Word of Life Church Podcast

We need holy places to help cultivate our sense of the sacred. By spending time in places connected with sacred history or set aside for worship we develop a capacity to see the glory of God in every bush. This is holy ground. But the deeper truth is that every step we take is on holy ground. It's all holy. There are no non-sacred places, only sacred places and desecrated places. But it’s specific “holy places” that lead the way to seeing all places as holy. It's the practices of prayer, pilgrimage, and contemplation that help alert us to the fact that we live our lives on holy ground.

The most embarrassing moments in church history are when the church sold its soul for political power. Whenever the church reaches for the sword of Caesar, it lets go of the cross of Christ. We don’t have to change the world, we only have to be that part of the world already changed by Christ. But this requires that we be genuine Jesus people.

The story of Jacob at Jabbok is one of the richest mines for spiritual gems in all Scripture. It’s the first place where we are specifically told of someone who saw the face of God. It’s also the origin of the name Israel—a name that becomes synonymous with God’s people.

The spirit of the age blesses the cocky and self-confident—But Jesus blesses the poor in spirit.The spirit of the age blesses those who are shallow and thus happy all the time—But Jesus blesses those who have the capacity to mourn deeply.The spirit of the age blesses the power-hungry who want to run the world—But Jesus blesses the meek who are willing to trust God.The spirit of the age blesses the privilege-protectors—But Jesus blesses the justice-seekers.The spirit of the age blesses those who think justice is retribution and revenge—Jesus blesses the merciful instead.The spirit of the age blesses the clever ones who come up with the best schemes—Jesus blesses the pure-hearted who have no schemes.The spirit of the age blesses those who are great at waging war—Jesus blesses those who have the patience to work for peace.The spirit of the age blesses those who fight for might—Jesus blesses those who suffer for what is right.

To be a Christian, to be a disciple of Jesus, to participate in the Revolutionary Kingdom of Christ, is to be a follower of the Lamb—the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. But what does this mean?___________Here is the text to the prayer of St. Francis...Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy.O, Divine Master,grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;to be understood as to understand;to be loved as to love;For it is in giving that we receive;it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.Amen.

In the bleak landscape of death's darkness, the light of life comes as a shocking surprise. Our world is well-acquainted with the ugly reality of death and sin. This is why the life and resurrection of Jesus become the most shocking moments in human history, present, and future. Love, incarnate and resurrected, shocked the world and overcame death. As followers of a beautiful savior, how might we live faithful lives reflecting the shocking beauty of Christ?

Baptism has become a portal out of this old broken-down world and into God’s world of new creation, an escape hatch out of the kingdom of empire, power, idolatry, and injustice and into the kingdom of love. Jesus was baptized to fulfill God's plan to rescue the world. All those who follow Jesus through the waters of baptism can enter his revolutionary kingdom.

The light of Jesus reveals the obstacles, the clutter, the junk, and the unnecessary complexities in our lives. God knows we need things. We need hings to wear, things to eat, things to live in, things to drive, but the light Jesus shines on all these things is the truth that life is not found in pursuit of things. Life is found in pursuit of the kingdom. The way of Jesus is the way of kingdom-minded simplicity.