Associate Rector of St. John’s Church and Chaplain to the Parish Day School.
Because within this story, we see ideas and patterns around things like conflict, non-violence, and community that are incredibly relevant for us today.
Sermons by The Rev. Dr. James Reho (Page 2)
If we really want to ‘be there’, we have to ‘get there’.
When it comes to the meaning of ‘power’, the Christmas story says to us ‘attraversiamo’.
So, for John, unconscious belonging and perfunctory atonement just don’t cut it. He seeks, and calls us to seek, the risky, the relevant, and the real.
And mostly what he learns is that there is a divine center in himself. There is something in himself that has the power to help him overcome his own foolishness… He learns who he is.
Maybe nothing changes in our life that would make for some extraordinary story. Perhaps it is simply that the eye of our heart opens and we begin to engage ourselves. and others in small ways.
Do I have the humility to ask God to remove the shortcomings in my life that keep coming up over and over again? Or have they become too comfortable a part of who I am?
It invites us to recenter our life the way Jesus did: on God’s will rather than our own. On making God bigger in the world rather than ourselves.
We live in a culture that does not favor small, hopeful beginnings.
It is easy to close ourselves off, but it is well worth it to stay open to ideas that challenge us.