Blameless Before the Lord

Pentecost 6 – July 20, 2025

Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

Our texts for today show a contrast between how we understand our role in God’s kingdom. The psalm for today is a stylized poem about what was required of a person who was to enter the temple. That he must be blameless before the Lord, speak the truth, and do what is right. The psalm goes on with more qualifications. The point is that the person who seeks to enter the holy place must have done certain things. That is contrasted with Paul’s letter to the Colossians. There he reminds us that we who once were estranged have been reconciled by God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His point is that we have been made worthy to gather here by Jesus and not by anything that we have done ourselves. That tension is shown in the story of Mary and Martha. Martha is all busy with the things about the house. She is doing what was expected of a woman in her day. Mary is breaking the rules. She is sitting at the feet of a teacher, something that women were not allowed to do. And it is because of Jesus that she is able to sit and learn. We experience this tension all the time. God’s salvation is so unbelievable that we often believe that there are things that we must do to earn it. In fact, there are many churches that have rules of things you must do and cannot do if you wish to be a Christian. We confess that it is by faith alone that we are saved and that faith is freely given to us because Christ died for us.

You already know what I am going to say. There is nothing that we can or have to do to receive salvation, now, you get to do it. Before, trapped in sin and death, you could not see the wonders of God nor act as God desires. But now, freed from sin and death, you get to share the abundant love of God with all. I am not promising you a pain-free life full of all those things that you desire. That, you know, is not what God has promised here. Paul clearly shows that by his telling us of his suffering for the Colossians. Paul did suffer much because he answered God’s call. No God is not promising a life without suffering. Instead God promises something better – a life in which Jesus is present no matter what happens. Rejoice and be glad that God has given us the faith that we need to live our lives as God desires. A life that is filled with sharing our gifts so that others, when they see us, see the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

You like Mary have been called to the better part. You have been called to a life with Jesus. And Jesus has shown you the way of that life. As Jesus broke the norms of his day and accepted all into his community we get to do the same. As the world tries to divide people into two categories, the good and the bad, we get to accept all people and challenge those who do not. When the world tries to hoard resources we get to share all that we have and challenge those who do not. When the world sees people as objects and unlovable we get to love them as ourselves and challenge those who belittle them. I could go on with this but you see the tension here. We get to be the arms of Jesus and embrace others just as we have been embraced by Jesus. So get up and wrap your arms around the world and share everything that God has shared with you.