Unrelenting Trust

REFLECTION QUOTES

“If you defer investing your time and energy until you see that you need to, chances are it will already be too late.”

~Clayton M. Christensen, Harvard Business School Professor in How Will You Measure Your Life?

“The line between good and evil does not lie between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ between the West and the rest, between Left and Right, between rich and poor. That fateful line runs down the middle of each of us, every human society, every individual. This is not to say that all humans, and all societies, are equally good or bad; far from it. Merely that we are all infected and that all easy attempts to see the problem in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’ are fatally flawed.”

~N. T. Wright, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews

“We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so forlornly unhappy as when we have lost our love-object or its love.”

~Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Civilization and Its Discontents

The safest road to hell is the gradual one– the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), The Screwtape Letters

“But Christianity is profoundly counterintuitive– ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’– which I think properly understood means your neighbor is as worthy of love as you are, not that you’re actually going to be capable of this sort of superhuman feat. But you’re supposed to run against the grain. It’s supposed to be difficult. It’s supposed to be a challenge.”

~Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, in a conversation with President Obama, September 2015

“Gollum: We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!
Smeagol: No. Not master!
Gollum: Yes, precious, false! They will cheat you, hurt you, LIE.
Smeagol: Master is my friend.
Gollum: You don’t have any friends; nobody likes you!
Smeagol: I’m not listening… I’m not listening…
Gollum: You’re a liar and a thief.
Smeagol: No…
Gollum: …Murderer.
Smeagol: Go away!”

~The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

SERMON PASSAGE

1 Peter 5:6-14 (ESV)

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.