We would all like to be the Good Samaritan in this story.
But to be honest we sometimes are more like the priest, or Levite and even the bandits.
Maybe we are even the man lying in the ditch, beaten and bruised and calling out for help.
Jesus – the God of love, draws near and binds the wounds in humility and gives hope.
The message of the kingdom comes like Julia Roberts in”Notting Hill”.
No power, no glory, no arm-twisting. Just a simple offer of love and a humble request.
A humble God, standing in front of us, offering love.
To grow our own food we need a garden of good soil, free of weeds and rubbish.
To grow the fruits of The Spirit we need to constantly evaluate our words and acts.
We need to work with God to evaluate what is sinful (bad) and what is good.
We need to be sure we are not tricked by flowers that are actually weeds!
‘Oneness’ – is creating a faith where it is ok to be yourself and be affirmed. The message of Jesus is inclusiveness.
Some may see “Oneness” as divisive, the message of Jesus is that it is inclusive.
The ‘Oneness’ of God can reach out to all people – need to have room for everyone in our community.
‘Oneness is really important in ourselves, our church, our community for love to be shared and everyone openly welcomed.
The 3 persons of the Trinity are in perfect relationship, what one has, they all have, one in purpose, one in will.
God operates in a way that is completely unselfish, 3 persons but one being, so as to pour out God’s love and justice.
The God we worship, the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a God of hope, love, forgiveness and justice.
The disciples come together praying. God comes and blows them away.
Turns them inside out and fills them with life.
The Pentecost story reverses what happened at Babel.
When the festival was over, they went back to their places of origin and took the God of Unity to others.
Paul and Silas are in jail for doing a good deed, an earthquake strikes!
The Jailer – a gentile pagan, running a Roman Jail House and who arranges for floggings, is terrified.
The fearful Jailer, recognizes he needs to find a way out of the mess, and sees what Paul and Silas have as an answer.
He yields to putting his whole trust in Jesus and his whole life turns around.
Jesus said, “Do you want to be made well?” Of course he did after being by the pool for 38 years!
When the time came he simply did as Jesus asked him … and was made well and was so happy.
The trouble was – it was healing on the Sabbath! The Jewish leaders were not happy!
Do we, in a moment of another’s moment of grace and joy, sometimes react negatively, like those leaders?
The Pakistani lady, Jamila, talked of in this message, did not focus on our differences.
We have a choice, to hold onto our assumptions, or to embrace new and deeper relationships.
Peter’s vision calls us to step beyond our boundaries and brace new relationships.
God’s grace has no boundaries.
Peter prays over Tabitha and she is given new life and raised up.
Resurrection is a call to rise, get up, stand up tall, and come out.
Resurrection is to be called from all that inhibits us, being raised to new heights.
Called to embrace ‘our story’, so we can be raised to a greater and more profound reality.
