06/26//22
3rd Sunday after Pentecost – Luke 9:51-62
Stewardship Moment from Pastor William
Stewardship in the Gospel
Jesus is not welcomed into a village and the disciples’ response is a desire to call down fire from heaven to destroy that village. But, Jesus will have none of that – retaliation is not the way of God’s kingdom. Jesus cares for all that God created and desires that all will come to know him and share his love for all humans.
Stewardship in our community
The disciples’ response of retribution for those behaving badly is a common human response that is demonstrated today when we speak of “justice” for those who injure us – it is seen in the response of “justice” against mass shooters, for example. For society, “justice” means vengeance or revenge; not so for Jesus.
Stewardship in practice
For Jesus, “justice” is often tied with mercy, faith, and righteousness. Righteousness is fixing that which is broken. How can we Christians be part of Jesus’ way of justice? Simply, turn thoughts and speech about revenge or reprisal on its head by thinking and speaking about how to fix relationships that are broken. We are to be part of a society that practices inclusion and love; not exclusion and hate. Start small; eradicate hate speech and replace it with love speech. The Holy Spirit will guide you from there.
