In the parable of the person who is robbed, beaten and left for dead, Jesus picks a controversial hero. He could have picked a less controversial character but he wanted to teach His listeners something important. Something that could speak to our world in 2021.
Often differences among people can lead to division. Our nation in embroiled in racial tension and division in part due to the recent deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among others. Unity does not just happen; we have to work at it. Rev. Julius Keller asks: what role can we who dare to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ do to bring about healing and reconciliation? What role can our church play in this process?
What is the Kingdom of God? It’s harder for us to understand the Kingdom of God today because we don’t have kings and kingdoms in the United States. Yet Jesus frequently talked about the Kingdom of God in three different ways.
God has promised to accept us, so we as the people of God should accept one another.
A diverse group of people were drawn to Jesus. Tax Collectors, Sinners, Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were all interested in Jesus. Some thought they were unworthy of God’s love and some thought they had earned their way into God’s love. Both these assumptions turned out to be wrong. Those who knew they were lost were on the right track and those who thought they weren’t part of the lost group were in jeopardy of being lost. In the lost and found chapter of the Bible, Jesus reaches out to both types of people.
God loves you and there is nothing you can do that will make Him love you any less.
