Matthew 5:22 Just causes earn our support

 Matthew 26:59

Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death,

Righteous anger over the cruel treatment of others is  a fundamental duty  of those who believe Jesus and His commandment to love our neighbors as we do our own families. We support just causes where the dignity God gives them is respected. The group that Jesus had the most problems with was the religious right composed of the Scribes and Pharisees. They added laws that they themselves did not follow. We must do better.  We are the  hands and feet of Christ in an increasingly hostile world. Carla

Matthew 5:22 

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of •hell fire. NKJV

The scribes and Pharisees said that a person who referred to another as Raca, meaning “empty head,” was in danger of being sued for libel before the council (or the Sanhedrin). On the other hand, Jesus said that whoever calls another a fool will have to answer to God. That is not to say that calling someone a fool will condemn a believer to eternal punishment in hell. Rather Jesus was saying that to utter such words is to place oneself in a worse condition at the time of judgment (1 Corinthians 3:12–15). The NKJV Study Bible

Jesus uses these illustration to emphasize the way that sin stands between people and God. He also demonstrates the desperate need for a person, through the power of God, to rid their life of sin. Jesus is showing that for many people their desire for sin is so powerful that it keeps them from having relationship with God and thus leads to them experiencing God’s judgment and wrath. Faithlife Study Bible

James 3:6

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 

Matthew 18:9

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

1 John 3:15

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

I can hear my hero’s—Mr. Rogers—voice. “Imagine if we all walked into the world with the belief that each person was inherently worthy. Imagine if our goal was to help each other recognize that we are worthy of being loved. Imagine if we sought to listen more than we spoke. I imagine if this was the case, that our conversation would change, our understanding of those around us would shift, and our national conversations would be more civil.”

When cruelty becomes normal, kindness looks radical.
Today, I can choose to Be kind.
And here’s the deal: it is the little things—the smile, the kind word, the helping hand—that are the difference makers. They are the building blocks for healing.
They are the building blocks for “re-humanizing”. They are the building blocks for restoring dignity.

And I can tell you that it did my heart good, to read this from “Sustainable Human”.
“Mr. Rogers did not just teach children to be polite.
He taught something much deeper.
He taught that a neighborhood is not just a place where people live side by side. It is a place where people learn how to notice one another, respect one another, appreciate one another, and help one another.
That might sound simple.
But in hard times, it becomes everything.
If wars spread, if economies shake, if institutions fail to protect people, then the strength of our lives may come down to something very old and very human:
Do we know our neighbors?
Do we trust each other?
Can we share skills, food, tools, childcare, care for elders, a ride, a listening ear?
Can we solve tension without becoming enemies?
Mr. Rogers reminded us to look for the helpers.
Maybe the deeper lesson now is this:
we need to become them.
Not someday.
Now.
Because resilience is not only stored in banks, governments, or supply chains.
It is stored in relationships.
In familiarity.
In goodwill.
In the kind of neighborhoods where people know how to cooperate before a crisis forces them to.
A strong community does not begin when everything falls apart.
It begins in the small choices people make before that happens.
A greeting.
A favor.
A conversation.
A shared project.
A little more patience.
A little more care.
Maybe ‘Won’t you be my neighbor?’ was never just a children’s song.
Maybe it was preparation for the kind of world we may need to rebuild together.
What would it look like to become better neighbors, before we have no choice but to depend on one another?”

It’s the little things that are the difference makers. Sabbath Moments

Matthew 5:11-2 Speak the truth of Jesus even if it hurts!

 1 Thessalonians 2:15

who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 

God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that through him the world could be saved! In including God in every decision we make and loving others in the same love that He brought bodily to earth in Jesus we will fulfill all of the commandments. Jesus died in our place. We are able to love others because He first loved us.  Whatever we do to the least of us we do to God it would be better if a millstone was tied around our necks and we be thrown into the sea (in the words of Jesus). Carla

Matthew 5:11-12

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil •against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus rejected the Pharisees’ charge that He was nullifying the law. The law was both temporary (Galatians 3:19; Ephesians . 2:15; Hebrews 7:12) and eternal (5:18; Romans 3:31; 8:4). The word fulfill means “to fill out, expand, or complete.” It does not mean to bring to an end. Jesus fulfills the law in several ways: (1) He obeyed it perfectly and taught its correct meaning (verses 19, 20); (2) He will one day fulfill all of the OT types and prophecies; and (3) He provides a way of salvation that meets all the requirements of the law (Romans 3:21, 31). One jot or one tittle will by no means pass: This statement of Jesus provides us with one of the strongest affirmations in the Bible of the inerrancy of Scripture. It is absolutely trustworthy. The NKJV Study Bible

blessed (Gk. makarios) (5:3; Luke 6:20–22; Rom. 4:7, 8; James 1:12, 25) Strong’s #3107: This Greek word is derived from the root mak, which means “large” or “lengthy,” and means “fortunate” or “happy.” The Greek word was used in Greek literature, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT), and in the NT to describe the kind of happiness that comes from receiving divine favor. The word can be rendered happy. In the NT it is usually passive; God is the One who is blessing or favoring the person.

Jesus is speaking to His disciples about a radical way of life that reflects the ideals of the kingdom of heaven. He seems to imply that persecution is a result of practicing His teaching and believing in Him. His point is that disciples who fail to live a lifestyle that reflects the values of the kingdom of heaven are akin to something tasteless or devoid of light—undesirable and of no value. Faithlife Study Bible

2 Chronicles 36:16

But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

Acts 7:52

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 

Matthew 23:37

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 

1 Peter 4:13–14

but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.

When cruelty becomes normal, kindness looks radical.

Today, I can choose to Be kind.

And here’s the deal: it is the little things—the smile, the kind word, the helping hand—that are the difference makers. They are the building blocks for healing.

They are the building blocks for “re-humanizing”. They are the building blocks for restoring dignity.

For grounding, my mind often returns to a heartrending story about a sad and terrifying incident that occurred during the tragic war in Sarajevo.
A reporter, covering the fighting and violence in the middle of the city, watched a little girl fatally shot by a sniper. The reporter threw down whatever he held, rushing immediately to the aid of a man who knelt on the pavement cradling the child.
As the man carried the child, the reporter guided them to his car, and sped off to a hospital.
“Hurry my friend,” the man urged, “my child is still alive.”
A moment or two later he pleaded, “Hurry my friend, my child is still breathing.”
And a little later, “Please my friend, my child is still warm.”
Although the reporter drove as fast as was possible, by the time they arrived at the hospital, the little girl had died. As the two men were in the lavatory, washing the blood off their hands and their clothes, the man turned to the reporter and said, “This is a terrible task for me. I must now go tell her father that his child is dead. He will be heartbroken.”
The reporter stood speechless. He looked at the grieving man and said, “I thought she was your child.”
The man shook his head. “No. But aren't they all our children?”

Yes.
They are.
“If we have no peace,” Mother Teresa reminded us, “it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Well, if we do belong to one other, then “they”—the “least of these” and those without voices—are indeed, our children.
Ours to care for.
Ours to listen to.
Ours to see. 

I confess that when I read stories about child abuse, I clutch my heart—literally—and I want to go out and hurt someone... anyone who has done these things. And then I read stories about children who have been wounded and who have been abused, and who have found a way to survive. And to not only survive, but to thrive. And to become beacons of hope.

So, back to the story. You see, it's not just the child's life we're trying to save, but the very freedom—embracing the gift—to be a child.

And like any good homily, I pause, just to let that last line sink in. Not because we don’t know it to be true, but when our world is spinning, we easily lose track of the very things that anchor our soul.

And in that pause, I remember. I’m not just the preacher. I’m also the child.

Let us not forget that we belong to one another.

Sabbath Moments

Psalm 42:11 Our hope is in you God in the love You have for all of Your creation.

“Morality is all we have left to find us into shared responsibility for the common good. Morality is our oldest and most powerful resource for turning disconnected ‘I’s’ into a collective ‘we.’ Its’ the alchemy that turns selfish genes into selfless people, egoists into altruists, and self-interested striving into empathy, sympathy, and compassion for others.” Jonathan Sacks

In God I place my trust, not in man. God will not be mocked by those who choose war over peace, hatred over love or greed over human rights. God is love and He loves all of His creation. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners and his love for all of us overcomes the one who seeks to destroy us. Faith, hope and love and the greatest of these? LOVE! Carla

Psalm 42:11

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God. NKJV

The psalmist asks these troubling questions in faith, for he remembers that God is his Rock, his protector and foundation. He cannot help but hope in Him in the middle of difficult circumstances. The NKJV Study Bible

Hope—one of the three main elements of Christian character (1 Corinthians 13:13). It is joined to faith and love, and is opposed to seeing or possessing (Romans 8:24; 1 John 3:2). “

Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity (1 Peter 3:15; Hebrews 10:23). In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is centred (Ephesians 1:18; 4:4).” Unbelievers are without this hope (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). 

Christ is the actual object of the believer’s hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled (1 Timothy 1:1; Colossians 1:27; Titus 2:13). It is spoken of as “lively”, i.e., a living, hope, a hope not frail and perishable, but having a perennial life (1 Peter 1:3). In Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature

Psalm 42:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him

For the help of His countenance.

Matthew 26:38

Then He said to them, 

“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. 

Stay here and watch with Me.”

When cruelty becomes normal, kindness looks radical.

Today, I can choose to Be kind.

I can choose to Be generous. I can choose to Be inclusive.

I can choose to not demean or shame.

I love the phrase, “choosing to heal”. It would be a great book title. And an even better life mission.
“What do you do?”
“I choose to create moments that heal.”
As Ashley Judd noted when talking about her mother, “You can pretend to care. But you can’t pretend to show up.”

And more than ever, we need gifts of kindness in a world that honors cruelty as the new normal.
We live in a world that can be merciless—with violence and hatred perpetrated by people in power.
And yes, there are a heap plenty of people and systems to blame. (And it is always some other people, and some other system.)
But the truth is that we wound one another.
We wound with real wars, and real bullets.
We wound with words, and with hatred and resentment.
We wound with intolerance and small-mindedness (some of it in the name of “love” and God).
“If we have no peace,” Mother Teresa reminded us, “it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Well, if we do belong to one other, then “they”—the “least of these” and those without voices—are indeed, our children.
Ours to care for.
Ours to listen to.
Ours to see.
Yes. Think of kindness, as resistance.

From Jewish tradition we learn our job title; Tikkun olam. Literally, “repairing the world”.
The word olam also means hidden. We need to repair the world so that its Creator is no longer hidden within, but shines through each thing in magnificent, harmonious beauty.

Choosing (working) to heal (Tikkun olam) isn’t only for the spiritually or intellectually inclined.
Choosing to heal is in our DNA. As children of our creator, we are healers.
In kindness, we affirm dignity.
In empathy, we see value and build connections.
With compassion and justice, we right wrongs and create sanctuaries.

I think we lose sight of the fact that kindness is a form of strength, not weakness.
It takes courage to remain gentle in a world that often celebrates harshness.
It requires bravery to keep our hearts open when it might feel safer to close them. 

Each act of kindness is a quiet rebellion against cynicism and indifference, a statement of faith in our shared humanity.

Let us make our decisions—as individuals, as organizations—with kindness and empathy as our core values.

And let us take this to heart: Those who cannot feel the pain of others should never be trusted with their fate. Power without compassion walks a crooked trail, and leaves too many wounded.

“Practice empathy loudly,” John Pavlovitz encourages us. “With a President whose tenure has been marked by such malice and in an Administration so filled with cruelty, compassion and kindness are bold acts of resistance.“What do you do?”

“I choose to create moments that heal.” Sabbath Moments

John 15:2-4 The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!

Ephesians 5:26

that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

We abide in God in the person of Christ Jesus, the very Word of God made flesh. We are transformed, precept by precept, by Holy Spirit into the character of His Son. Faith keeps us firmly planted and in the manner that we believe God we can receive from Him. May our Father who is in heaven allow His perfect will to  be done on earth. Carla

John 15:2-4

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine•, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.NKJV

Every branch is said to be in Christ. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” to speak of a Christian’s legal and family position as a result of God’s grace. The emphasis of in Me in this passage, however, is on deep, abiding fellowship. Jesus’ purpose was to move His disciples from servants to friends (verses 13–15). This would involve a process of discipline in regard to His commandments. No plant produces fruit instantaneously; fruit is the result of a process. Such is also the case with believers. Prunes means “cleanses.” Once the fruit is on the vine, the vinedresser cleanses the fruit of bugs and diseases. The spiritual counterpart is cleansing which is done through the Word (verse 3). For the branch to produce more fruit, it must abide, which means to dwell, to stay, to settle in, to sink deeper. The way to abide in Christ is to obey (15:10; 1 John 3:24). The believer who lovingly obeys the Word of God produces much fruit. The NKJV Study Bible

Grapevines are more plentiful if pruned. The pruning may refer to hardship that (eventually) produces faithfulness and closer relationship with God, such as the disciples are about to experience (Romans 5:3–5; James 1:2–4). Jesus also could be referring to the pruning of dead branches, which would entail removing what is undesirable. Faithlife Study Bible

John 15:5–7

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned…

John 6:56

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 

John 13:10

Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 

John 17:17

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 

Today, let us hear the voice of Grace, telling us that we are no longer confined (prisoner) to any label. Let us reintroduce ourselves to the dancer inside, inviting and empowering us to live without fear, to give life and spill joy.
There is no doubt that labels conveniently serve many purposes... I play it safe, I hide, I live small. But all of the labels are fashioned by fear; a fear that dismisses or restricts.
So. What does it mean to dance... to live with arms wide open…live without fear…in spontaneity, vitality, innocence, passion, and delight.

“May God's life dance within you as you pause for quiet places and prayer in your busy life.” Joyce Rupp  “Sabbath Moments”