July 18, 2024
Dear Central Church,
Last Saturday, I was gathered with my family at my brother’s home in Greenville, SC. I don’t get to see that side of my family very often, so I was thankful for an evening to spend together with them. We were just about to head out to dinner, when the news interrupted their programming to cover the assassination attempt on former president, Donald Trump. Needless to say, our dinner plans changed as we could not pull ourselves away from the coverage. When we finally went to dinner, the topic of conversation changed as well.
I’ve had a few days to process this event, and I think the dominant emotion that I feel is grief. I’m deeply thankful that President Trump was not killed, but I grieve that a Pennsylvania Father and firefighter, Corey Comperatore, lost his life protecting his family from the assassin’s stray bullets. On a larger scale, I grieve that political discourse has eroded to now include regular acts of violence against our public servants, the pinnacle of which was the attempt on Trump’s life.
I love this nation. It’s my home. It’s where I was born, and I hope I am one day remembered as a citizen that contributed to its flourishing. There is a deep sense of grief, however, as I explain to my boys that it hasn’t always been this way. I don’t remember growing up in a nation where people hated each other because of divergent political views.
I’ve recently been returning to the work of Chuck Coleson, a Christian who was active in government but remained faithful to his first calling to love God and love others. I know a lot has changed since he was active in public life, but I’m finding his writing helpful as I deal with this grief and think about a way forward:
Where is the hope?...The hope that each of us have is not in who governs us, or what laws we pass, or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. (Chuck Coleson)
We are entering election season, and I don’t think either party will be turning the temperature down. Modern elections are won by drawing contrasts, not by bringing people together. I don’t think party convention messaging is going to bring comfort to my grief any time soon. However, as Coleson reminds us, that is not where our hope is.
Our hope is in the power of God working through his people. We must continually keep our eyes on Jesus! He’s the only hope of bringing people together.
It feels providential that I’m beginning a new sermon series on hospitality. You probably won’t hear that word in political discourse, but it’s at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus gathered with friends, enemies, and everyone in between at a Table. Radical Hospitality is at the center of the Gospel. Ministry happens at the table where Jesus breaks bread, tears down walls, welcomes the unlovable, and keeps an open seat for others to join in.
This series looks at the other-worldly hospitality of Jesus. By looking at the dinner stories in the Gospels, we are invited to experience this hospitality and to practice it as an expression of God’s mission in the world.
I hope you’ll join us Sunday. There’s a place at the table for you!
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark