When it comes to the difficult teachings of Jesus — love your enemies, do not judge, forgive one another — we might think he was speaking only to his...
In the Sermon the Plain, Jesus draws a new blueprint for humanity — a hope-filled flipping of the status quo that doesn’t pit us against one another but invites all of us in. “Is there anything he says that does not include you?” ask the Rev. Michael Bird. When everything feels upside down, God stands with us, heals us, and reminds us of the reason we were created: “out of love, with love, for love — together.”
Preaching on two Bible stories about God calling ordinary people — the prophet Isaiah and the disciple Simon Peter — to new and unexpected paths, Father Phil reminds us that, if we’re open to it, the call of God can “upend our lives and take us into another place, into another direction — into another call.” And if it does, as Jesus reminds Simon Peter, we don’t have to be afraid. We can know God’s call is good.
