Monday Musings of Pastor Ron - September 14, 2026
Friends,
I usually start Monday by thinking about the Lectionary Scripture for the week. I rarely am still contemplating the Scripture or the message from the day before (unless the next Scripture ties to it some way). However, this morning I am still not able to shake our Sunday discussion of the world's ethical and moral climate. Maybe it is just all the politics associated with mid-term elections. I am not sure. But I am still struggling to reconcile the hate that is so prevalent in everything around us with our call to listen and follow the truth that is Jesus Christ. I am struggling with the prevalent use of fear to motivate us to follow.
Did you know that the word hate is found 448 times in Scripture (at least in the NRSV)? That is often but did you know that the word love is found 994 times? Love is far more prevalent in Scripture than hate. How do we make it the same in life? I find the words in 1 John to be a poignant guide. "There is no fear in love" (1 John 4:18a). We do not have to use fear to motivate us to love because love casts our fear (1 John 4:18b). We can look at all that is going on in the world around us and be assured of two things according to 1 John.
- We love because God loved us first. We can love because Jesus set the example of love before us every day.
- When the world says it loves God but hates its brother or sister it is telling a falsehood."for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20)
Don't let the ways of the world change the way you think for the commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:21)
God bless you. See you Sunday