Proper 18C
September 8, 2019
Philemon 1-21 Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love.
Luke 14:25-33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
O God of Love, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.
So how about those readings? We have a vision of God as a vengeful potter, angry and manipulative, devising punishing plans; a story of a runaway slave being sent back to his owner; and an admonition about being fit to follow Jesus only if one hates family and life itself and is willing to give up all one’s possessions. That’s the line that strikes fear in Episcopal congregations everywhere.