Concord Church, Statesville NC

Using the Scriptures of Luke 24:1-12, we discover how God invites us to open the doors to the rooms we find ourselves locked in.

We are living in the midst of an identity crisis. We explore what the church is called to do and why it requires us to go out and look in all the unusual places.

Why working harder doesn’t get us closer to God and periods of rest and pruning are really important, actually

In many translations, Jesus says that “Mary has chosen the better part,” which has been used to create a divide between Mary and Martha. However, in the Greek, Mary has chosen the “good portion,” and Martha’s tasks are called “ministry.” Therefore, perhaps Mary represents our faith, our desire to know God intimately, and Martha represents our good works, our desire to transform the world. Both are needed, and both are good.

This parable begins and ends with the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and the answer is surprisingly, “the stranger.” The Samaritan, whose place of worship and customs are different from the lawyer who questions Jesus, is both a stranger and a neighbor to the man who was beaten and left in a ditch. In our world, many of our physical neighbors are strangers to us, and many of our neighbors—those closest to us—feel like strangers in divisive political climates. If we align our intentions and actions, then maybe we need to reconsider who we label as “stranger,” and ask ourselves if we have acted as good neighbors.