross and truly follow him. To live as he did; healing, caring, and forgiving, seeking peace and justice, righting wrongs and redeeming people back to God in all the ways we live out God’s love faithfully in the world.
 
For those of you who refuse to wear a mask in public spaces, or get vaccinated for the health and well-being of your community, remember the bible tells us that person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. "Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
 
Our stories, our lives, our day-to-day interactions must be interwoven, not just with one another but also with God through Christ Jesus. This is where our strength lies and our faith blooms.
 
As you leave here today, on this special day of remembrance, may we never forget that when your faith is woven with God’s steadfast love, you inherit a power that not even death can conquer. With great power comes greater responsibility.
 
May you never forget that in Christ, God’s love prevails. And by his selfless act, we have been made beloved children of a God who is fiercely loyal and faithful to a fault; the one who remembers us, sustains us, and saves us every time the world comes crashing down upon us.
 
Never forget. In Christ, love wins.
 
 
Works Cited:
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word, Year A. Vol. 3 Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Heinz, David and Fiona Walsh Heinz. American Folk. movie, 2017.
Indermark, John. The Greatest of These: Biblical Moorings of Love. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2011.
Nouwen, Henri. Bread For The Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

I know I’m not the only one out there who feels this way, tired and worn out. I don’t need a national holiday to remind me that most Americans are so overworked and overcommitted that we are burning-out in record numbers.
 
A survey by Barna research discovered that 1,500 clergy are leaving pastoral ministry each month. Burn out is one of the key factors to this phenomenon. This is happening in every field and profession scours the country. We are busy, burnt-out people.
 
Even when we’re not working our job, we’re busy commuting, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, helping our kids with homework or being their Uber driver.

​ Most of us have been busy for so long that it seems we have forgotten how to nap how to shut down long enough to let our batteries recharge.
 
Given the fact that this pandemic has forced us to slow down and reprioritize our life, you’d think we’d be rested and renewed by now. Instead, COVID has just given us one more thing to be tired and worn out over. The world is tired.
 
Tired of the rat race and climbing the corporate ladder. Tired of the media noise and empty political rhetoric and partisan bickering. Tired of the hate and hypocrisy. Tired of living hand to mouth and keeping up with the Jones’. Many of us are tired of being alone. Tired of being in lockdown and wearing masks. Tired of worrying for ourselves and the people we love. We are tired of feeling angry all the time, or feeling afraid all the time, or feeling worthless all the time.
 
We are busy, burnt-out people who are tired of being tired. The good news for us today is that Jesus gets it. He knows just how exhausting life can be. Especially a life of ministry.

So he has this to say about it:

Prior to this passage, Jesus has sent his disciples on sort of a short-term mission trip to preach and teach and heal the sick in the surrounding villages. They were so busy, Mark tells us, that they didn’t even have time to eat.
 
You know what that’s like don’t you? Popping a dollar in a vending machine to get something to munch on as you work through lunch. Or grabbing a handful of chocolate covered almonds between Zoom classes, just to have a little sustenance to keep you going. We’re becoming so stretched thin that basic functions of life, like eating and resting, are being reshaped in the image of the world and not in the One who came to redeem it.
 
Mark doesn’t say how long the disciples were gone. Nor does he give us any details about what they did or didn’t do. If we read between the lines, it seems Jesus wasn’t concerned with how well they did, as much as how they are doing.

He knows they’re tired and burnt out. He is too. So He says to the disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
 
Even though their plans will be foiled by the crowd of people following them, Jesus puts a priority on his disciple’s health and wellbeing just as he does with all who come to him for healing.
 
The takeaway from this is simple: Jesus is inviting us to go to with him and rest in the presence of our gracious God.

Like the psalmist wrote, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous be shaken” (Psalm 55:22).​

Back when my dad was in med school, it wasn’t uncommon for Interns and Residents to be on call for 24 to 48 hours straight. To stay on top of his game, my dad had to learn how to get quality rest in a very short period of time. He did this by drinking a cup of coffee, then shutting his eyes for a nap. Mind you, he’d be so exhausted that falling asleep was easy. And since it takes about 20 minutes for the caffeine to kick in, he would automatically wake up - refreshed and renewed.

Rest is important in the kingdom of heaven. Even if it’s just a power nap. It’s important because there are people in need of Jesus and his spiritual sustenance. If we will be of any use to the kingdom Jesus ushered in, then we need to take the time to find our rest and sustenance in God’s loving arms before we can be that for each other. 
 
Some of you know that I try to work out often. I don’t do anything crazy, but i do enough lifting to I know if I don’t take a day off to let my muscles recuperate, I could do serious harm to myself. Just the same, we need to set some time aside each day to recuperate and refresh our body, mind, and spirit.

​We need to get away, literally or figuratively, and go to the wilderness where God always encounters the faithful – providing sustenance, protection, renewal, and direction.
 
In fact, rest is so important that out of all the 600+ commandments God gave to Israel, taking an entire day for rest made the top 10 list. “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.”

The Bible tells us that this isn’t about spending an hour or so in church every Sunday. It’s about taking the entire day off, you and your entire household, including your pets. The Bible states no physical work should be done so that weary bones and muscles could rejuvenate.
 
The principle of Sabbath rest is for the purpose of being refreshed and renewed in God’s spirit. God gives us this time so we can gather as a community to enjoy life without the stresses of life getting in the way.
 
Jesus understands this and tells his tired disciples, “Let’s get out of here, let’s take a break and get a little rest.” What a gift to be given – the time to get away and be in God’s loving and healing embrace.
 
I can only imagine what those words must have sounded like his disciples. I know that when I’m stressed out and overly tired, I get cranky. It makes my mind foggy, and it stops me from bringing my A game.

But here’s the thing, Jesus needs us to bring our best, to be fully present in his mission.
 
As we enter Anamesa, that space between life and death, we do so knowing this is where life happens in real time. This is where all the many dangers, toils, and snares lurk. We need to be rested and alert so we can be fully present and not get trapped ourselves.

We need to be refreshed and always at the ready to help and heal and preach and teach, because people are still lost, like sheep without a shepherd. If we’re burnt out, what good are we for this work that is needed?
 
Jesus knows the needs of the people are urgent. And still he finds time throughout the gospels to be alone with God; to be renewed and refreshed by the Holy Spirit.

"If our Lord knows that He needs to stop and rest with all of the important things He has to do, don’t you think the same applies to us, as well?"
 
You don’t have to take an extended vacation to the islands or wait for a national holiday. There are plenty of ways to sneak in rest or even a nap. It might mean stopping for a few moments, every hour or so, to sit with God and breath in the Holy Spirit.

It might mean finding a quiet spot outside or in your car, where you can close your eyes and enter a meditative prayer. Or instead of picking up your phone to see who’s posting what, pick up the Bible, or a book of poetry, or a journal to see what God is writing on your heart.
 
Again, the psalmist writes, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). So, where’s that still, quiet place in your life? Does it even exist?
​
Given our fast-paced world, and the bombardment of media noise all around us, the idea of stillness seems almost alien. But if we want to experience true intimacy with God, we must learn to quiet the chatter, be still and be with God.

Set an alarm. Put it in your schedule. But do whatever it takes to find rest in God’s love for you.
 
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that, “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
 
How’s that for a promise. Rest in God and you will never grow weary or faint. It’s like a nap for your soul.
 
Jesus knows our hearts and knows what we need, even when we don’t know ourselves. He knows what it takes to do the work of God’s kingdom, and what it can take out of you if you aren’t careful. So, he calls us to come away with him and rest.
 
For the Lord is our shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us beside the still waters, and restores our soul.
 
In Christ, God is leading us all home; to be refreshed, renewed and resurrected.
 
Therefore, let us give ourselves over to the One who says to you and me, and all who are weary, “Come away with me and rest for a while.”
 
 
 
 
Work Cited.
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word, Year B Vol. 3. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009).
Pagano, Joseph S. We Are In Many Ways…” (episcopalchurch.org, July 19, 2009).  Accessed on September 4, 2021

​Those are not the easiest words to hear. Especially from the warm and fuzzy Jesus we love and trust. I suspect there are going to be a lot of disappointed people trying to enter the kingdom of heaven.
 
These last few weeks we’ve heard Jesus call us blessed, and then teach us a new way to live into our blessedness.  He’s asked us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. To keep our eyes and hands fixed on doing God’s will, and to store our treasures in God’s heart. And again, last week he told us not to worry about what we did or need to do, but instead we are to focus on the here and now where life’s problems are plentiful.
 
Then comes the hard truth. Hearing these words isn’t good enough.
 
Like we saw a few weeks ago, not everyone wins gold at the Olympics. Some take home silver or bronze, but most go home empty handed. And that chance at medaling is only for those who are good enough to qualify. The ones who do the work to get there in the first place.
 
Jesus said, not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who hear his words and acts on them. 
 
Hearing and doing is the hallmark of Matthew’s understanding of discipleship. The two cannot be separated. If you want to see the kingdom of heaven come alive before your very eyes, then your head and heart must work together - trusting God and serving others by doing God’s will.
 
So hear this: It’s not enough to hear what Jesus is saying. His words are meaningless to you and your faith, if you don’t act upon them. Just because have a perfect GPA and the highest SAT score, that doesn’t automatically get you into Harvard or Yale. Likewise, empty words and empty gestures will not get you the keys to the kingdom. 
 
I’m sure hearing this has stirred something up in the disciples, just like it might has stirred up something in me. They gave up their family and careers to follow him. To think it might be all for nought.
 
It’s hard not to sweat a little here knowing you’ve been a devote Christian, and Jesus could still say, “I never knew you.” Or worse, he calls you an “evildoer.” But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your lips confess if your heart doesn’t show it. This should make us all take a serious look at how your head and heart align with his.

Before you tune me out completely, let’s not forget Jesus began this lesson by blessing those who were with him. I believe that by our baptism, we received Jesus’ blessing too. What then will we do with it?
 
In these three chapters of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus teaches us roughly 35 specific lessons on what we are to do to live into our blessedness. But let me warn you, these lessons are easy to hear but they are also hard to do – especially if your head and heart are not in sync with each other or with his.
 
Jesus says, “Some of you will hear these words of mine and not act on them.” I just hope that won’t be the case with me. Or that I won’t find out until it’s too late.
 
Many years ago Kathleen said something that has stuck with me. She asked, “What if Jesus already came back, and we missed it? Or worse, didn’t believe it?”

Seriously, what if Jesus has come up to you as a homeless man (because he was) and you ignored him? Or what if he was the baby crying in the arms of a teenage refugee seeking asylum in our country and you shut them out?

​I don’t know if that has happened already, but I do know this. Jesus said whenever you see and do “to the least of these, you do also to me.”
 
Hearing and doing. That’s it.
 
Why are there still many who miss that point. Or worse, choose to ignore it. There are still too many so-called Christians who are so self-absorbed that they see very little around them.

​There are plenty of Pharisees and Scribes still alive, preaching in Jesus’ name about God’s redemptive love, and yet forget to live out that love in the world. Jesus isn’t kidding when he says he won’t be pleased.
 
Again, hear me when I say it’s not enough to hear or even speak the Word of God. You have to live it as if your life depended on it.
 
Consider this our wake-up call as individuals and as the church. Jesus is giving us a stern warning to make sure that our actions and motives match what we’re saying. That our heads and hearts are in sync with our Lord who calls us all to follow him. We have no excuse not to. We’ve heard the word. And now we know what to do.
 
Those first listeners on the mountain knew what they were supposed to do as well. Jesus wasn’t giving them a whole new set of rules to live by. He’s has already reminded them he didn’t come to abolish the laws, but to fulfill them, to help them live the life they knew more faithfully.
 
The same is true for us. We have the words of Jesus, the very Word of God. But are we really listening to what he’s saying? Are we really doing what he is doing?

Hearing and doing is the path to discipleship. The path that leads our head and heart towards God’s love and grace.
 
You can say you have faith, but is that enough to enter the kingdom of heaven? Jesus has made it very clear that it’s not. A proper confession of faith must lead to a genuine practice of that faith.

What good is your faith if it doesn’t transform and redeem you? Or move you to change your behavior, to love your neighbor and pray for your enemy?
 
In his Epistle, the Apostle James writes, “What good is it if someone says they have faith but does not have works? Can that faith save them? Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14)

You see, faith isn’t something we confess once and then check off our list of things to do before we die. It’s a lifelong practice; a constant, daily action.
 
I have learned that the more I practice my faith, the more visible the kingdom of heaven becomes, right here, right now. When my head and heart are fixed on doing the will of God, the kingdom comes to life, before my very eyes. I begin to see Jesus in the face of the other, and am moved to act accordingly. I do this not because I am trying to enter the kingdom of heaven, but because my heart is so aligned with Jesus’ heart that I can’t help but to mirror him.
 
Henri Nouwen wrote, “In Jesus, no division existed between his words and his actions, between what he said and what he did. Jesus’ words were his action, his words were events. They not only spoke about changes, cures, new life, but they actually created them. In this sense, Jesus is truly the Word made flesh; in that Word all is created and by that Word all is re-created.”
 
To his point, if I will truly live the words I speak from my heart,  then “my spoken words become actions, and miracles would happen whenever I open my mouth.”
 
Jesus has ushered in the kingdom of heaven, and has invited us to join him. The way we do that is to hear his words and act on them. Hear and believe. Hear and obey. This is how faith deepens, how miracles happen, and how God’s will is done on so no one is left out or uncared for.
 
If you want enter into the kingdom of heaven, then you have to choose to participate in it. If you believe that Jesus means what he says, then you need to reorient your actions to mirror his – reflecting his thoughts and feelings as if they are your own.
 
To hear him and be like him means to love as he loved; turn the other cheek; go the extra mile for others. It means being a person whose yes means yes and no means no.

It means forgiving others -  not just their sin but their debt as well.

It means not seeking retaliation, or letting the sun go down on your anger, or allowing your lust to lead you astray.

It means giving to everyone who begs and lending to all who ask.
 
To have your head and heart with Christ is to walk and talk with intention and mercy and grace, treating others with kindness and not condemnation.

This is what it means to be the salt and the light, a blessed one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness’s sake.
 
Do these things, Jesus says, and not only will you see heaven appear in all its glory.
 
But you will also hear our Lord say, “Welcome, blessed one. For the kingdom of heaven is yours.”
 

 


Work Cited
Bartlett, David L. and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds.  Feasting on the Word, Year A. Vol 1, and Vol 3. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010 and 2011 respectively).
Metz, Susanna E. Well, This Is A Rough. (episcopalchurch.org June 01, 2008). Accessed on August 25, 2021.
Nouwen, Henri J.M.  You are the Beloved. (San Francisco: Convergent, 2017)
 
 
 
 

This is my message to you today. I hope that you will not only read it but that you will also put it in the place from which is came - the heart. 

Step into the space between heaven and earth. 

Walk with intension. Keep your eyes open. Keep you heart open. Keep you mind open.

As you, I pray that will see that there is beauty everywhere pointing the way for you to see, feel, and think.

So go. Upward and onward. 

The journey is full of the goodness of life. Wherever you may be.

There's a little garden across the street from the park near my house. Throughout the pandemic someone has placed these little creative markers to remind us how to be human and hopeful. Whenever I see them, I am reminded also that this world is a holy and sacred space. It's up to us to bring our blessedness into it. This is not always the easiest thing to do, especially given the difficult times we are experiencing in our nation and in the world. Which is why I am grateful for these little reminders on living life in love and mindfulness.

Update:  While I was walking the dog yesterday, I saw a man (named AJ) nailing some art to a tree. I asked him if he was the artist who did these messages. He wasn't. But introduced me to who is doing them. Her name is Cassie, who decided to incorporate her two children to "love bomb" the park. They began doing it during lockdown as a way to share a positive message to those who might need it read it. I wonder if she knows just how many people need to read it. And how many, like me, walk with intention to find new signs.  She and AJ have become friends because of this. Just another way how art and kindness often leads us towards friendship and love, the greatest art of all. 

You can view AJ's art on Instagram: @lajparkart

From time to time, I like to post someone else’s ideas. I, and a few million others, have been following Seth Godin daily for the last few years. He takes a different approach to education, and is know for his alternative MBA program and professional speaking.  Because my last post was on “not worrying,” I found Seth’s words this week to offer us a alternative perspective of a similar topic. Enjoy: