1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,760 Last week's assassination of Charlie Kirk has been 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:09,560 emotionally and spiritually challenging for many Christians. 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:14,160 How should we Christians think about this murder? 4 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:19,480 I found this sermon by Pastor Dave Peterson very helpful, 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:25,720 delivered on September 14th and titled Spiritually Formed by 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,040 Mercy. I hope you also find comfort and 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:38,040 insight in Pastor Dave's words. The peace of Jesus Christ be 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,640 with you today. Thank you. 9 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,880 I received that peace. I appreciate everything, all the 10 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,880 work and all the thoughtfulness that has gone into this worship 11 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:56,000 service up to this point, and I certainly want to be faithful to 12 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,160 my part in all of it. Thank you for being here and for 13 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:06,360 worshiping together on such a tragic week in our nation. 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,480 So today we offer sacred space for what we all need, but 15 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:17,960 struggle to find a place to quiet ourselves, to communally 16 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:23,000 lament the division and suffering in our nation, to be 17 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,760 forthright that violence is never supported in the teachings 18 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,800 of Jesus Christ, and to mourn with yet another family who has 19 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:40,440 been destroyed by gun violence. Even if I were a gifted writer 20 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,360 and speaker, there are no words that will make the suffering of 21 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,960 this tragedy better. My prayer is simply that God 22 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:56,960 will use this sermon to hold us and move us forward as people of 23 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,720 faith towards hope in our own grief and confusion. 24 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,120 Something I've been pondering this week is just how 25 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,960 Christianity, for all that we think of it to be, is actually a 26 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,480 beautiful and ancient faith. The Scriptures have sustained 27 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,880 and guided believers for thousands of centuries. 28 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,360 This is not new to us. We benefit from the people of 29 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,880 faith who have come before us and the wisdom that they have 30 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,520 left behind. Just consider the book of Job. 31 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:41,320 Today, the body of Christ across this globe numbers 2.4 billion 32 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:47,000 Christians worshipping Christ in their language and in their 33 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,920 unique culture in their particular way. 34 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,720 And it shouldn't surprise me or any of us that every nation does 35 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,200 embody Christianity very uniquely aligned with its own 36 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,040 cultural values. That's not wrong. 37 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:09,040 It's just complicated. And real Christianity in the 38 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,080 United States is no different. Our nation interprets the 39 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:18,520 Scriptures through its own lens of desires and values, and at 40 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:23,840 present we are navigating a complex landscape of Christian 41 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,480 expression within our nation that is painfully pulling us in 42 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,640 two directions. And this cocktail of voices has 43 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:37,920 created confusion regarding the primary pillars of the Christian 44 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,240 faith. As a religion, it's very 45 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,680 concerning when faith becomes driven by fear. 46 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:51,320 I've often thought, how does faith become fear, which we know 47 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:57,400 is not one of God's attributes? And whatever our opinions are of 48 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,240 the rhetoric that we're all drowning in, I think we can all 49 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,560 agree on one thing, that there is a litmus test, very simple 50 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,880 one, that Jesus left with us. The first commandment love the 51 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,680 Lord your God with all your heart and the second is like 52 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,560 unto it, love your neighbor as you love yourself. 53 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:27,360 How we express our love of God and for others is extremely 54 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,440 important to God. We cannot be a credible witness 55 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:38,000 in our culture to God's nature without this love otherwise 56 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,440 become we become just another rant of voices that are loud 57 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:49,080 gongs and clanging cymbals. So today, in order to dispel any 58 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,880 confusion, I'd just like to direct our attention to consider 59 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,560 2 ancient pillars of Christianity foundational to our 60 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,640 faith. And one is the experience of the 61 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,920 spiritual practice of mercy and the other is the spiritual 62 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,200 practice of belonging to a community of faith. 63 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,440 I'd like to begin by reaching back in history, not quite back 64 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,560 to the beginning, but to the 1200s and the prayer that has 65 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,400 been accredited to Saint Francis of Assisi. 66 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,200 Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. 67 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,880 Where there is hatred, let me sow love. 68 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:35,760 Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. 69 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:44,040 Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light, 70 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:52,240 Where there is sadness, joy. Oh Divine Master, grant that I 71 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:57,320 may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be 72 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,960 understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. 73 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,840 For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that 74 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:15,560 we are pardoned, and it is in dying to self that we are born 75 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:20,760 to eternal life. Notice that fear and confusion 76 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:26,040 is not on this list. And there's a question for us 77 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,920 today. And the question is, does my 78 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:35,680 Christianity embody peace, love, pardon, faith, hope, light, and 79 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,560 joy? I can't say I live up to all of 80 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,480 those attributes, but the prayer just doesn't stop there, just 81 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:48,600 keeps driving deeper. Do Ioffer consolation? 82 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,960 Do I try to understand the other? 83 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,320 Do I leave others with love still on the table? 84 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,640 And then the conclusion of the prayer gives us instructions for 85 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,240 the right pathway to choose that will lead us to actually live 86 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:12,720 out this particular prayer. For it is in giving that I 87 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,920 receive in pardoning, I'm pardoned in dying to self. 88 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,400 I am born to life. And this prayer aligns so 89 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:27,360 closely with the fruits of the Spirit in the in the in the book 90 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:34,040 of Galatians that it makes me wonder if Francis was looking at 91 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,600 the fruits of the Spirit when he created and crafted this prayer. 92 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:44,480 Galatians says for the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, 93 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:52,240 patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and 94 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,280 self-control. There is no law against such 95 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:00,760 things, and those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh 96 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:07,480 with its passions and desires. What if our present Americanized 97 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,200 version of Christianity, whatever you want to consider 98 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,800 that to be? What if that voice adopted these 99 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,000 attributes as evidence for being a follower of Jesus? 100 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,280 How would the fruit that we are bearing look different from the 101 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,680 current Christian landscape if we became people who were 102 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:33,480 followers of Jesus 1st and members of a particular nation 103 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:39,720 second? I confess I do not consistently 104 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,600 bear these fruits. I have once in a while a good 105 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:48,480 streak, but I do not possess the ability to embody them under 106 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,960 adverse circumstances. Something greater than me is 107 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:59,440 needed to transform my personal wiring and this has to originate 108 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,880 from the Spirit of Christ promise to me and living within 109 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:09,920 me daily, influencing and renewing my spirit, leading me 110 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:15,600 to different results. But what is the catalyst that 111 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,680 ignites this new direction within me? 112 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,760 What would remotely motivate me to want to live in the way of 113 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:28,560 Jesus? To dying to self, if you will. 114 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,480 And I would suggest that the necessary catalyst is actually 115 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,320 mercy. Experiencing and understanding 116 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,400 mercy is key to living in the Kingdom of God. 117 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:48,360 The teachings of Jesus inform us that mercy's foundational to 118 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,160 God's Kingdom. Mercy could be compared to the 119 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,120 blood that flows through our veins, that brings oxygen to 120 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,400 every organ in our body. Our life is sustained by our 121 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:06,000 blood system and God's Kingdom is sustained by a mercy system. 122 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,600 Consider just a few teachings of Christ, the beatitude. 123 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,840 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. 124 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:22,040 Mercy begetting mercy. Jesus in speaking to the 125 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,480 Pharisees. Quotes from the book of Hosea 126 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,800 when he points out to them that compassion and kindness of God 127 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:33,320 are much more important than outward acts of any religion. 128 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,800 When he says go and learn what this means. 129 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,320 I desire mercy and not sacrifice. 130 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:46,440 And then Jesus taught the crowds and he said be merciful even as 131 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:51,600 your Father is merciful. Jesus loved people. 132 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,880 Jesus was constantly offering mercy to people who knew they 133 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,480 didn't deserve it and experience, and that experience 134 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,000 of receiving undeserved mercy was a catalyst for their 135 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,520 spiritual transformation and the compelling reason to lay down 136 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,680 whatever it was they were holding onto and following 137 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,600 Jesus. Mercy realigns our hearts to 138 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,880 God's operating system. But there herein lies the 139 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,440 problem that not everyone who calls themselves Christian has 140 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,480 had an actual experience of Christ's mercy. 141 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,800 Some people don't realize they even need mercy. 142 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,480 And those who have experienced mercy, the mercy of God for 143 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,560 themselves, they get spiritually rewired. 144 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,560 And those who don't take Christianity and they continue 145 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,800 to live their faith out from their cultural operating system. 146 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:53,760 There's been no rewiring, if you will, when we haven't had an 147 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,880 encounter with God's mercy for ourselves. 148 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,320 We create a Christianity all around us of our personal 149 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:06,880 agendas and our cultural values, rather than the Kingdom of God 150 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,360 and what the Scriptures actually say. 151 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:14,920 And take note that mercy is much different, much different than 152 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:19,000 forgiveness. Pat was kind to this week and 153 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,520 forwarded a podcast to me of an interview with Father Greg 154 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,400 Boyle. Father Greg founded the Homeboy 155 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,120 Ministries in LA that provides jobs for those formerly 156 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,160 incarcerated. And Father Boyle mentioned in 157 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,120 this interview that he's not a big forgiveness person. 158 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:40,920 Isn't that funny for someone who hires former incarcerated 159 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,360 people? And he's writing a new book, 160 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,880 hasn't come out. He said it's titled Forgive 161 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:52,720 Everyone Everything, and he described the difference between 162 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,840 mercy and forgiveness in this way. 163 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,400 This is what he said. We settle for forgiveness when 164 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:03,240 we should hold out for mercy. Forgiveness requires that all 165 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,240 parties are in agreement. Forgiveness waits for an 166 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:13,240 apology, sometimes forever, but mercy is a much larger thing. 167 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,200 Mercy doesn't wait for anything or anybody. 168 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,760 It's already there. Sabbath question for you. 169 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,800 What is your past and your present experience of and with 170 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,080 God's mercy towards you? Have you experienced the mercy 171 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,160 of God? Under what circumstances were 172 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:43,040 you and what effect has that experience had on the way you 173 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,400 see the scriptures and the way you actually live it out in our 174 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,320 cultural values? I'd like to just quickly mention 175 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,000 another foundational premise of Christianity that to consider 176 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,560 and I'll do it with a story on Wednesday. 177 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:05,480 I lay I'm AI admit I'm a big feeling person and I have to 178 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,160 protect others and myself sometimes from those feelings. 179 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,680 And on Wednesday I experienced a series of events that kind of 180 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,120 attacked every fiber of my well-being. 181 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,000 The day began with morning meetings followed by the tragic 182 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,320 news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. 183 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,960 And as there was a trying to comprehend how this happened, 184 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,440 why it happened, exactly what Charlie represented, etcetera, 185 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:34,080 this tragedy, I was interrupted by an urgent text message on my 186 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:39,680 phone that came from MA, the MA school system informing all of 187 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,200 the parents that the school had been placed on secure alert 188 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,360 while the police were investigating a potential 189 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:51,240 threat. My kids actually didn't even 190 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:57,760 like blink and I get in the end, but their father did and I was 191 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,240 one hour later, the secure alert was lifted. 192 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,760 It wasn't very long and the police and, and I'm really 193 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,640 grateful how professional both the school was and the law 194 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:09,600 enforcement. It was amazing. 195 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:15,000 I, I, I want to credit them for that, but we have two kids at MA 196 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:21,640 and this just added a fresh layer of parental fear over me. 197 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,360 And not long after that, the news reported that three 198 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,400 students in Colorado had been killed. 199 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,480 My emotions were fried and nothing was breaking through the 200 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,120 my own darkness. I, I'll own it. 201 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:39,920 The no devotional seemed to help. 202 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,080 No particular scripture passage really meant much to me, and no 203 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,280 conversation I had seemed to lift this heaviness within. 204 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,640 And the next day, on Thursday, I gathered together with friends 205 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,840 in our weekly 4:00 PM prayer hour. 206 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,440 And together, as friends who've known each other for a while, we 207 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,880 brought the weight of our lament and our petitions to God, asking 208 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,800 for God's light to shine on our nation and places of darkness, 209 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,760 seeking God's direction for what is ours to do. 210 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,400 And I left that small community of prayer in tears, relieved, 211 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,440 grateful for the gift of spiritual community that I could 212 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,400 journey alongside, that they could journey alongside me and 213 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:31,440 guide me through the pain. Henry Nowen, the author, priest 214 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,200 and spiritual author, priest and spiritual leader, in his book 215 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,840 Can You Drink from the Cup, describes the gift of spiritual 216 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,960 community with beauty and clarity. 217 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,800 When each of us can hold firm our own cup with its many 218 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:51,240 sorrows and joys, claiming it as our own unique life, then two, 219 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,800 we can lift it up for others to see and encourage them to lift 220 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,160 up their life as well. As we lift up our cup in a 221 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,640 fearless gesture proclaiming that we will support each other 222 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,000 in our common journey, we create community. 223 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,280 Last paragraph. Nothing is sweet or easy about 224 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,839 community. Community is a fellowship of 225 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:20,079 people who do not hide their joys and sorrows, but make them 226 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:23,040 visible to each other in a gesture of hope. 227 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:29,160 In community, we say life is full of gains and losses, joys 228 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,760 and sorrows, ups and downs, but we do not have to live it alone. 229 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,520 The truth that the wounds of our individual lives would seem 230 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:44,480 intolerable when lived alone become sources of healing when 231 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,040 we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care. 232 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,640 Has God offered you a small community of faith? 233 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,840 Since it doesn't happen in these large rooms, it happens in 234 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,880 pockets, people to journey your faith alongside. 235 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:08,040 If you do hold this gift as sacred. 236 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,920 And if you don't, seek God for it and be open to whoever it is 237 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:21,760 that God may lead you to. And when God does commit, commit 238 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:28,040 to them and come alongside. Finally, the cumulative events 239 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:32,280 of the past couple of weeks have reminded me that the tumultuous 240 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,320 condition of our nation is not unique to our time in history. 241 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,360 Right. Many of us in this room remember 242 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:42,440 the national upheaval that our nation went through in the 243 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:49,480 1960s, and that decade alone experienced 4 high profile 244 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:55,800 political assassinations, President John F Kennedy, the 245 00:18:55,800 --> 00:19:01,440 human rights activist Malcolm X, civil rights leader, Doctor 246 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,680 Martin Luther King Junior, and Senator Robert F Kennedy. 247 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,400 And these 4 murders over the course of a decade profoundly 248 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:17,200 impacted America, our culture, and our politics. 249 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:27,120 As a child, I was watching this on TV, Watching the civil rights 250 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:32,160 marches on TV as a kid, and the violence and the hatred that 251 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,880 ensued, all of it left an indelible imprint on my young 252 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,280 mind. I certainly couldn't begin to 253 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,120 understand the magnitude of change that our nation was 254 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:49,080 navigating and confronting and buckling under. 255 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:55,880 But one thing I do recall is that something about the way the 256 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:02,280 civil rights movement operated in culture was different. 257 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,720 They weren't just, they weren't only a political movement. 258 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:14,520 They were an entire beloved community embodied, embodied by 259 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,720 the core principles and practices of Christianity. 260 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,720 They embedded strategies into their community that remarkably 261 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,560 embodied Christ's teaching at its best for the public eye to 262 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,000 see. They led in they led in a 263 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,640 spiritual way to confront our nation's social challenges. 264 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:43,040 And it looked so much different than what the culture at the 265 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:47,840 time had adopted. So I did just a little of 266 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,560 research to uncover what were the spiritual disciplines that 267 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,600 they actually founded the movement on. 268 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,360 And I discovered three primary Christian spiritual strategies 269 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,120 that I'd like to leave you with today. 270 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,520 First was they practiced non violence as a spiritual 271 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,120 discipline. It was a spiritual commitment 272 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:15,360 that they made to non violence. Doctor Martin Luther King used 273 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,960 the word agape, which is the Greek word for God's 274 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:24,720 unconditional love, as the foundation for this non violent 275 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:28,160 resistance. And the activists in the 276 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,360 movement were actually trained to love their enemies, remain 277 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:37,680 calm under attack and refrain from the retaliation. 278 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,720 That's pretty powerful. The second principle of 279 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,680 Christianity that they again was embedded into their core. 280 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,960 They operated from a theology of liberation and justice. 281 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,360 The movement was positioned as a moral and a spiritual 282 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,840 imperative. Equality and justice were 283 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:04,800 considered to be God's will for all of humanity, and segregation 284 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:10,040 and racism were considered sins against both God and humanity. 285 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:17,040 And then third last, the embodiment of sacrifice and 286 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:22,080 redemptive suffering. They believe that suffering. 287 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,880 They believe that suffering for righteousness sake had spiritual 288 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:32,120 meaning, and Doctor King spoke of redemptive suffering, which 289 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:36,840 was the belief that enduring injustice could actually awaken 290 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:42,080 the conscience of the nation and transform society over time. 291 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:50,080 What I appreciated about this, remembering this now as an old 292 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:55,040 man, but learning it and seeing it as a young child, they 293 00:22:55,040 --> 00:23:00,400 offered a vision of beloved community, of moral justice. 294 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,160 And I would challenge us as a church. 295 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,760 I would challenge any leader, institution, or political 296 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:15,040 movement in America that claims to represent the voice of 297 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:20,440 Christianity and our faith to stop and examine these spiritual 298 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,880 practices. Somehow these people believed 299 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,520 that they could respond differently because they had 300 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:34,920 received God's loving mercy for themselves and also for their 301 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,920 enemy. As a Christian community, as we 302 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:45,600 began the the core component of mercy, we should always practice 303 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,760 mercy. And yet that doesn't mean we 304 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,160 compromise convictions or action. 305 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:57,600 We but when we engage and how we engage is different from an 306 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,720 American culture of retaliation and violence. 307 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:06,240 We embody that third way that better reflects our Lord and 308 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:13,200 Savior who died for us to receive mercy and also for our 309 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,640 enemy. Our actions at this time in 310 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:23,760 history, personally in our neighborhood, at work, in 311 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:30,120 whatever organization you belong to, our actions do really speak 312 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:36,720 louder than all the words that we keep hearing across the 313 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,440 country. I would ask in closing, the 314 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,160 worship team can come forward and if you would stand with me 315 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,720 and if we could close in the prayer of Saint Francis 316 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,840 together, please. We began with it. 317 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:56,800 Would you join me? Please, Lord, make me an 318 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:01,800 instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me 319 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:06,360 sow love. Where there is injury, Harding. 320 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:13,280 Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. 321 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:22,120 Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy, oh 322 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:27,760 Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled 323 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:36,360 as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as 324 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,160 to love. For it is in giving that we 325 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,000 receive. It is in pardoning that we are 326 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,040 pardoned. It is dying to sell that we are 327 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:53,480 born to eternal life in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 328 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,080 Holy Spirit. Amen. 329 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:04,080 Thank you Pastor Dave for those insightful and spirit LED words. 330 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:09,800 I'm your host Elton Sherwin. Until next time, stay safe, be 331 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,600 brave, and God bless.