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Transcript

Called to a New Vision · Faith at Work

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: So here is the big idea this morning.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: The peace of Christ is not the mere absence of conflict and violence.
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  SPEAKER_00: The peace of Christ signifies the presence of God's justice.
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  That is the theme of our message this morning,
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  that we are called to a new vision.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is a quote from the book, Let Our Joys Be Known, chapter 13.
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  Those of you that have been around for a little bit know that
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  we have been going
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  SPEAKER_00: through a book study.
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  Some of you have been doing that in life group or Sunday school
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  class or just in
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  SPEAKER_00: your personal homes.
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  SPEAKER_00: And today is...
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  SPEAKER_00: for good or bad,
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  SPEAKER_00: the last Sunday in that 13-week series,
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  SPEAKER_00: where we are thinking about God's justice,
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  SPEAKER_00: God's peace,
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  SPEAKER_00: and what it means to be called to a new vision.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: God's peace is justice in motion.
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  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus, we are made new creatures.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we are sent to build a world where everyone can breathe.
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  SPEAKER_00: As we think about peace, what if peace isn't quiet?
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  SPEAKER_00: What if it looks like a grand festival or a grand celebration?
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  What if peace sounds like doors unlocking and letting people in
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  and out where debts
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  SPEAKER_00: are released and forgiven?
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  SPEAKER_00: What if peace looks like our neighbor's
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  SPEAKER_00: being seen, maybe for the very first time.
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  SPEAKER_00: We'll be looking at four scriptures this morning.
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  Luke chapter 4 verses 16 through 21 tells us that Jesus stood
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  up in the synagogue
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  SPEAKER_00: and He read from the scriptures Isaiah.
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  He proclaimed good news to the poor,
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  freedom for the captives,
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  sight for the blind.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then he said, this scripture is fulfilled today in your presence.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus' first sermon was a job description.
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  SPEAKER_00: His peace is active, not aesthetic.
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  SPEAKER_00: It heals, it lifts, and it announces jubilee.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now maybe jubilee is a word that you're unfamiliar with.
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  We are going to be exploring that idea of Jubilee in our next
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  series in just two weeks.
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  We are going to be talking about our money story and what it
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  means to be part of
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  SPEAKER_00: God's money story as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Jubilee is at the heart of God's money story.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, come back.
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  SPEAKER_00: And learn about that here in the next few weeks.
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  Amos,
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  an Old Testament prophet,
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  in chapter 5,
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  verses 21 through 24,
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  thunders to singing people.
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  SPEAKER_00: He proclaims, God wants mercy more than music.
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  SPEAKER_00: He proclaims, let justice roll down like waters.
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  SPEAKER_00: He cries to the people.
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  In Isaiah chapter 58,
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  verses 1 through 9,
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  it calls out fasting that ignores the hungry.
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  People who fast choosing to be hungry and ignoring those who
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  have no choice.
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  SPEAKER_00: in the hunger that they have.
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  He proclaims that true worship loosens chains and shelters
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  vulnerable people.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then he says,
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  SPEAKER_00: when we live like that,
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  SPEAKER_00: as the people of God,
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  SPEAKER_00: that your light will break forth like the dawn into the world.
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  And Paul,
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  he says in 2 Corinthians 5,
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  17-21,
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  if anyone is in Christ,
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  you are a new creation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Old things, they are passed away.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are gone.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have become new.
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  And in that newness,
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  we become ambassadors of reconciliation in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cornel West,
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  SPEAKER_00: a philosopher and a theologian and an activist,
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  SPEAKER_00: says it this way,
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  SPEAKER_00: justice is what love looks like in public.
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  As I said last week,
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  love wears work boots and carries a toolbox,
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  just like Eddie Meyerhofer.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends, vision begins in worship.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it cannot end at the benediction.
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  SPEAKER_00: It must walk out of the doors with us and impact the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Where is God already moving in our community?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: read a little article that last month,
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  Harrisonburg City sold land below value in order to provide
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  affordable homes.
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  In that act,
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  justice rolled towards low-income families in our community.
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  Across Virginia in these last months,
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  workforce housing gained fresh fuel.
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  SPEAKER_00: New funds are flowing into real projects for real people.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is a place where policy meets the dinner table.
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  SPEAKER_00: where rent or food becomes a choice.
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  SPEAKER_00: When storms strike, love goes public.
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  SPEAKER_00: We all know that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Brethren, Disaster Ministries is rebuilding after every known disaster.
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  And unfortunately,
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  it sounds like that there's a few on the way this week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our people are showing up with hammers and with hope.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the world calls out for acts of peace.
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  SPEAKER_00: This year's UN Day theme said this, act now for a peaceful world.
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  SPEAKER_00: And friends, God's church can and must lead the way in that pursuit.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, what does new vision look like for us here in this congregation?
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  SPEAKER_00: Well,
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  SPEAKER_00: it looks like reading Luke 4 as our chapter,
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  SPEAKER_00: as our charter,
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  SPEAKER_00: as our job description,
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  SPEAKER_00: and measuring success by who gets lifted up in the process.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like practicing Isaiah 58 in small,
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  SPEAKER_00: steady ways,
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  SPEAKER_00: sharing bread,
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  SPEAKER_00: welcoming the stranger,
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  SPEAKER_00: spending ourselves for the hungry in the world,
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  SPEAKER_00: both spiritually and physically.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like choosing Amos over apathy.
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  SPEAKER_00: When systems harm people, we must speak up and mend as much as we can.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when rivers dry up, we need to dig channels for justice in the world.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like being reconcilers at your workplace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Listen first.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tell the truth.
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  SPEAKER_00: Repair when you can.
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  SPEAKER_00: Carry grace into every meeting that you have next week.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like budgets that bless you.
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  both in the church,
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  in the workplace,
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  and in the various sectors of our society.
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  SPEAKER_00: We tithe time and resources towards mercy.
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  We invest in places where people are pressed hard so that they
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  can be lifted up.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like raising kids,
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  SPEAKER_00: parents,
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  SPEAKER_00: who expect fairness in the world,
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  SPEAKER_00: teaching them to spot dignity in every face that they meet along the way,
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  SPEAKER_00: letting them see you
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  SPEAKER_00: Make things right in the world by example.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like praying with our sleeves up.
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  SPEAKER_00: Your kingdom come, and then we move our feet.
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  SPEAKER_00: Prayer fuels practice, and our practice must always extend our prayers.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like a church-wide audit of welcome prayer.
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  We need to be asking questions like,
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  whose voices among us haven't been heard?
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about who's up here doing the worship leading.
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  And what doors need to be opened wider,
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  both physically,
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  spiritually,
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  socially,
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  emotionally?
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  SPEAKER_00: How can we do that for those among us?
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like business owners mentoring startups.
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  SPEAKER_00: People need a vocation, and many times they need help in that.
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  Help sometimes looks like writing a first business plan or a
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  first invoice for someone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Friends, justice can begin with a shared spreadsheet or a drafting table.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right, John?
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like neighbors knowing neighbors,
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  SPEAKER_00: learning names,
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  SPEAKER_00: learning stories,
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  SPEAKER_00: learning food allergies,
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  so we can invite people over for dinner and they can eat with
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  us in safety and in
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  SPEAKER_00: peace.
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  SPEAKER_00: Care begins with attention to the details in other people's lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not all about work, though.
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  SPEAKER_00: It also looks like Sabbath.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sabbath that restores.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need to learn to rest so we can rise for mercy sakes again.
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  SPEAKER_00: Burnout helps no one.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I know that in the previous season, you know, there's some burnout.
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  SPEAKER_00: So we're looking to rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is part of justice.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is part of mercy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because balance in our lives, even in our faith, is brave.
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  SPEAKER_00: It looks like hope.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hope that refuses cynicism.
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  We do not ever deny pain,
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  especially the pain of ourselves,
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  the pain of others.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead, we deny despair, having the last word.
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  Resurrection people keep building even in the midst of decay
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  while it abounds.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it looks like joy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because joy fuels justice.
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  We sing while we serve so that we remember why we are doing
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  what we are doing.
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  SPEAKER_00: So as we close, hear this call again.
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  SPEAKER_00: Jesus still reads Isaiah in our midst, in our town, in our community.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Spirit of the Lord is upon us to bring good news to the poor,
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  SPEAKER_00: freedom to the captives,
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  SPEAKER_00: sight for the blind.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today, this scripture longs to be fulfilled in our presence.
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  SPEAKER_00: May it be so.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.