Sermon | Luke 16:19-31 | "Walls"

Sermon | Luke 16:19-31 | "Walls" given by Rev. Joseph Sanford Sifting and sorting through scripture to find rules and regulations and laws and abominations can do two things for us: It can make us comfortable that if we just follow the letter of the Law we are in a good place no matter what kinds of walls we have in our hearts and lives. It can help us understand a movement from a heart of rebellion to a heart of obedience. There’s a trajectory in our scripture. Rules that were once revolutionary in the way of grace and humanity thousands of years ago…would be something else entirely today. Some of the rules are irrelevant, right? We can follow the original intent while not following the original Law. If the Law was to help the people look and live differently from the world around them, we can do that in our own way. If we have any men who shave the hair on their temples, would we condemn them? Some scripture would. But maybe we can live differently in a way that has nothing to do with hair. If you are wearing a blended fabric, should you be condemned? Some scripture would condemn you. But maybe we can live differently in a way that has nothing to do with clothes. What about how we treat people who are not citizens of our country? Scripture starts out a bit harsh—kill all who reside on land you are about to invade. It then calls on Israel to remember their own need as people foreign to a land—so that they might treat aliens in their midst as family…with extra hospitality. We can follow that movement to teach us how we can continue to grow into the will of God in our own country today. Or…we can reinforce walls in our hearts and lives. Treatment of women—same progression. They were property at one time…given some agency…then full agency… Going back to the first laws about women would be removing agency—we can clearly see how that works against the direction God has been leading humanity. Treatment of slaves—same progression. We’ve reached the point where we know we should NOT even have slaves—but there are more slaves on earth today than there have ever been. We have work to do in how we buy what we buy—because some of the stuff we buy comes from a process that looks an awful lot like slavery. This is why, when someone says, “I just follow the Bible,” I often wonder… Do you follow particular passages of scripture?? Or are you digging and searching for the trajectory of God’s guidance from then until that great and glorious day when all is set right…so you can figure out how to move forward from right here and now? Will we change our hearts?   Or reinforce our walls? And what about the underserved and unhoused? Will we assume they could just go and get jobs? Will we assume they just make poor choices? Will we watch as they lie there outside of our walls? Or will we tear down the walls in our hearts and lives to do something? Not just feed them for a day—which is a great thing to do…but go beyond. Bridges Alliance comes alongside people who need help not just to put a band-aid on the situation, but to help bring healing. We have many ways we help people find food, but is there more we can do? And what would that look like? What might it cost? What would it require of us? Where is the Spirit leading this church? Have we reached the limit of our potential? _____________________________________ These are the questions before us from this passage in Luke. Take heart: God gives us the Holy Spirit to guide into the way of salvation every step of the way. The Holy Spirit guides us on the path of following Jesus. Jesus leads us into the way of LIFE both here, now, and forevermore.