Sunday August 31st, 2025 Worship

There have been many people in my life who have taught me about love and faith. While I was away, I was able to worship at my home congregation twice. While some of it, like the pastors and the space, have changed over the years, other parts have remained. Like the cantors who have been assisting with services my entire life and the members who were there to watch as I was baptized and confirmed in the Sanctuary that the congregation is preparing to say goodbye to in a little while as they prepare for a move. I also spent time with the women’s group from church that my mom is a part of, who welcomed me in as a college student and Seminarian to participate and teach about what I was learning, and who invited us along on their adventures now, including throwing us a wedding shower.
And, we gathered with friends and family as they came together to celebrate our wedding. From our godparents to our best friends, our families to others who we call family despite not being related by blood or marriage, there were people from all stages of our lives who were there to celebrate and rejoice with us that day. As I looked out at the crowd of people gathered last Saturday, I couldn’t help but think about how we wouldn’t have made it to that day without them. Some, quite literally, and others who taught us so much and helped us to grow into the people who we are now. But, we don’t need a wedding or other special occasion to remind us of the people in our life who help guide us and teach us about what it means to live faithfully, even if those are the times when we spend a bit more time reflecting. So, instead of waiting for the next big moment, I want you to spend a minute thinking about who has influenced your life.
Now that you have those people in mind, I’m willing to bet that everyone in this room has at least one person in their life who taught them about living authentically and to not focus so much on what other people think about you as long as you remain true to yourself and your values. They may have told you those words or they may have demonstrated it through their actions. I know I have had many people like that in my life. But, even that lesson isn’t something new. Several of our Scripture readings lift up for us what it means to live as Christians, with humility, care, and intentionality to the way we spend our days. While I can stand up here and preach to you about it, and I will, I think this is one of the lessons that we learn more through the examples of others. Sometimes those are people who we want to emulate, while other times we see how we do not want to live too. Everyone is going to have different priorities and values around which their lives are centered, and it takes some time to figure out what we want those to be in our lives. It also takes some grace on our part to realize that those things will likely change throughout our lives too.
And, while it isn’t our Scripture reading for today, I can’t help but recall the oft quoted verse from Micah chapter 6: “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6: 8b). Whether intentionally or not, our Scripture readings for today are all circling around this theme, which can again be tied back to a summary of the commandments: to love God and love our neighbors. There is a reason that this is quoted so much! Because at the heart of all the other teachings, is this reminder that we are loved by God and called to love God and love our neighbor in return. We aren’t going to get it perfect, but this is the grounding point of our faith, what we can come back to when there are so many other things happening in the world and we don’t know what we are supposed to do or how we are supposed to move forward.
On this theme, Scripture readings today talk a lot about what it means to be humble and to display hospitality, which includes caring for strangers and those who are imprisoned. I have always loved the verse: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13: 2). It’s the idea that we have no idea who may be in our midst and who we are choosing not to see as children of God, or angels of God, because they might be different from us. Plus, it expands on the teachings of Luke’s Gospel in which we are implicitly reminded to not treat other people as tools for our own use. We shouldn’t just invite people to the banquet because we will be invited in return, but because we cannot help but share the joy and the grace that we have been given from God. That this gift of God’s love and mercy is so great a gift that we cannot help but share it with others! At their heart, these readings are asking us to remember that we are communal people, that we should not isolate ourselves or only care about a select few people. That we are all interconnected through God, and that our well-being is tied with the well-being of other people for the flourishing of all creation, not just some of it.
All of these readings require us to shift our focus and ways from those that we were taught. And, none of that work is easy. It is really easy to stand up here and talk about all the things that our Scripture reading tells us about living a faithful life, but it is so much harder to do those things in practice. The Psalm even recognizes part of why it is so difficult: “[The righteous] have given freely to the poor and their righteousness stands fast forever; they will hold up their head with honor. The wicked will see it and be angry…” (Psalm 112: 9-10a). People will be angry and upset when they see others standing firm in their beliefs. For some, it may feel like a judgement that people are casting upon them. For others, they may not understand why not everyone just conforms to the way they think things should be. I’ve watched this play out countless times in the last few years as people argue across the internet about Scriptural verses and what they are supposed to mean for us, as people try to yell at each other about what is or isn’t in their Bible. It astonishes me the mental gymnastics that people do around Scripture in order to never have it make them feel uncomfortable or change their ways.
Yet, this is part of the irony about the lessons on humility today; so many people like to lift themselves up talking about how amazing and humble they are. When, in reality, the people who teach us the most about humility are the people who truly live it out as a value. They offer care for friends and strangers alike, without thinking about what they are going to get in return. That is a hard thing to do in our transactional world these days, but it also frees us so much from the weight of other peoples’ expectations. Not everything in our lives has to be a transaction, despite what we might be taught otherwise! And, we don’t always need to share everything that we did with others in order to be validated either! We can do the quiet work of caring for others, knowing that we were grounded in the love that we have for God and the world.
As we listen to these readings today, I encourage you to think about who helped shape your life with the things they said and did that they might not even remember doing. Because, so often, it’s the little moments of showing up, being present, and expressing care, whether that is by loved ones or strangers, that impact who we are and how we want to live our lives. And, as our Hebrews reading reminds us today, “Let mutual love continue” (Hebrews 13: 1). Let love for one another and for God continue to be the foundation upon which we build our lives, as we focus on lifting one another up instead of tearing each other down in this false hierarchy of who is better than others. Let a love that extends from the love God has given us spread out from us as we cannot help but love the world that God created! Let that love be a source of joy, even as it will also be a source of heartbreak at times too. Let us be firmly rooted in who we are and whose we are, as well as the values that come from that, so that even as the world changes around us we may always have a guiding point to help us forward. Let us be open to the people and the experiences that the world has to offer because we never know when we will entertain angels and be changed in the process. Our faith is meant to draw us together, not separate and divide us even more, because in God we all have love and belonging. So, may we live as if we actually believe this to be true.