Cross Connections

As we begin a new year we also get to think about new ways that we follow in the path of Jesus. The way we do this is by talking about a theme to live by. Last year we looked at the story of the disciples walk to Emmaus, after Jesus resurrection, and how it wasn’t until Jesus left them that they realized it was Jesus who was with them. When they realized this they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when we heard him speak?” So we lived into the ways that our hearts were on fire for Jesus. As I was thinking about how to continue to help us grow in faith inward and outward I began to think about this idea of cross connections. So this year we will look at all the connections we have to God to one another and to our world.

When I was thinking about what all I wanted us to focus on for the year and came up with this idea of cross connections I immediately thought of the scripture that we find in 3 of the gospels and that is the greatest commandment. Why not, right? When Jesus is asked to essentially boil down 613 laws of the Torah, Jesus declares that we are to love God and love one another. There are no commandments greater than these. What Jesus does by saying this is he declares to everyone listening that day as well as all of us today who hear his words is that the two things we should love are God and one another. I know that’s not profound study and work, but honestly neither was it when Jesus said it. And yet for thousands of years we have been struggling to live by it. We don’t always love God with all our heart, being, mind and strength, and we don’t always love other people the same way we love ourselves.

I began to wonder why it is that we don’t love the way that we are called to love with all the people we meet and there are countless reasons we could get into, but I want to keep it concise and on topic today so I can get to the point at hand. I believe the reason that Jesus was able to love so radically was that he was grounded in the presence and word of God and in the presence of people. Jesus lived in the Word and the World. Jesus engaged in prayer, worship and study of God’s very word throughout his whole life. Jesus also engaged with those whom he called his friends as well as with a whole host of other people from the most insiders to the most outsiders of the world he lived. In other words Jesus was cross connected with God and people.

I believe in order to grow in every way possible we need to be cross connected like Jesus was and is. So if we take a look at a cross and we pay attention to the vertical part, we can think of God at the top of the cross and me, each of us individually at the bottom of the cross. Then as we look at the cross horizontally we can think in terms of us as a congregation on the left and the community or world around us on the right. If we think in those terms then we can see that we are all connected to one another. Me to God, me to our congregation, me to the community, our congregation to God, our congregation to the community and all the back and forth ways that can go. There are so many ways that we can and should be connected to God and each other. Not just connected, but connected through love. There are lots of ways that we can achieve these goals and today I’d like to highlight some of the cross connections I think we should grow in 2025 and beyond.

Me to God - If you don’t already I would encourage you to find a way to connect yourself to God in a personal way. Perhaps it’s going on walks or hikes in nature. Maybe you carve out 5 minutes of your day to read some scripture and pray on it. There are lots of spiritual practices that you can do on your own and can really help connect you make a closer connection to God. Studies show that the more we spend time doing something and paying attention to something the more we notice it and the easier it is to connect with that thing we are doing. So why not take that scientific research and put it to good use with our relationship to God? We might just find some small or even incredible ways that our faith grows and our love for God grows through the process. And maybe we’ll even find ways to see God’s love for us to be able to love ourselves even more. Which then helps us to truly love our neighbor the way we love ourselves as God intended.

Me to Congregation - In a similar way I feel that not only should we be connected to God, but God calls us to be in relationship with one another. One of the best ways that we can be in relationship with one another is to find a ministry that fits something we love and care about. Another option is to join or start a Bible study so that you are not only doing that at home but connecting with others to talk about faith and what the words of God mean for each of us together. I feel that we could really benefit from some more opportunities to study the Bible for people. Prayerfully consider joining a ministry or starting or joining a Bible study with a group of people. The church isn’t perfect, none of them are, but we all do our best to be the loving community Jesus has called us to be and I hope you can find a way to be more a part of this one.

Congregation to Community - The last one I want to talk about is congregation to community. While it is important to grow personally in faith and love to God and to do the same within our own congregation with ministries and Bible studies, it is also important to live out the calling of Jesus to share the love of God with others who are not in our own community. To reach out to those who have not experienced the love of God through this community. We do an incredible job of being a loving congregation when people show up, but we need to stretch ourselves to find ways to reach out to our community. We are not called to be here for the sake of ourselves but for the sake of others. If we believe the gift of God’s love through Jesus is as incredible as we say it is then we should be eager to share that love with others.

This is what it means to live a cross connected life in Jesus. Me, God, congregation, community: all connected to one another through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The one who showed us the path of love and reminded us that the greatest and best thing we can do in this life is to love God with our whole essence and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Together lets find ways to wake up with God to lay our heads before we sleep with God, to share Jesus both here and out in the world. Cross connections - a balanced life of faith for a busy and sometimes hectic and scary world. I hope you join me this year in finding ways to make those cross connections and to create new connections so that we can all grow in our love for our Lord and our neighbors both near and far. Amen.