Following Part III: Jesus Is Being Followed?

"Following: Jesus Is Being Followed?" – Matthew 12:9-14
Lenten Sermon Series Part III

Sermon by Dr. George C. Anderson from Sunday, March 3, 2024. "We all have biases. Even Jesus in our story has a bias. He clearly stated a bias in the passage. You heard it. He prefers compassion and mercy over the literal keeping of a law that would prevent a man with a need from receiving help. His bias is toward seeing the person in front of him and acting in that person’s best interests. He shows it here in healing the man. He later says we need to do this even if the person in front of us is someone we would call 'an enemy.' 

"What would that bias look like in the way we follow those who have their hooks in us: our family, our friends, our enemies, those who are described by others as being a type (Jews, Palestinians, criminals, refugees, the poor, the rich) but which we know are human beings? What would happen if we stubbornly kept to
• a bias toward empathy and understanding so the person can be seen,
• a bias toward reconciliation over retribution,
• a bias toward common good over what’s good just for me?"

Read the manuscript on our website: https://www.spres.org/following-jesus-is-being-followed/