CLONES OF CHRIST (32 OF 49)
Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-32, Ephesians 5:1-2
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Clones of Christ (32 of 49)
Lectionary, Year B, Proper 14
Christopher B. Harbin
Ephesians 4:22-5:2
When Jesus began his ministry, he called some strangers to leave behind the lives they had known and follow him. Some of them knew each other. Others were strangers among themselves. None of them knew Jesus. Still, they accepted this call to begin a new life together. He began teaching them to leave more and more of themselves behind on this journey to become his disciples. Not only had he wanted them to leave behind their jobs, but also tradition, character, and their appreciation of God's identity. Their call as disciples was about more than teaching them. It was about transforming them after the character of God. Are we open to having our character and attitudes transformed?
There were a lot of great examples for me to look up to in my childhood and youth. I lived in a nation with rampant crime, the visible presence of drastic inequality, despair, children fishing in a sewage-fed canal, and corruption as the political status quo. By contrast, I also found myself surrounded by people of great character who had exchanged privilege, power, and opportunity to give of themselves to meet people with acceptance, grace, and love, despite so many social messages that they were unworthy of kindness, attention, and caring.
Dr. Harold Schaly was a New Testament professor at the seminary where my dad taught. He was also a church-planting pastor where my family gathered to worship. I was enamored by stories of him speaking eight languages. More importantly, however, he was a man of grace, love, peace, and warmth who made me and others understand that not only did God care for us, but Dr. Schaly did, too.
I don't know much about the official work of my parents' colleagues, but I can tell you that they embraced me in loving acceptance. They offered me community and a sense of family that decades later my wife and kids feel comfortable seeking lodging with my missi ...
Lectionary, Year B, Proper 14
Christopher B. Harbin
Ephesians 4:22-5:2
When Jesus began his ministry, he called some strangers to leave behind the lives they had known and follow him. Some of them knew each other. Others were strangers among themselves. None of them knew Jesus. Still, they accepted this call to begin a new life together. He began teaching them to leave more and more of themselves behind on this journey to become his disciples. Not only had he wanted them to leave behind their jobs, but also tradition, character, and their appreciation of God's identity. Their call as disciples was about more than teaching them. It was about transforming them after the character of God. Are we open to having our character and attitudes transformed?
There were a lot of great examples for me to look up to in my childhood and youth. I lived in a nation with rampant crime, the visible presence of drastic inequality, despair, children fishing in a sewage-fed canal, and corruption as the political status quo. By contrast, I also found myself surrounded by people of great character who had exchanged privilege, power, and opportunity to give of themselves to meet people with acceptance, grace, and love, despite so many social messages that they were unworthy of kindness, attention, and caring.
Dr. Harold Schaly was a New Testament professor at the seminary where my dad taught. He was also a church-planting pastor where my family gathered to worship. I was enamored by stories of him speaking eight languages. More importantly, however, he was a man of grace, love, peace, and warmth who made me and others understand that not only did God care for us, but Dr. Schaly did, too.
I don't know much about the official work of my parents' colleagues, but I can tell you that they embraced me in loving acceptance. They offered me community and a sense of family that decades later my wife and kids feel comfortable seeking lodging with my missi ...
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