Recent sermonsConnie and I used to go out from time to time with a large dinner group. There were several real “characters” in the group and one is particular delighted in being provocative. This could be amusing, especially when he was provoking someone else, or it could make everybody uncomfortable.
I imagine we all know someone like this or at least people who can be this way sometimes. People who make us uncomfortable by the way they treat or refer to others. If you are now forming a short list in your mind, I am wondering if Jesus is on it. What?! you ask, no doubt shocked at the mere suggestion. Am I thinking of his calling the religious leaders “hypocrites” or “blind guides” or even “painted tombs”? No. I’m thinking about when a Canaanite woman, desperately seeking help for her daughter came to him and he seemed first to ignore her, then to reject her, and then to call her a dog. Would you have been uncomfortable with that? Are you now? Many people are. I think that is quite understandable. I also think it is wrong. Figuring out why we shouldn’t be offended by Jesus is not so hard, but figuring out how not to be, in this case, is. We will be trying to do that Sunday morning as well as trying to learn something from a woman who had enormous faith and from Jesus.
Later in the day we come to a passage at the end of 2 Cor. 6 that just doesn’t seem to fit in the immediate or broader context. This “don’t be unequally yoked” passage has been used for everything from discouraging mixed marriages to avoiding anyone who, oh say, smokes. Some just ignore it altogether. Usually the truth is somewhere between the extremes. We’ll go looking for it Sunday evening.
Worship, or at least some parts of it, can make people uncomfortable. But it is not really about being comfortable. It is about loving and serving God and loving and serving one another. Opportunities abound! Opportunities this Sunday at 10:45 and 5:30 at New Hope.
See you there?
Jack
