Instead of dreaming of wars and the end of the world—of all the ways God might swoop in dramatically to fix things—we must light our single candle of hope in every encounter we have, giving us just enough light to take another step, and to wait as each week a little more light comes.

When we share our light with each other, our light shines it’s brightest. Not only do people realize they have light too, they also now shine and together, we shine brighter. I think that’s what Jesus was telling us.

The Rev. Mark Stanger shared in his sermon that hope, not optimism, is the faithful response to a broken world.

Do you know the etymology of the word sacrifice? It’s Latin deriving from sacra, which means “holy, sacred,” and facere, the verb “to make.” So sacrifice is the act of making something sacred.

I think that our biggest sins often stem from trying to do everything on our own. In fact, I believe that faith, boiled down to its very essence, is the deep knowledge that we can’t do any of this life on our own which then leads to the profound trust in something beyond ourselves. For us, that’s God. That’s the Body of Christ.

Luke's Jesus is concerned for the salvation of people in this life, in their present circumstances.

To plant gardens and to build families even in scary, uncertain times of exile is to embody hope. Not just with your thoughts and prayers, but with your actions, with your lives.

The older I get ~ the more I am becoming a child. A child of God. This old woman exchanging the weight of this life, for the wonder! Slowing down, paying attention. Seeking for less stuff, less pretense, less worry about reputation, more “seeking” the simplicity of St. Francis..... and “finding” the hope and evidence of things NOT seen – and no one hopes better than children.......and talking animals!

In the end, Jeremiah’s trust in God and his humility bear fruit. Not on his timeline. Not on King Zedekiah’s timeline. But on God’s timeline. The Judeans do return. A few generations later, houses and fields and vineyards are again bought in that land.

Hope is kept alive by doing hopeful things. Over and over in the Bible, hope translates as action.

We are called to search tenderly for those who are lost, the way Jesus searched for sinners and tax collectors. The way God searched for Israel, for Paul, for us.

We are called beyond the safety of loving those who are easy to love and who easily love us back and into the challenge of getting uncomfortable, risking reputation and rejection and ridicule, so that we may bring healing, liberation, and love to those who need it most.

We witness this baptism so that we can remind Stevie as she grows that she belongs, no matter what, just as God created her, and that Jesus’ love will always be there, no matter what. That’s our job as the Body of Christ.

For Christians, the spirit of the law is always love. When we prioritize certainty and order over love and liberation, then we’re no longer worshiping Jesus, we’re worshiping power.

Making space for everyone and how God created them, making space for yourself and how God created you, sometimes takes courage. It sometimes requires telling hard truths, to create friction, for the sake of love, to risk division.

Your faithful actions manifest the promises of God here and now, if only as one stone laid for the foundation for a cathedral.

Belief is the trust that love does not end, even in the midst of absence.

Sin happens. Destruction happens. Cruelty happens. But they do not have the last word.

Christian love is not a transaction; it is an outpouring. It is not measured in careful increments but in overflowing abundance.

We don’t earn God’s love, nor do we ever lose it. That’s what grace is.