Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant….Then the Lord said to me, “Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly….Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation, mightier and more numerous than they.”
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
Synopsis:
The Psalmist tells us, “I love the LORD, because God has heard my voice and my supplications.” In times of uncertainty, we want to “feel heard.” As the old Celtic proverb says, “Bidden or not bidden, God is Here.” God is always listening, and the Jesus-Story of God’s compassionate love invites us to see how, despite appearances, it is an Easter World. So, while God hears us, God is also still speaking into our present circumstances…so, are we listening?
Synopsis:
As Jesus calls his first disciples, we are invited to continue to search for the calling God has on our lives. For each of us, no matter our age and station in life, there are those who need a word or deed of comfort, of compassion, and of Good News. As those first four disciples left behind their boats, they were called back into there own neighborhoods and hometowns to follow Jesus and share the Good News of God’s Reign of Love and Justice. To what is God calling you this day?
Keywords:
Calling, Jesus, mission, Good News, evangelism, justice, compassion, love
Synopsis: On Reign of Christ Sunday, we celebrate the culmination of the Christian calendar with the coronation of Christ the King. Although, our King is not crowned with gold but with thorns; Christ is not crowned with glory but with our shame. Even in these final breaths, Jesus takes time to tell the criminal beside him, “today you will be with me in Paradise.” People have puzzled over these words for millennia, but the mystery points us to a deep comfort and confidence that even in his final hours, Jesus did not stop speaking for the most vulnerable people around him–even a heart-broken criminal being executed. Christ’s crucifixion continues to call us to not crown ourselves with glory and honor through success, popularity, or comfort, but to humble ourselves and speak out for those who hang on history’s crosses.
Keywords: Reign of Christ Sunday, Christ the King, Jesus, cross, crucifixion, glory, honor, shame, justice, humility, compassion, grace, liberation
Synopsis: We conclude our Stewardship Campaign with these words from these words traditionally attributed to Paul writing to his young protege, Timothy. Since her beginnings, the Church has always been a people of not only prayer and faith, but also action and good works. Paul tells young Timothy to remind his people that their security will not be founded on the accumulation of wealth and worldly security, but in lives filled with generosity, commitment, and acts of compassion and kindness for neighbors and enemies alike. This counter-cultural way of Jesus invites us into an abundant life founded for good on the life of Christ and the love of the Triune God.
Keywords: Jesus, Trinity, good works, hands and feet of Christ, stewardship, firm foundation, compassion, justice, joy, love
Synopsis: Jesus is invited to his third dinner party in the Gospel of Luke, and has two important bits of wisdom to share with the guests (who scramble for seats of honor) and the hosts (who only invite people who can provide a quid pro quo of power, access, or position to them). Honor/Shame matrices are foreign to us as Americans, but this teaching from Jesus is saturated in his cultural situation. To rise above your station on your own without an invitation from a higher-up, is a bold, risky move that usually ends with a shameful dismissal. Although, God is God who lifts up the lowly and bestows honor to those who otherwise might be ignored by most folks in society.
Keywords: Jesus, honor, hospitality, justice, compassion, love, grace, inclusion, Kingdom of God
Synopsis: Jesus gets in a dispute over whether or not it was ethical to heal this woman on the Sabbath. The leader in the synagogue chimes in, angry and worried about the precedent set by Jesus’ violation of sabbath rules. Jesus dresses the crowd down by saying they are more compassionate with their pets than their own sister in the family of God through Abraham. Jesus always chooses rules over relationships even when we want every issue and situation to be cut and dry.
Keywords: Jesus, compassion, sabbath, rules vs. relationships, law, grace, love, legalism, ambiguity
Synopsis: In one of the two most popular, beloved, and convicting stories Jesus tells (the Prodigal Son being the other), we hear Jesus’ response to a young lawyer wanting to clarify his question and justify himself: the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This scandalous story’s hero is a representative of one of the most hated people groups to Jesus’ Jewish audience. Samaritans are the ancestors of the remnants in the land of Israel after the Assyrian conquest. Their religion, blood, and cultural was a mix of surrounding people groups which was abhorrent to the national purification project in Judea during Roman occupation. The challenge Jesus offers is not only to be a good neighbor to those we might dislike, distrust, or even hate, but the real twist is wondering what happens to the human heart when you have to count on the kindness of a stranger? As Paul says about God, becomes true of our neighbors, “kindness leads us to repentance,” and human hearts are transformed by love.
Proclaimer: Rev. Dr. Bob I. Johnson
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another. They said, ‘What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it. But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.’ So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.
In a biographical look at the life of Saul-turned-Paul, we see a life of violence, hate, and bigotry transformed on the road to Damascus in an encounter with the Living, Risen Christ. After this, Paul’s hatred of the Jesus-follower’s inclusion of Gentiles into their community becomes his life calling. In a world where we label, divide, and polarize, Brother Paul is still preaching today that we are all not just citizens in the Kingdom of God, but kinfolk and siblings in the family of God.
Jesus gathers his disciples before ascending back into full, spiritual communion with the Trinity and before sending the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit arrives, they will become his witnesses of salt and light in Jerusalem, all throughout the countryside in Judea and Samaria (two regions segregated by ethnic and cultural tension), and to the ends of the earth. Although, we are not told exactly when Jesus was culminate this work and exact where we are to go. The Infinite God is not bound by time or space. In God’s infinity of time, we are called to live and love each day like it’s our last and lean into the eternal present in each moment. In God’s infinity of space, we are called to bear witness to God’s love and Christ’s Resurrected Life in lands far away from our hometowns or even in our own backyard as God’s agents of peace and reconciliation. Wherever God sends us, we have an opportunity to lay roots and bloom where we are planted.
"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
Jesus comes to bring joy and honor to humanity. In the wedding feast, not only does he allow the celebration to continue, he covers the potential shame of the host who has run out of wine. A flourishing faith life is not about obligation or regulation, but rather is about learning to lean into God’s goodness by living with radical hospitality in all of our relationships across cultural, identity, and gender divisions.
Location
Broadway Baptist Church
4000 Brownsboro Road,
Louisville, KY 40207-1826
Phone: 502.895.2459
Office and Staff
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Friday
OFFICE CLOSED
Areas of Ministry
