Radical Living My Brother or My Enemy

What will the church look like in the future? We must not imitate the success of others Today is ours, not yesterday My brother or my enemy? “This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” - President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell address to the nation Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen.1:26-27 “It is not good that the man should be alone…” Gen.2:18 Being created in the image of God consists of (among other things) being communal. God is communal And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” Jn.8:29 The Objective of Satan Destroy the sense of human connection of community by going independent Initial Effects: Suspicions, Blame, Accusations, Alienation—damage to the community And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you? And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Gen.3:8-12 The human race has been practicing social distancing from almost the beginning Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Gen.3:22-24 The First Murder – Fratricide And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” Gen.4 Why did Cain kill his brother? ENVY that progressed What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1-2 The warning of Jesus “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. Mt.5:21-26 The cancer spreads Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.” Genesis 4 Long Reaching Effects-Death and Violence Adam's Descendants to Noah This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died…. and he died. Gen.5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. Gen.6:5,11 What is the leading cause of death in the history of humanity? True or False? All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong? Eleanor Rigby The Beatles Publication date: 4-28-2020 On the long-term effects of our self-isolation at this moment “I think this could take us down one of two paths. One path is the worrisome one, marked by greater loneliness as we spend more and more time physically separated from one another. But the other path is the path of social revival, if we recommitted to people and to relationships. We have the opportunity to use this moment to recenter our lives on people. And if we do that, then I believe we can come out of this pandemic more connected, more fulfilled and more resilient than before the pandemic began.” NPR interview with Dr. Murthy May 11:2020 An enemy is someone whose story you haven’t heard yet Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20 1. Establish Relationship/Connection • Don’t start by discussing differences. • Meet first as fellow human beings. Create a safe place • Find points of shared values and concern. Once we find points of shared value and concern, our minds and hearts are open to each other • Listen with respect without correcting • Seek understanding • We need to share our individual stories in order to connect on a larger scale “Fighting loneliness one conversation at a time” AARP banner ad Two takeaway principles Conversation before conversion An effective witness requires withness