In this week’s gospel reading from Luke 9:51-62, Jesus “sets his face to Jerusalem,” and takes his followers there from the north on route through hostile Samaria. Along the way, some try to join him and are dissuaded, others offer to come but have other obligations first. Jesus wastes no words telling them which things are more important. So where is the gentle Jesus? Are we also supposed to act this way? Rev. Kent explored these questions in his sermon and suggested that here is not a moral imperative for disciples, but rather a clear picture of Jesus on the move: the kingdom stirring and the urgent need to be about this business. Here is the prayer written by Rev. Kent and shared by worship leader, John Culp:
Wind-whipped by the tempests of our circumstances we ask you to help us keep clear: Clear that vengeance is not the way to love; Clear that the work of love is urgent, demands our attention, and sometimes supercedes our approval or rejection by others. In troublous times we pray for measure of your Son’s grace to show kindness in a hard world, and comfort to those who are hurting. For ourselves, we pray not just for the strength to endure our losses, but for the ability to ride the winds of change to bring that hope and love to your wide and beloved world. May we reap the whirlwind sown by Christ, and move from tempest to triumph by your loving hand. Amen.
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