I believe whole-heartedly that this life of following Jesus is ALL about the living of Agape Love - not a feeling, but the active commitment on the behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us.
God has granted me this vision for life and ministry. I believe that I have been prepared my whole life to be an advocate for those rejected, disenfranchised, downtrodden - the held down, back and out - and that it is consistent with what God has shown in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, centered in Agape Love.
In our worship this morning at Glenside UCC, we were given an opportunity to take time to consider in thought and prayer the struggles we go through and how God lifts us in the midst of them. This is my prayer...
God of Grace and Mercy,
Grant me BALANCE in these troubling days of blatant lies and intentional effort to further hurt the most vulnerable, to
STAND WITH the downtrodden,
STAND UP to injustice and hatred, and
STAND AGAINST greed, lust for power and desire for status that create unhealthy and unloving, unsustainable environments in which your children languish.
Help me, Lord, to be their advocate without losing MY humanity,
and without becoming unkind and ungracious myself.
Balance my strong desire to advocate and directly oppose the hateful and hurtful
with Kindness and Grace, so that my pugilistic spirit is not ALL that others perceive.
There are enough angry voices now, Lord, so let me speak truth unambiguously with
Directness, but in Kindness and act out of Graciousness.
I wrote it. I prayed it. I mean it.
I will strive to live the pointing out of truth in the midst of lies, the standing with and standing for justice in the face of injustice, the demanding of equal and equitable treatment for all God's children and the empowerment of the powerless, being a voice for the voiceless. I will strive to do it with directness and unwavering determination, but also in Kindness and Graciousness.
The Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for me, as we have that in the Gospels, compels me to do no less. I am a follower of Jesus - a Person of the Way of Jesus.
So, help me, God.
Pastor Jamie
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