1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:00,640 Foreign. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,520 Thank you for engaging with the homily by Pastor Chill Will from 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:12,480 Chapel Hill. 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:17,520 I hope this message encourages you, challenges you, and moves you 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,320 to go deeper in your faith and enrich how you love God and love 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,320 your neighbor in your day to day life. 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:25,880 Just a reminder. 8 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,240 Like the scriptures and gospels themselves, this homily was 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,220 written for a particular community in a particular, particular 10 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:33,900 context, time in history. 11 00:00:34,540 --> 00:00:38,780 And yet, like our sacred texts, I hope that these words hold 12 00:00:38,860 --> 00:00:42,620 timeless truths about God's unconditional love and grace. 13 00:00:43,020 --> 00:00:46,060 We hope these words speak to you in a meaningful way. 14 00:00:55,420 --> 00:00:56,460 I'm so excited. 15 00:00:56,700 --> 00:00:59,880 So at rallies, you know, as someone who grew up at the beach, 16 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,600 someone who loves waves, I think for rally day we need to make 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,360 a wave in church. 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:05,840 Don't you think you're gonna start over here? 19 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:06,720 You don't have to stand up. 20 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:07,800 You just kind of go like, woo. 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:08,360 All right. 22 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:10,680 Oh, that's a little baby wave. 23 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:11,920 Look, that's the precursor. 24 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:12,280 You ready? 25 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:12,840 Here we go. 26 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:13,960 Ha. 27 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:15,560 Now you guys participate too. 28 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:16,440 Go like this. 29 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:17,360 You ready? 30 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:18,200 We'll start down here. 31 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:19,680 We'll see if the wave gets going from this way. 32 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:20,360 All right, you ready? 33 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,280 Everybody say, like, rally day as your wave goes. 34 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:24,760 You ready? 35 00:01:25,090 --> 00:01:27,490 Man, we're getting these Lutherans awoken up this morning. 36 00:01:27,490 --> 00:01:29,490 All right, so I think of rally day. 37 00:01:29,490 --> 00:01:30,810 I think of cheers and waves. 38 00:01:30,810 --> 00:01:38,450 I'm thinking of what would be a good rally or a cheer that Jesus 39 00:01:39,090 --> 00:01:39,810 would create. 40 00:01:40,769 --> 00:01:41,810 Are you guys ready for this? 41 00:01:41,810 --> 00:01:42,890 I think I got one in my head. 42 00:01:42,890 --> 00:01:43,490 You ready? 43 00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:44,610 Here we go. 44 00:01:45,810 --> 00:01:47,250 Ha ha, ha ha ha. 45 00:01:47,250 --> 00:01:48,450 I'm better than you. 46 00:01:48,770 --> 00:01:49,730 Sick burn. 47 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:52,060 No. 48 00:01:52,540 --> 00:01:54,060 Does that match up with Jesus? 49 00:01:54,540 --> 00:01:55,500 How about this one? 50 00:01:55,820 --> 00:01:57,220 Na na na na na. 51 00:01:57,220 --> 00:01:58,300 I am better than you. 52 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:02,860 You think Jesus would have any kind of nana Nana cheers. 53 00:02:03,980 --> 00:02:05,660 What would his cheer more be like? 54 00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:08,100 What do you think his cheer would be like? 55 00:02:08,100 --> 00:02:10,620 If we know Jesus and learn about Jesus and go to Sunday school 56 00:02:10,700 --> 00:02:15,900 and hear those stories and think about how Jesus lived in the 57 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:17,900 world, what would be a cheer that he has? 58 00:02:18,550 --> 00:02:19,110 What do you think? 59 00:02:22,870 --> 00:02:23,590 All right. 60 00:02:23,910 --> 00:02:25,910 Treating everyone equally. 61 00:02:26,470 --> 00:02:27,310 I love that one. 62 00:02:27,310 --> 00:02:27,750 There you go. 63 00:02:27,750 --> 00:02:30,070 Someone who's been listening to the Jesus story. 64 00:02:30,070 --> 00:02:33,790 So be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're equal in God's 65 00:02:33,790 --> 00:02:34,150 sight. 66 00:02:34,310 --> 00:02:35,110 Would that be it? 67 00:02:35,830 --> 00:02:37,030 Kind of, sort of a little. 68 00:02:37,270 --> 00:02:37,950 We're getting there. 69 00:02:37,950 --> 00:02:38,630 We're getting there. 70 00:02:38,630 --> 00:02:38,990 All right. 71 00:02:38,990 --> 00:02:39,510 What do you. 72 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:46,320 About including people? 73 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,280 All right, I'm getting stuff everywhere, and that's okay. 74 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:51,160 We'll clean that up later. 75 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:51,880 All right, here we go. 76 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,120 How about like, yay, yay, yay. 77 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,560 Everyone's included in God's grace and love. 78 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:00,720 Now I'm going to teach a parable about that. 79 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:02,560 You think that would work? 80 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:04,240 Yeah, we're getting there. 81 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:05,160 What's another one? 82 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:05,760 All right. 83 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:08,240 Okay. 84 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:08,880 What do you think? 85 00:03:09,610 --> 00:03:10,170 What do you say? 86 00:03:11,770 --> 00:03:12,250 Oh. 87 00:03:13,930 --> 00:03:14,410 Oh. 88 00:03:14,810 --> 00:03:17,770 Everybody's loved and everyone is in my heart. 89 00:03:17,850 --> 00:03:18,810 That is beautiful. 90 00:03:18,890 --> 00:03:19,930 So we're just gonna do this. 91 00:03:20,410 --> 00:03:24,730 When I go, like, everyone is loved. 92 00:03:25,290 --> 00:03:26,450 Everyone's in my heart. 93 00:03:26,450 --> 00:03:26,970 You ready? 94 00:03:26,970 --> 00:03:27,890 You gotta say it with me. 95 00:03:27,890 --> 00:03:28,330 All right. 96 00:03:28,490 --> 00:03:29,930 Everyone is love. 97 00:03:30,650 --> 00:03:32,330 Everyone's in my heart. 98 00:03:32,890 --> 00:03:34,490 Everyone's in my heart. 99 00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:36,340 Everyone is loved. 100 00:03:36,340 --> 00:03:36,860 I think that. 101 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:37,820 I think that works. 102 00:03:37,820 --> 00:03:39,260 I think we'll land there. 103 00:03:39,260 --> 00:03:39,980 How about that? 104 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:40,940 Okay. 105 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:44,380 Today is rally day, and it's a day that we kick off Sunday school 106 00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:48,060 and faith formation opportunities where we learn about 107 00:03:48,060 --> 00:03:53,060 Jesus and these stories, how everyone is loved and welcomed on 108 00:03:53,060 --> 00:03:53,980 God's team. 109 00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:57,700 So I want you to really listen and pay attention, not just in church, 110 00:03:57,700 --> 00:04:01,780 but also in Sunday school and other areas of your life where Jesus 111 00:04:01,780 --> 00:04:05,380 and God is teaching us to be his followers and disciples. 112 00:04:05,380 --> 00:04:08,740 We call it faith formation because we're being shaped to being 113 00:04:08,740 --> 00:04:10,300 like Jesus in the world. 114 00:04:10,620 --> 00:04:14,540 Thank you for helping me out and learning about Jesus, just as 115 00:04:14,620 --> 00:04:15,940 we teach Jesus to you. 116 00:04:15,940 --> 00:04:18,060 You helped teach me about Jesus too. 117 00:04:18,460 --> 00:04:20,700 The Holy Gospel according to Luke. 118 00:04:22,140 --> 00:04:25,620 Now, large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned 119 00:04:25,620 --> 00:04:29,870 and said to them, whoever comes to me and does not hate father 120 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:35,270 and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life 121 00:04:35,270 --> 00:04:37,310 itself cannot be my disciple. 122 00:04:38,110 --> 00:04:41,270 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my 123 00:04:41,270 --> 00:04:41,870 disciple. 124 00:04:42,749 --> 00:04:46,790 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit 125 00:04:46,790 --> 00:04:51,350 down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough to complete 126 00:04:51,350 --> 00:04:51,630 it. 127 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,800 Otherwise, he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish. 128 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,440 All who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, this fellow 129 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,920 began to build and was not able to finish. 130 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,000 Or what king going out to wage war against another king will not 131 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,920 sit down first and consider whether he is able with 10,000, to 132 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,160 oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000. 133 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,470 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends 134 00:05:20,470 --> 00:05:23,950 a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 135 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:25,270 Oh. 136 00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:28,670 Therefore none of you can become my disciple if you do not 137 00:05:28,670 --> 00:05:30,110 give up all your possessions. 138 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:32,430 Gospel of the Lord. 139 00:05:33,150 --> 00:05:36,350 Thanks to you, O Christ, you may be seated. 140 00:05:41,470 --> 00:05:44,110 In the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit. 141 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:45,360 Amen. 142 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:47,280 Happy rally day. 143 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:52,240 Oh, I'm sweating a little bit running around, I gotta say. 144 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:52,720 Yeah. 145 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:53,320 But I'm feeling. 146 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:54,560 I'm excited about today. 147 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,600 It is indeed one of my favorite days of the church year 148 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:58,320 around here. 149 00:05:58,320 --> 00:05:59,440 At Holy Trinity. 150 00:06:00,239 --> 00:06:05,200 Now granted, this day isn't a high feast day on the church wide 151 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,080 liturgical calendar like Christmas and Easter and Pentecost 152 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,000 or even Reformation Day. 153 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:16,240 But we do this every year here at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and 154 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,920 Lutheran Campus Ministry at the start of the fall semester to 155 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,440 kick off Sunday School and to rally around faith formation opportunities 156 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,760 within our community of faith. 157 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:35,880 This past week I did some reflecting on Rally Day and rallies 158 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,800 in general, especially when it comes to sports. 159 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:46,520 There's no escaping the hype and attention given to the kickoff 160 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:52,200 of college and pro football, especially this season in our neighborhood. 161 00:06:53,559 --> 00:06:58,920 There is a gravitational pull for pulling for certain teams that 162 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,200 we are invested in or loyal to. 163 00:07:03,410 --> 00:07:09,210 We often get our team spirit and loyalties from our family and 164 00:07:09,210 --> 00:07:13,570 our hometowns and where we spend our money for education. 165 00:07:15,410 --> 00:07:20,330 Of course, there are healthy and not so healthy rivalries and 166 00:07:20,330 --> 00:07:24,570 it's hard not to get pulled into the game and competition of 167 00:07:24,570 --> 00:07:30,300 who is best or which team is better than the other my team or 168 00:07:30,300 --> 00:07:31,180 your team. 169 00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:35,580 It wasn't that long ago when I was getting to know someone a little 170 00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:40,380 better and they felt safe enough to reveal to me that they 171 00:07:40,380 --> 00:07:45,420 were a NC State fan and my unconscious response was kind of 172 00:07:45,420 --> 00:07:46,540 like, oh, I'm sorry. 173 00:07:48,140 --> 00:07:49,340 Yeah, it's not healthy. 174 00:07:50,060 --> 00:07:54,140 My dad was a UNC grad and he brainwashed us. 175 00:07:54,540 --> 00:07:55,580 Carolina blue. 176 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:01,560 We never ever pulled for the other shade of blue that's just down 177 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:02,120 the street. 178 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,640 Even when they were playing other non conference teams in the 179 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,160 NCAA tournament, we just like to watch them lose. 180 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:16,240 I was brainwashed so deep that when Coach K became the coach for 181 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:21,920 the USA Olympic team, it was actually hard for me to pull for 182 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,640 the USA during the Olympics. 183 00:08:25,270 --> 00:08:27,430 Maybe a bronze medal isn't that bad. 184 00:08:28,790 --> 00:08:29,670 I know, I know. 185 00:08:29,670 --> 00:08:30,470 It's really bad. 186 00:08:30,470 --> 00:08:31,670 It's really unhealthy. 187 00:08:32,470 --> 00:08:36,950 It's more of a reflection on me and toxic fandom than anything 188 00:08:36,950 --> 00:08:37,350 else. 189 00:08:38,390 --> 00:08:42,790 So Coach K, if you're watching online, I've grown since then. 190 00:08:42,790 --> 00:08:43,470 I promise. 191 00:08:43,470 --> 00:08:44,150 I promise. 192 00:08:45,350 --> 00:08:49,580 In our daily lives we must acknowledge the human pursuit of 193 00:08:49,810 --> 00:08:54,690 of the game, of winning and losing, choosing and deciding winners 194 00:08:55,410 --> 00:08:58,930 and losers and who we're going to pull for and root for. 195 00:08:59,570 --> 00:09:00,290 Now, I agree. 196 00:09:00,450 --> 00:09:04,290 Competition in and of itself is not necessarily bad. 197 00:09:04,290 --> 00:09:05,130 I love sports. 198 00:09:05,130 --> 00:09:07,250 I love thrilling competition. 199 00:09:07,410 --> 00:09:11,570 I have three fantasy football teams that I'm following today on 200 00:09:11,570 --> 00:09:12,210 my phone. 201 00:09:13,250 --> 00:09:18,430 And yet, as your pastor, I want to help you and encourage you 202 00:09:18,430 --> 00:09:24,670 to not allow toxic fandom or the game of choosing winners and 203 00:09:24,670 --> 00:09:29,350 losers to slip into your spirituality and discipleship. 204 00:09:30,550 --> 00:09:33,990 Our scripture lessons this morning hold up A mirror that challenge 205 00:09:33,990 --> 00:09:41,630 us to reflect on our loyalties and our commitments, to wrestle with 206 00:09:41,630 --> 00:09:47,670 the question of who we are truly pulling for or loyal to. 207 00:09:49,190 --> 00:09:54,070 When I read the Scriptures on my own and in community, I constantly 208 00:09:54,390 --> 00:09:57,590 ask and I'm challenged with who does Jesus pull for? 209 00:09:58,710 --> 00:10:00,870 Who does Jesus rally around? 210 00:10:02,230 --> 00:10:08,870 Does God Jesus play the game of winners and losers, of who's in 211 00:10:08,950 --> 00:10:09,830 and who's out? 212 00:10:11,890 --> 00:10:15,810 How do we relate to one another even with those who are different 213 00:10:15,810 --> 00:10:20,530 than us or see the world differently than me or pull for a 214 00:10:20,530 --> 00:10:22,370 different team than me? 215 00:10:24,370 --> 00:10:28,610 Now, it's not every Sunday that we read an entire book of the 216 00:10:28,610 --> 00:10:30,210 Bible during worship. 217 00:10:30,530 --> 00:10:31,930 That's exactly what we did. 218 00:10:31,930 --> 00:10:32,530 This morning. 219 00:10:33,890 --> 00:10:37,650 Sylvia read St. Paul's short letter to Philemon. 220 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,760 You should feel a sense of accomplishment. 221 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,640 This morning we read an entire book of the Bible. 222 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:47,240 We even added the last three verses. 223 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,160 That isn't in the lectionary just so we could say we read the 224 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,800 whole letter in church today, a large part of the New Testament 225 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,600 is reading someone else's mail. 226 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,720 It's largely consisted of St. Paul's correspondence to different 227 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:05,150 churches and communities who are trying their best to understand 228 00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:11,390 what it means to follow and believe in Jesus and how this young 229 00:11:11,550 --> 00:11:18,190 church claim who claims Jesus to be the Christ follows this Christ 230 00:11:19,229 --> 00:11:22,590 who lived and died and rose again from the dead. 231 00:11:23,950 --> 00:11:28,230 St. Paul writes this short letter to Philemon from prison, and 232 00:11:28,230 --> 00:11:32,870 the whole point of this letter is to appeal on behalf of a runaway 233 00:11:32,870 --> 00:11:34,550 slave named Onesimus. 234 00:11:35,750 --> 00:11:40,390 Unlike other letters from St. Paul, this simple, straightforward 235 00:11:40,390 --> 00:11:45,030 letter contains no major christological images or themes or 236 00:11:45,030 --> 00:11:48,470 Nor does Paul spend a lot of time trying to wrap his head and 237 00:11:48,470 --> 00:11:51,950 heart around the mystery of the Trinity and what the resurrection 238 00:11:51,950 --> 00:11:53,670 of the dead could look like. 239 00:11:55,110 --> 00:12:00,280 Rather, his straightforward purpose is to ask Philemon and the 240 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:05,720 members of his household church to welcome back Onesimus not 241 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,160 as a slave, but rather as a brother in Christ. 242 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,520 Now, we don't know all the details of why Onesimus is no longer 243 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,560 with Philemon or how Paul ended up meeting and partnering with 244 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:21,400 Onesimus. 245 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,520 But from the letter we can infer that these three Paul, Philemon 246 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,450 and Onesimus became providentially connected in their 247 00:12:30,450 --> 00:12:35,970 faith in Jesus and in claiming Jesus to be the crucified and risen 248 00:12:35,970 --> 00:12:36,290 Christ. 249 00:12:38,450 --> 00:12:42,770 Because of that, they are bonded and connected in a new way, 250 00:12:43,730 --> 00:12:46,050 in a new, liberating way. 251 00:12:47,650 --> 00:12:50,410 Not wasting any time, Paul gets to the heart of the matter. 252 00:12:50,410 --> 00:12:53,570 I am appealing to you for my child, Onesinus. 253 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:55,000 Formerly. 254 00:12:55,320 --> 00:13:00,600 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful 255 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:01,840 to both you and me. 256 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:07,200 And there's A play in words here, because Onesimus's name in 257 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,080 Greek means useful. 258 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,840 I am sending him that is my own heart back to you. 259 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,760 No longer as a slave, but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, 260 00:13:19,970 --> 00:13:26,130 especially to me now, but much more to you, both in the flesh and 261 00:13:26,130 --> 00:13:27,010 in the Lord. 262 00:13:28,850 --> 00:13:32,770 Now, this short correspondence letter doesn't solve the problem 263 00:13:32,850 --> 00:13:36,210 of slavery being a reality in the Bible. 264 00:13:36,290 --> 00:13:40,730 Nor does it relieve the tension that the Bible has historically 265 00:13:40,730 --> 00:13:45,570 been used to both justify slavery and the rejection of slavery. 266 00:13:46,690 --> 00:13:50,970 But there is a reason that the early church put this short letter 267 00:13:50,970 --> 00:13:52,290 in the canon of Scripture. 268 00:13:53,650 --> 00:13:59,570 Within the tension of messy relationships and power systems that 269 00:13:59,570 --> 00:14:03,730 pit classes and status and so called winners and losers against 270 00:14:03,730 --> 00:14:04,370 each other. 271 00:14:05,330 --> 00:14:10,370 Paul is not afraid to go there, to lean into the tension, 272 00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:17,620 to set a vision of kinship and equality within the Christ who challenged 273 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:22,260 and flipped over norms and relationships and systems that pushed 274 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:23,420 people to the margins. 275 00:14:25,180 --> 00:14:28,940 I confess that if I were to pick the scripture lessons for Rally 276 00:14:28,940 --> 00:14:32,100 Day, the ones we read this morning were probably not at the 277 00:14:32,100 --> 00:14:33,180 top of the list. 278 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:36,540 But they do hold up a mirror. 279 00:14:37,340 --> 00:14:42,560 They do challenge us to move out of complacency and where we are 280 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:47,160 comfortable in our faith and push us into areas where we're called 281 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:48,320 to move and grow. 282 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,880 How is our faith in Christ and following Christ pushing us to see 283 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,000 the world differently? 284 00:14:56,799 --> 00:14:58,720 We see others differently. 285 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,200 I wish I knew the rest of the story and how things went down with 286 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:04,800 Onesimus and Philemon. 287 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,050 I wish I knew if they reconciled or not. 288 00:15:09,690 --> 00:15:14,090 Perhaps there was a hackley ever after ending in their relationship 289 00:15:14,090 --> 00:15:15,610 and then that house church. 290 00:15:16,970 --> 00:15:17,930 But I don't know. 291 00:15:18,330 --> 00:15:19,130 We don't know. 292 00:15:20,410 --> 00:15:21,690 Maybe that's the point. 293 00:15:22,490 --> 00:15:25,530 That's why this letter was put in the Bible for the first place. 294 00:15:26,570 --> 00:15:31,250 Challenge us to put ourselves in their shoes and situation and 295 00:15:31,250 --> 00:15:36,640 to be challenged by the kinship of God, the equal footing 296 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:42,880 that we all have in Christ, the radical nature of grace and hospitality 297 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,120 of God that welcomes us to a table where we are all brothers and 298 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:48,320 sisters in Christ. 299 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:53,600 Even if community and relationships can often get messy. 300 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,950 You see, we are entrusted with a sacred story, a story that we are 301 00:16:01,950 --> 00:16:06,310 a part of, a story that we play a part in. 302 00:16:07,910 --> 00:16:09,990 So how would this story play out? 303 00:16:11,430 --> 00:16:13,670 Well, the plot continues to thicken. 304 00:16:14,310 --> 00:16:20,430 It thickens with God's grace and love in our faith formation. 305 00:16:20,430 --> 00:16:24,710 We too shouldn't be afraid to go there, to lean into the tension, 306 00:16:25,350 --> 00:16:31,150 to see how God's story matches up with our story, with Jesus's high 307 00:16:31,150 --> 00:16:34,470 demands of discipleship and challenging systems and norms that 308 00:16:34,870 --> 00:16:36,110 distract or get in the way. 309 00:16:36,110 --> 00:16:37,110 Of God's nearness. 310 00:16:37,350 --> 00:16:41,510 We are called to be lifelong learners and to continue to grow 311 00:16:41,510 --> 00:16:43,190 in our faith in discipleship. 312 00:16:44,789 --> 00:16:48,790 You see, faith formation isn't about winning or losing or trying 313 00:16:48,790 --> 00:16:51,350 to get God's attention or approval. 314 00:16:52,710 --> 00:16:56,150 Rather, it's growing deeper into the reality that is already 315 00:16:56,230 --> 00:16:57,430 present with us. 316 00:16:59,170 --> 00:17:01,970 An unconditional love of God that will never let us go. 317 00:17:03,170 --> 00:17:06,610 The unconditional love of God that is for all. 318 00:17:06,690 --> 00:17:12,250 Even for those who pull for different teams then and here's the 319 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:14,290 grace and good news in all this. 320 00:17:15,410 --> 00:17:20,090 When Jesus talks about losing one's life and following him, it's 321 00:17:20,090 --> 00:17:24,290 in that following and growing that we actually find and discover 322 00:17:25,210 --> 00:17:30,170 where we truly belong in the unconditional grace filled love of 323 00:17:30,170 --> 00:17:31,210 the Triune God. 324 00:17:33,130 --> 00:17:34,090 Let's keep going. 325 00:17:35,610 --> 00:17:37,290 We are all on the same team. 326 00:17:38,250 --> 00:17:41,850 Let's keep this rally going, rallying around Jesus who we call 327 00:17:41,850 --> 00:17:42,410 the Christ. 328 00:17:43,850 --> 00:17:46,810 Let's see how this divine love story plays out. 329 00:17:48,330 --> 00:17:48,890 Amen. 330 00:17:50,420 --> 00:17:50,660 Foreign. 331 00:17:57,860 --> 00:17:59,060 Thank you for listening. 332 00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:02,860 If there is anything that stood out for you, or if you have 333 00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:06,820 a question or you just want to have a conversation, you are always 334 00:18:06,820 --> 00:18:09,060 free to reach out and contact us. 335 00:18:09,540 --> 00:18:12,140 And remember you are not alone and. 336 00:18:12,140 --> 00:18:15,540 That you are loved with a love stronger than death. 337 00:18:16,030 --> 00:18:39,270 Sam.