"Henry Rojas" Tagged Touchpoints (Page 2)
Who Are the Lost Sheep?
“Know this, the Mystery will come and hunt you down. Come looking for you. And you will know Grace has always been with you. Whether you left the fold because of earthly entanglements or left the fold due to your pursuit of the height of spiritual piety.”
Outside the Camp
“You know why I should welcome the stranger? Because I’m strange. You know why you should welcome the stranger? Because you’re strange. You know why God welcomes the stranger – because God is strange. After all, we didn’t crucify him because we thought he was TOO NORMAL!”
The Refiner’s Fire
“Sometimes I wish Jesus would have just come to earth and said, “This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.” I would have been good with that. But Jesus is not a Pollyanna. He’s a realist. He will undergo a death and resurrection. And so will we. There’s no way to do an end run around Good Friday to get to Easter. For him or us.”
Who Was the Neighbor?
“To love the neighbor as myself is to recognize the neighbor as myself. We are one and the same. We both carry the Christ within us. To walk past the wounds of the neighbor is to walk past the wounds of our own lives. To not touch the wounds of the neighbor is to think we can live without touching the wounds of our very selves.”
Therefore, Be It Resolved
“Make no mistake about it. This is a reversal from how God is often portrayed, talked about, pictured. We always think we have to do something first. We have to act first, and then, God as judge, will decide after we are all done whether to accept us or not. But this baptism story, and where it is placed in Luke’s Gospel is a reminder that we have it all backwards. It’s only Chapter 3 and Jesus has done nothing at this point in the Gospel of Luke to warrant God’s love and delight.”
Are We Participants or Observers?
Jesus knows the trap that comes with having many followers. Because of the wilderness, he knows the danger and allure of popularity and power. He knows the importance of taking moments in a deserted place to be reminded of our true identity.
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