Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:08] Pastor Chuck Allen, back with another weekday podcast and happy Thanksgiving. I love this time of year, but I want to talk today about what Jesus did, specifically how Jesus treated other people.
[00:00:22] He didn't set up barriers. He sat with the folks who felt far away, far away from God, the lonely, the hurting, the outcast. With the woman at the well, he didn't shame her. He offered her living water. As a matter of fact, he said in John 4, anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst, not ever. The water I give will be an artisan spring within gushing fountains of endless life.
[00:00:47] Now, the religious leaders, the people who are supposed to get it, they got the sharpest critique from Jesus. He called out their hypocrisy, urging them toward compassion and commitment, not empty religion.
[00:00:59] He said in Matthew 23, you keep meticulous account books, but on the meat of God's law, fairness and compassion, you have no qualms.
[00:01:09] Too often I fear that we who claim to be followers of Jesus offer grace to our own, but heap condemnation elsewhere. Jesus flipped that upside down and he calls us to, he said literally in John 3. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger. He came to help, to put the world right again.
[00:01:33] Jesus mission was never about condemning those already lost, but about mercy and restoration.
[00:01:40] And you know that, that right there, that's what we're called. To live out that love, a love that welcomes hard questions and messy lives.
[00:01:50] Our community is built to be merciful, not judgmental, open, not exclusive. We reflect Jesus by eating together, listening and loving boldly, both ins and outside the church.
[00:02:04] Jesus was gentle with those who hoped for grace and hard on insiders who missed God's heart.
[00:02:11] So, friend, today on this Thanksgiving, let's follow the Jesus Way, a story where everyone's welcome, no one's perfect, and mercy reigns. God bless you, friend. Thanks for listening in today on this Thanksgiving weekday podcast. Bye now.
