This is the English outline of the sermon delivered by Rev. Musubi Tabuchi to the congregations of Ashiya Christian Church and Unfinished Community on Sunday, February 16, 2025, drawing from Luke 6:17-26
Today's Bible passage comes from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Luke - according to the Lectionary - but we can find a similar story in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew; what we know as the “Sermon on the Mount. The content is also different in each story though. In Luke's Gospel, the main themes are poverty, wealth, hunger, satiety, scorn and praise. And the place where the story is told is not on a mountain, as Matthew says, but on a plain.
Unlike a mountain, where one stands so far above others, a plain is flat, low land. More than that,, it is the place where we live, or as Pastor Hatsune Hasegawa says in her sermon, “This World," ours is a world filled with poverty, hunger, and slander. That is human society. That is life on the plains.
Jesus emphasizes the obvious - “Love your neighbor” - because he himself knew the reality of this world, and for that received his treatment by the world in his suffering and death on the cross. This is why we cannot live without God's love, protection, guidance, and faith through Jesus. It is because of these things that we can continue to live each day!
Let us pray.
God, be with us. Protect our steps with your love. We believe that Jesus is our daily guide in this world. In His name we pray, Amen.
Comments