🦁 Lent 5-7
Readings: Psalm 119:9-16; Haggai 2:1-9, 20-23; John 12:34-50.
Reflection
Good morning. This is your broadcasting from Sacramento, California. Today's readings come to us from Psalm 119, verses 9 to 16, Haggai chapter two, verses 1 to 9 and 20 to 23, and the Gospel of John, Chapter 12, verses 34 to 50.
In the readings from John today, the last part of the reading, which begins at verse 44, is titled Jesus Came to Save the World and the big one for me, yours in chapter or should be verse 47. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him or I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
This has become a real issue for centuries in Christianity, for pretty much since the beginning, people, human beings have used Christianity to judge others, to set themselves apart from others, as in being better than them, and used Christianity to justify by doing all kinds of bad things to people that were not like them, that were different than them, who didn't believe what they believed or whatever you pick, whatever thing that they wanted that these people wanted to do. It was being a Christian made me better, made me this, that whatever was not the message of Jesus, I We're warned against judging Matthew Luke famous Matthew seven one judge not less to be judged going on to talk about the timber in your eye, splinter in your neighbor's eye when you have a timber in your own Jesus was very Jesus did not judge.
He taught He saw with the common person with people the the verse is coming to his ear. So why is he hanging out with the tax collector? Why is he hanging out with a prostitute? Why is he hanging out with these people that we want nothing to do with their. That's the message of Jesus. That is the message of Christianity, of being Christ like.
It is so difficult, especially in our world today as we sit here and we have all this things and stuff around us and and things point in this direction and point us in that direction, you got to have this. You got to own that and to be cool, you got to do this, all this stuff going on.
And then we also denigrate people. We're still I'm not gonna name all the slurs and everything. We all know what they are. It still goes on. It's still happening. It's still there. Nothing is changing. We do why we're divisive. And Jesus here in talking to the disciples, is telling them that I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save the world. And the judgment will come from another. And this is the way it works. But we are not the ones to judge someone. We are supposed to be the ones who come out and help people to teach them a better way.
So many times we look at people coming into church, they've done things that they shouldn't have done and we don't accept them. We don't help them. They're lesser than to the point, and I've seen this so many times that we'll have someone who said alcoholic who hit rock bottom, maybe wound up in jail on a DUI charge or drunk and disorderly or something. And they they get to the point where they finally they've gotten knocked down So far, they realize there's nothing they can do and they finally turn to God and they come to church and they're an alcoholic. Oh, you're drunk. Oh, okay.
And we actually I've seen people convinced that, well, yeah, I've been ill. The Lord saved me. But all you are is horrible, horrible, poor. And they, they actually they themselves put themselves below others. And it's just that's not the way it's supposed to be. We all should uplift and celebrate each other.
Someone who's overcoming something like an addiction that alcohol and addiction to drugs, someone who is coming in and has done things in their lives that are against the law or of man or even against the laws of God. And they're no worse or better. I'm no worse or better. We are all the same in the eyes of the Lord. And this is Jesus message again. He comes to save the world, not to judge it. We as Christians need to come to the world to save it, to teach, to be the ones who are with our hands out to those who cannot. And all of us who served in the military, what did we do? We were the ones who stood up for those who could not defend themselves. We are the ones who reached out, who did things, put ourselves in harm's way to save others.
This is the message of God. This is the message of Jesus. This is the message that we as Christians are supposed to have. We are the ones who stand up. We are the ones who reach out. We are the ones who say, no, this is you are good.
Welcome. We're glad you're here. We're here to help you, not to judge someone because they drink too much, smoke too much, dress a certain way, don't dress a certain way, wear certain colors, do certain whatever. All this junk is that we go through in life and the way that we judge and separate people and put them into cars. We come not to judge the world, but to save it by teaching, by having open arms and open hearts and reaching out to those who can not for themselves on.
