Dear Church,
As I said in my sermon this past Sunday, we live in a world where the powerful regularly exploit and oppress the weak, where people are seen as resources to be used.
It’s not difficult to find examples of this “out there” in the world: turn on the news, scroll social media for 2 seconds and you’ll see examples of the powerful using anger, lust, and persuasive words to manipulate and control others.
The challenge, though, is to notice these dynamics present within ourselves and our community.
- How do I use hostility and contempt to dominate others?
- How do I turn others into objects for my own use, disregarding their agency and dignity?
- How do I use words to manipulate others?
We ask these questions because, as the Body of Christ, we must do more than merely “speak out” on these issues, but learn to embody the politics of Jesus together.
Our desire is that this sermon series would take us to a far deeper place together than merely hearing some inspiring new information we hadn’t heard before.
We want to actually learn to practice God’s way of being human together: the politics of love, where the powerful lay down their lives for the weak, and leverage their status to lift up the lowly, where all human beings are treated as the precious and holy image-bearers they are.
What does that mean for you right now? Let’s continue to surrender to really living the politics of Jesus this fall together.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Ben
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