And in the Holy Spirit

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.

In the beginning before the word of creation, you hovered over the face of the deep.
At the end your knowledge will cover all the earth as water covers the sea.
Even now, you search the soul for a home of new creation.

Blessed are you who moves upon the heart that rivers spring forth.
Blessed are you who flows within the soul that dried things are restored.
You breathe in all that is green.

You shadow your saints wherein your word is hidden.
You whisper to your prophets and the word is spoken.
You shine upon your child, a revelation.

You hear the cry of the broken hearted and send prayer up to heaven.
You gather the meek of the land and scatter the proud in their delusion.
Through water, you drive your children into the wilderness.

You reveal yourself in blaring horns, fire and smoke upon the mountain.
You call your servant to come up higher and receive full instruction.
You inscribe your own soul upon these stones.

Make not for me an altar of stone nor ascend by steps, only sacrifice on an altar of earth.

You terrify them from your holy hill to make no gods of gold and to server no other.
You burn hot against brazen children.
You sanctify your people to make them holy.

You say, “You shall be holy for I, the Lord your God am holy.”
Among your children you wish to dwell.
So you fashion from a virgin an earthly tent full of glory.

You hide my child in a peasant’s cloak to walk a bitter journey.
You fall to depths where no one escapes.

Turn, my child, the kingdom is at hand!

Awake! You, the ear of those who listen.
Awake! You, the eye of those who see.
Behold, the beloved is stricken.

Come O wind and bear them up.
Come O driver, wheel, and chariot.
Come knit my beloved and bride forever.

And I will dwell here among my people.

To love our neighbors, take 2

Blake Huggins offers a different take on love of neighbor, Solidarity & Love of Neighbor, the social justice aspect of loving neighbor. This includes a wonderful quote from Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. Blake asks "whether the giving and the solidarity are really authentic or simply cheap gimmicks to appease a guilty conscience either individual or collective."

One problem with charity and a "show of solidarity" is that we preserve even strengthens our own status as superior to the recipient of our sympathy. Socially we become more "deserving" when we are known to be a charitable person or even a "champion" for the cause of the downtrodden.

Even profit-driven corporations will give to charities and align themselves with social causes because it enhances "brand value" and "goodwill". It's a calculated move to enhance the position of the company. This is especially telling when a corporation spends more money advertising their goodwill than they ever gave in the first place. From a PR perspective, a gift of a couple million dollars to a high visibility cause can generate the equivalent of many more millions of dollars worth of advertising, and paid advertising can further boost the ROI of charity.

For example, all through the Olympics I saw ExxonMobil ads touting their work fighting malaria in Africa, "Roll Back Malaria." How many million more have they spent on prime air time to make themselves appear more socially responsible. At the end of the day, they post record-breaking profits and leave a massive trail of environmental degradation behind them. "Corporate responsibility" is self-interest.

Perhaps some good comes of this--and I hope that it does--but does corporate charity really fulfill the command to love neighbor?

It's easy to pick on corporations. They only exist to serve capital. They are what they are, but Christ calls his disciples to something higher. Loving neighbor as ourself needs to be more than loving ourself.

Image by Mikey G Ottawa

To love our neighbors

Trevin Wax asks the question: Do we have time to love our neighbors? He writes:

Living the slower pace of Romanian village life forced me to wrestle with the question: Do we in the United States have time to love our neighbors?

Surely loving your neighbor is more than just being there for them in case something goes wrong or they need help. Loving your neighbor means you’re ready to get to know them.To understand their mindset.To look past their quirks.To love them through their trials.To talk to them about the little events of the day and to confide in them in the big events of the day.

God has created us for more than shallow friendships that boil down to activities and entertainment that rob us of our time together. He wants us to go deep in our relationships with others. To spend time with people, for it is time with people that brings change in life.

I fear that many of our churches have chosen shallow waters over deep waters when it comes to Christian fellowship. Church has become a place for one activity on top of another. Game night, choir practice, youth activities, dramas, movie night, etc. Again, these aren’t bad things!

But here’s the important question: Do our churches foster opportunities to better know and love our neighbors? Or could it be that all our good activities actually hinder us from truly knowing and loving people?

written by Trevin Wax © 2008 Kingdom People blog

I would certainly agree that being too busy stifles our love of neighbor. Busy, overbooked people even have difficulty loving their immediate families! It would follow then that churches that push too many activities at people may actually suck up time and energy better reserved for being available to love our families and neighbors.

Often "community" is conceived as having significant social interaction, but I would like to challenge this by considering the experience of shy folks, the kind of people who need extra Powdermilk Biscuits just to go to a church function.

Introverts tend to weary of too much social interaction and appreciate time alone as a way to recharge. Conversely, extroverts thrive on lots of social engagement and may have difficulty spending time by themselves.

If we think of loving neighbor as depending on significant social engagement, then introverts are at a disadvantage to love neighbor. In this case, it's not just the lack of time that interferes, but also a lack of social energy.

I have trouble, however, accepting the idea that somehow sociable folks are more loving of neighbor than shy folks. It may be the opposite, but really, it is silly to take on such gross generalizations.

Instead, let's look at Jesus' answer to the question of "who is my neighbor?" In the parable of the Good Samaritan, it really does not matter whether the Samaritan was an introvert or extrovert. It matters not whether their relationship was deep or non-existent prior to the attack. What mattered was that he made himself available to the needs of the man who had been beaten and robbed.

I would like to emphasize the word, "available." Perhaps the priest and the Levite who passed by without helping were simply too booked to take the time. They had social engagements that left them unavailable for an unexpected need. I'm sure they had some pity for the man, but they had other things they "had to do."

So I would reframe Trevin's question. It's not that we don't have enough time. God saw fit to create our 24-hour day and commanded us to observe a weekly Sabbath. That ought to be enough time to love neighbor.

I would ask this question. How available am I to respond to the need of a neighbor? This means pulling back from over-involvement. I may need to "unstructure" my time so that I have energy and time in reserve.

There is a Torah prohibition against reaping a field all the way to its edges and corners. Rather a little is to be left for the poor to glean from it. This law is a concrete way to love the stranger, and it holds a basic principle. Our schedules need to leave some edges left over for our neighbor in need. Otherwise we are stealing from our neighbor.

This, of course, is easier said than done, but it does give us a helpful principle to evaluate our commitments. We can ask, does this commitment leave me with enough spare time, energy or flexibility to be available to my neighbor?

Image by Lawrence OP

A Responsive Reading of Philippians 2:1-18

Philippians is perhaps Paul’s most passionate letter. Paul writes from prison. He has been ill and depressed. He is torn between living and dying. He would prefer to die and be with the Lord, but for the sake of the Philippians, it is better to remain in the flesh. He longs to visit this congregation he had planted. The prospect of someday returning to it is one of Paul’s few consolations.

Both Paul and the church in Philippi need encouragement. Things are difficult for these mostly gentile believers. Under the strain of persecution, they are full of disagreement, bickering and self-interest. Some are getting lock up in prison. Some are confused by arguments of others who tell them that to really be right with God one must be circumcised. Paul wants them to be of the same mind as they partner with him in the cause of the Gospel.

To get in touch with the pathos beneath this text, I like to read the whole letter aloud. In the early church, letters such as this were “performed.” One person would read it aloud and the others would listen. Philippians is full of mood swings, and I imagine a reader—who reads through the whole letter—alternating his or her voice to match each mood. I’ve begun to imagine how a congregation today might perform this text to create a sense of participation in it.

I would like to share a responsive setting for Philippians 2:1-18. This includes the Christ hymn found in verses 6-11. This was most likely a liturgical text used among the early churches. I feature a dramatic descent, the humility of Christ who empties himself to become human and suffer death, “even death on a cross,” and is followed by an ascent, the exaltation of Christ by the Father to the name above every name. The portions immediately preceding and following the Christ hymn are also compelling. They resonate thematically with the hymn.

So here is the responsive reading. Imagine if you will Paul speaking to the Philippians and the Philippians responding back to Paul. This is what we wish to enact. The leader corresponds to Paul and the group to the Philippian congregation.

Philippians 2:1-18

Leader	If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete:
Group	be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
Leader	4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
Group	6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
Leader	And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—
Group	even death on a cross.
Leader	9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
Group	10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Leader	12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Group	14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.
Leader	16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Group	17 But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you—
Leader	18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

If you try this with a group, please let me know how it goes.

An invitation to Prophetic Discipleship

Friends,

I am starting an online Bible study called, Prophetic Discipleship in Luke.

We will trace how Luke develops a view of prophetic ministry and discipleship. I’ve selected twelve key passages in Luke and Acts. My intent is to take up a passage every two to four weeks. We will begin Sept. 8, 2008 at PropheticDiscipleship.blogspot.com.

Please join me for this exciting study.

Blessing in Christ, James

If you turn back

Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore thus says the LORD: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.

God's word is always "Turn back, and I will take you back." The spiritual life is not about always being in God's presence, but it is always returning to God--always remembering and responding to God's everlasting welcome. The righteous will fall seven times, but they will rise again (Proverbs 24:16). The spiritual life is penitential.

But notice that God's promise is not only to take us back--though that would be enough--but God calls us to priestly and prophetic service. This is the meaning of "you shall stand before me." Our priestly service is to come before God in worship, supplication, and intercession for others.

Moreover, "if you utter what is precious...you shall serve as my mouth." Our prophetic service is to speak the "precious" word that God gives us and not to utter "what is worthless," words that God has not given us to speak. When we return to God, we find that we have something worth sharing with others.

Today, God calls us and says, return to me, come before me in prayer, share my precious word. May God grant us a thousand ways to return again and again throughout the day.

May I always be ready to do your will.
O Spirit, guide me all through my day,
and help me to listen when you call my name.

Image by Annie62

Marked with a seal for the day of redemption

I would like to offer something of an apology to my more conservative brothers and sisters in Christ. It seems I am only looking for trouble when I search out evangelical blogs. Too many times I have read accusations that liberal and moderate Christians are apostate for not immediately and unflinchingly condemning homosexuality. Apostasy is a serious charge. I can’t just let stand such words that mutilate the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 ²⁵ So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not make room for the devil. ²⁸ Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. ²⁹ Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. ³¹ Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, ³² and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. ¹ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ² and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Winter 2007 was a time of anger on both sides of the divide over gay clergy and same-sex marriage. At St. John’s, we were threatened with the removal of Pastor Bradley Schmeling from ordained ministry, and we did not want to lose him as our pastor. Yet we were strangely hopeful and spoke out courageously. We felt a strong sense of God’s presence in our midst. I was given song specifically a prayer service during the time of Pastor’s disciplinary hearing. Do not let the sun go down on my anger. Even these services “in a time of trial” where condemned in some quarters as the height of our arrogant blasphemy, proof of apostasy.

We understood that such trials are necessary to force the church to tend to the needless wounds certain policies inflict on Christians both in the pew and in the pulpit. We also believed—and still maintain—that the church was approaching a tipping point on these issues. Where there had been a long stream of pastors rejected from ministry for no other reason but that they were gay, St. John’s was hopeful that our pastor’s case would be an historic last trial in this struggle. So it was a strange time of anger and expectancy, pain and hope.

Given all this, Pastor Brad was oddly serene. He was spiritually centered, energized. He had never felt so well prayed for as he did then in the center of the storm. One time, I asked him what passage of scripture gave him encouragement. His answer was the same as always, Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2.

Later that day, I started to meditate on this text. My mind zeroed in on “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” With a slight turn of phrase from “your anger” to “my anger”, a new song started to emerge in my consciousness. I chanted over and over:

Do not let the sun go down on my anger,
Do not let the sun go down.

It was necessary to own that anger and to understand for what purpose that anger was given. It was not something to project onto others, my brother or sister in Christ. Rather it was my anger and my plea not to be brushed aside, ignored, forgotten—not to be told again that the church wasn’t ready for this right now. It was my time not to walk away, not to speak the lie of acquiescence or suppressed rage.

There was more at stake. Christ’s body was broken.

Only when we speak the truth to one another,
Then is the body whole.

This was not simply my anger or even the anger of all those who have been excluded from full participation in the church. This was an anger that grieves for the whole church, for the brokenness of the body of Christ. Dare I say this is Christ’s anger for his church?

How can we be the body of Christ when we bite and devour one another, when we let our politics and piety ruin the day? The sun is going down.

It goes down every day on children who lack for food and clean water, education, medical care, and safety. The sun goes down on young bodies torn apart by the greed and violence of war—whole peoples stripped of dignity and human worth. The sun goes down on those who die without hope, those who never were alive. It goes down on those who could have made a difference but were immobilized and acculturated to indifference and despair.

The sun is going down, and we have no anger, nothing that amounts to much. Christ hangs in the balance.

Here I am, body broken, spirit grieving,
O Father, into your hands…

Where is our prophetic voice? The church has been wedged apart and spun about over matters of personal conscience and social acceptability. We’ve been neutralized. Devils and thieves move about the globe with impunity. Whole nations are enslaved to the economic interests of the powerful. When our brothers and sisters look to our churches in the US, they are aghast that we seem more concerned about gay rights than global cries for justice. If we listen, we may just hear the broken heart of Jesus.

Still Christ has marked each one of us with a seal for the day of redemption. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit any longer. We need to resolve this matter quickly and not delay justice to the poor. Let us put away all slander and malice, anger and wrangling, bitterness and wrath that we may no longer hold sins of one against other and so divide the body of Christ. Only then will we speak truth to one anther. Only then will the body be whole.

Please leave comments. I would like to hear from everyone, especially our international neighbors.

Preaching the Word at St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta

America's favorite Lutheran pastor, Bradley Schmeling, preaches on Luke 4:1-13, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. This is classic Schmeling breathing life into Law and Gospel drawing from both the Old and New Testaments. His conclusion: "'The body broken for you' means that we are now bread broken for the world."

The Church of Corinth...in Atlanta

I recently came across a year-old post that compared my congregation, St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta to the Church in Corinth. I'll let you reach the post for yourself at The Church of Corinth Lives... in St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta, but the thrust of Johnny Helm's article was to compare the tolerance of sexual immorality in the Corinthian church (1Cor 5) to St. John's celebration of our gay pastor, Rev. Bradley Schmeling.

At the time, the committee on appeal's had summarily removed Pastor Schmeling from the ELCA roster of ordained minister's while the Churchwide Assembly was moving to exhort bishops not to prosecute pastors such as Schmeling and to commission the committee on human sexuality to draft proposals for changing ELCA to allow gay ministers to live in committed, chaste same-sex unions. In other word, the ELCA seems to be reaching an historic tipping point toward the full inclusion of homosexuals both in the pew and the pulpit.

Like many well-meaning Christians, Mr. Helm's sees this as a dangerous and immoral move within the Church. I do believe he goes too far when he claims that St. John's, indeed the whole ELCA denomination, is now an apostate church because of the way we "treat the Ten Commandments, the Biblical condemnation of particular lifestyles (adultery, sorcery, homosexuality, etc.), and the entire Word of God."

I accept that there are reasonable biblical arguments on both sides of this issue. So I welcome Johnny Helm's candor to voice his comparison of St. John's to the biblical church of Corinth. I want to extend the comparison and see if we can avoid quarrelsome division. Here is my response.


Johnny,

I want to thank you for taking the time to write about my congregation and our pastor. I especially appreciate your effort to think through this biblically. To be sure, we disagree on whether the kind of homosexuality that the Bible speaks against bears any relation to the committed and monogamous relationship that Pastor Brad and Darin actually have.

For example, while scripture condemns certain sexual relations between men and women, it does not follow that God condemns all forms of heterosexuality (1Cor 7:1-2; 8:36). To the contrary, Paul recommends marriage as a hedge against the temptation of sexual immorality. In like manner, the condemnation of certain same-sex relations does not condemn all forms of homosexuality. Chaste same-sex marriage may well be the best hedge against the temptations of same-sex promiscuity. Regardless of orientation, it may be "better to marry than to burn" (1Cor 7:9). You probably don't buy what I'm saying, but let's move on to other ways St. John's is like the Corinthian Church.

Like the church in Corinth, St. John's is a Spirit- and grace-filled church (1Cor 1:4-7). God is present in our worship services, and people are open to the Word and Wisdom of God (1Cor 2:14-16). We are a Bible-believing and Christ-confessing church (1Cor 15:1-4). In fact, our Church Council recently voted that we would become a "Book of Faith" congregation. This is a program within the ELCA to renew engagement and commitment to the Bible.

We are a congregation that that seeks the highest gifts of prophecy and love (1Cor 14:1). As a congregation, our prophetic voice speaks God's grace to those who have felt rejected by the Church and we speak against the misunderstand of though who unintentionally place limits and exclusions on grace, whether that be through racism, sexism or heterosexism. Instead, we shun quarrelsome division (1Cor 1:10-15).

As a congregation we practice hospitality and unconditional love. We are a community centered around the Lord's supper (1Cor 11:17-34). We follow Paul's admonition, "when you come together to eat, wait for one another" (v. 33). We do not serve straights first and gays last. We do not give loaves to the rich and crumbs to the poor. All are welcome. All share in the same food and the same drink.

Are we perfect? No, and the church of Corinth was flawed as well. But we do place ourselves in God's hands that we might be conformed to his will. As good Lutherans, we hold together both Law and Gospel. We trust the Holy Spirit and scripture to lead us into truth and holiness. We know that God treasures us and that we hold God's treasure within our earthen vessels (2Cor 4:7). We are a new creation in Christ, and we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2Cor 5:17-19). This is what was great about the church in Corinth, and may it be said of St. John's as well.

The biblical test is to judge the tree by its fruit. As you surely know, the early Jewish Christians had major problems with Gentile Christians who were not getting circumcised as Scripture so clearly commands. What settled the question was not simply a biblical debate, but the Apostles in Jerusalem recognized that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on uncircumcised gentiles (Acts 15:1-29, see also Acts 11:1-18). It was this recognition of the work of the Holy Spirit that gave Paul such courage to speak on behalf of the Gentile churches and not to make salvation by grace dependent on act circumcision and other acts of the flesh. Paul encouraged the Corinthian to remain as uncircumcised as they were when God had called them (1Cor 7:17-20). Indeed this was "the life the Lord had assigned" them. Gay Christians generally believe that their orientation is as God assigned it to them, and God calls them as they are. Bedrock Lutheranism maintains that salvation is only by grace through faith, no preconditions.

At St. John's we sing this little song.

Welcome, my full welcome,
all my children come to me.
I will make a way for you,
I will make you holy.

God alone is holy, and God alone draws us into his holiness. "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything." (1Cor 7:19). In this spirit, we wish to say that being straight is nothing, and not being straight is nothing. And we wish to say it with the fellowship we share.

Again I don't expect that you'll buy everything I say here. But I want you to know that we can both take the Bible seriously and disagree. I hope that someday you'll be able to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in congregations like St. John's. In any case, hold us gently in your prayers.

May God's peace be with you.

Burdens and Crosses

Here is an outline of a participatory Bible study for youth.

Notes: Scripture passages are quoted at length to give background. You need not quote the whole passage but focus in on the text in bold. Texts in italics are meant to be paraphrased verbally to the group.

Lift high the heavy Cross

Invite one youth to carry big cross to center. Use a large cross made of two logs, about as much as I can carry by myself, 60+ pounds.

Is this too much for you to carry? Do you need any help?

Now have the whole group lift the cross.

Lift it high. Be aware of how this feels.

Now while the cross is lifted is a good time to pray for blessing our Bible study or the Lord’s Prayer. Set the Cross down carefully.

Is this cross heavy our light? What’s the difference?

Is it easy to be a disciple or hard?

A Contradiction? “My burden is light” versus “Carry the cross”

Words of Comfort

Matthew 11:28-30 ²⁸ "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Words of Challenge

Matthew 10:34-40 ³⁴ "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and one's foes will be members of one's own household. ³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸ and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ⁴⁰ "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

Matthew 16:24-25 ²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

How can we resolve this paradox? Is following Jesus easy or heavy?

Not even Jesus could carry his own cross

A stranger is pressed to carry his cross. Who is this?

Matthew 27:31-32 ³¹ After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross.

He can’t save himself from the cross.

Matthew 27:39-43 ³⁹ Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, ⁴² "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, 'I am God's Son.'"

If Jesus can’t carry his own cross or free himself from it, how can he save us?

Letting go of our own burden and bearing each other’s burden

Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Galatians 6:1-3 My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. ² Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.

What’s the difference between a burden and the cross Jesus calls us to carry? Or is it all the same?

What are our burdens? What weighs us down?

Conclusion

1 Peter 5:7 ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

Take this time as an opportunity to let go of burdens.

This week, find someone you can confide in. Support one another.

Invite all to pray around the cross. You may lift the cross as a group again, perhaps halfway up so that faces are not blocked by arms and the Cross.

Image by DeejayMarlon, the Philippines