Sermons - Milagro Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

God is calling us out of our way to go explore. Calling us out of our comfortable life and take a risk. To allow God to call us to something more than we are, bigger than we are. To allow God to call us to something we think, perhaps, like Moses, we cannot do.

Treating others as we would like to be treated reminds us that we are all human beings made up of wonder and majesty. It is a reminder that we all make mistakes. That we all live in varying and varied circumstances.

To treat others as we would like to be treated means that we hold one another in hope, and we strive to assume the best in one another.

It is not an easy road to follow. Rage, revenge, violence – those are always quicker than finding a road that is more peaceful, more transformative. Retribution offers us instant gratification. When we live a life of radical humility, a life of active kenosis, we might never see transformation we hope to enable. But, true to the spirit of kenosis…it isn’t about us anyway.

There once was a church sign on Grand Avenue that says there’s no safer place than next to Jesus. Is this true? Or is the next to Jesus the most dangerous place we can be?

The good news is we don’t have to do it alone.

As long as we go to the pool,

tired or not,

believing or not,

thinking it’ll work or not,

as long as we go the pool God will show up and God will do it for us.

But we have to keep going to the pool.

I’ve heard people say, “this isn’t what our country is about.” Finally, the image of a Nazi flag in Charlottesville was enough to bring us out of our stupor, or our denial. Of course, my friends who are people of color are quick to point out that this is EXACTLY what our country was founded on. Our country was founded on genocide and supported by slavery -- and the bible was used to justify every step.

This is the sin of white supremacy.

This is the sin of racism.

And our country must repent.

But Jesus will have none of that defeatist talk. “Ok, bring me your ‘nothing’” he tells the disciples. And Jesus does what Jesus does.

When we do love, we “put on Jesus” so that we can be a walking, talking, living billboard for our living God – a God that we know is still active in the world, still present, still with us and all of creation.

A Sermon from Milagro Christian Church in Pueblo Co

The difference is that in this story, God is telling Peter to be more inclusive, more accepting. Not less.