Home Campaign: Center

Please be seated.

Well, again, let me welcome you this morning.

And especially those of you who are new or joining us for the first time or joining us

for the first time in a while, we're delighted to have you.

And we're delighted at the ability just to worship together in the flesh in person.

I hope I never take that for granted again in my whole life.

But every week, I'm so excited to be together in person.

This is week two of the Home Campaign at Church of the Advent.

And the Home Campaign was birthed out of many, many years of prayer.

This was a church that 14 years ago, we were in a living room praying about what this church

might become, and we prayed about making a long-term commitment to the city, a desire

to love the city long-term.

And as we have seen over the years, God has provided for us and enabled us to do that.

And so now, as we look at that long-term commitment over the course of many generations past this

one, we need a home.

We need a home from which to love and serve this city, the people in this city.

And so that's what this campaign is all about.

It's about making good on that commitment.

And many of us have already committed to this campaign.

I've committed to the campaign.

Our staff has committed.

Our parish council's committed.

Nobody's going to ask anyone to make a commitment today, but in a few weeks, in about three weeks,

we are going to have an opportunity for everybody who would like to commit to being a part of this

campaign to do that.

And I'm really excited about that because, as we've said all along, I think this is a tremendous opportunity

for our church.

And it's an opportunity not just to get a building but to grow spiritually,

to take the biggest step, the biggest leap, the biggest act of trust, I think, that we've ever done

as a community.

And so this is a huge opportunity for us to grow in our faith, to grow in our trust,

particularly in how we think about stewardship and generosity.

And one of the things that I've said all along is one of my core commitments to this process

is that it be a spiritually healthy one, that it matters less to me whether we get a building,

even how much we raise.

The thing that matters most is whether or not we grow, whether or not on the other end of this,

we look back and we say we've been deepened in our faith and matured in our trust in the Lord

through this process.

We are a stronger, more vitalized church that has a little bit more of a sense of how God is able to do

the amazing things in our midst.

And so that's what this process is all about.

So we've been looking at a series over the past few weeks on stewardship, on faith, on trust.

And this week we're looking at Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

It's a very well-known story.

And this is a story about a man who I think seems to have it all.

And it's the kind of person that I think most people in D.C. want to be, right?

He has everything that, like, D.C. people want, right?

He has…he's wealthy, he has influence, he has power, he has status, he has respect.

He has all of the things that bring people who don't grow up in D.C. to a place like D.C.

He has all of these things.

And yet, for that very reason, this man's actually in grave spiritual danger.

That's something that Jesus reveals over the course of this encounter,

which means we may actually also be in spiritual danger.

So what we're going to do is look at this encounter and we're going to answer these questions.

What is the danger that we're talking about?

How do we know if we are in danger?

And then finally, what can we do about it?

Let's pray and then we'll open God's Word together.

Lord, we thank You for Your Word.

Lord, we thank You that we can come with our distractions or maybe even not even wanting

to be here or confused about why we're here or thinking we know what we need.

And yet, You're the kind of God who knows our hearts.

And You're not just words on a page.

You're living and active.

And You can speak to us and You can do Your work in us through Word and Spirit.

And so I pray that that would happen.

Lord, I know I need that this morning.

I need You to speak into my heart, Lord.

And I pray that You do that for our good, Lord, so that we would grow, but also for Your glory.

And pray this in Your Son's name.

Amen.

So first of all, what is the danger that we're talking about here?

What's the danger that this man is in that we might be in?

What's the concern?

What's the concern?

This passage shows us essentially that wealth can be spiritually dangerous, but probably

not for the reason that most of us think.

Even if you're not a Christian, most people know the verse that is in this passage, verse

25, for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to

enter the kingdom of God.

Now, at first glance, what that seems to say is that rich people will never enter the kingdom

of God, so there must be something inherently wrong with being rich.

There must be something wrong with being wealthy.

God must have a certain disdain for wealthy people that's going to keep them out.

And yet what we need to see is that in the larger context of Scripture, that can't possibly

be the way we interpret this verse.

Because some of the prophets and some of the apostles were very poor, and God used them.

Some of the early church leaders were poor.

They had no social power.

They were slaves.

They were from minority classes.

And yet God used them mightily.

And yet we also know that we have wealthy people like Abraham, or David, or Solomon,

or Matthew, or Lydia, or Joseph of Arimathea.

These are wealthy people, powerful people, influential people.

God used them powerfully right alongside the poor people.

And so what we actually see is that the beauty of God's story is not that He only uses the poor

or that He only uses the rich and powerful.

The beauty of God's story is that He can use anyone and everyone to further His kingdom.

And He weaves all kinds of people into His story.

Okay, so it can't mean that.

So then what does Jesus mean with this verse about wealth and a camel and a needle?

Well, the clue comes from the context of the passage.

If we look at what comes just before this encounter, Jesus has just told a parable about two men praying in the temple.

And it's no coincidence that Luke places that in the same section here.

One man in Jesus' parable comes into the temple, and he's a proud man.

And he says,

I thank God that I'm not like these sinners.

I am a good man.

And then in the parable, there's another person there who is so crushed by his guilt

that all he can do is stare at the floor and beat his chest and say,

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

And then Jesus says,

that is the man who goes home justified before God.

So the humble man is crying out for mercy.

And mercy is, by definition, crying out for God to give you something that you don't deserve.

Right?

That's what mercy is.

I don't deserve this, but I need it.

The proud man doesn't believe that God needs to give him anything that he doesn't deserve.

He believes that God should give him what he's owed.

Right?

And so another way of saying it is,

the proud man is entirely self-sufficient.

He's his own Savior.

I'm standing before you, God.

I've done all the right things, and I want you to give me what I'm owed.

I upheld my end of the bargain.

Now it's time for you to come through.

So Jesus tells that parable.

And then Jesus points to some children, probably children that were right there,

and says,

whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like one of these children shall not enter it.

Now what's the point there?

What's the difference between a child and an adult?

Well, there are a number of differences.

The one that we're thinking about today is a child, by definition, is not self-sufficient.

You know, a child, by definition,

needs an adult to take care of them and to meet their needs and to show them how to live.

Right?

Once you get to that point where you can do that on your own, you're no longer a child.

You're an adult, by definition.

And so the point is, if we look at all that context,

what's the point of what's really going on here?

One of the most dangerous lies when it comes to our relationship with God is the lie of self-sufficiency.

It's the lie of self-sufficiency.

And this goes all the way back to the fall.

The Bible says that we were actually created to live with God and for God and to love God,

that we were made for that relationship.

You know, St. Augustine says that the Trinity is, at its core,

three persons who each have an entirely other-oriented, self-giving, sacrificial,

other-glorifying love for the other members of the Trinity.

Right?

And we were created to have that kind of relationship with God who made us as an extension of that kind of love.

And so another way of saying it is, life only works if God is at the center of it.

Right?

Life only makes sense if God is at the center of it.

If you think about a solar system, you know,

why do all of the planets not constantly crash into each other?

Why is there not abject chaos in our solar system?

Well, it's because they all share the same central object around which they orbit.

It is their relationship with the sun at the center that creates harmony in their relationships with one another.

Right?

Life is made to operate best when God is at the center of our orbit.

And so the great lie of Satan is to say, that's not actually true.

Life actually works better if you get to decide what's at the center of your life.

And might I make a suggestion?

Maybe you should be at the center of your life.

And that great lie that says, you don't need God to be at the center of your life.

God is great.

God is a nice add-on.

God can be a helpful accessory, but you don't need Him to be at the center of your life.

That goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

That's the lie of self-sufficiency.

So this is why wealth can be so dangerous.

Because what does wealth do to that lie?

Why?

Well, it injects rocket fuel into it.

You know?

It pours gasoline on it.

You know?

It greatly, greatly reinforces and strengthens the plausibility that I really don't need anything outside of myself.

Because it makes us more self-sufficient.

Right?

So, you know, if you're wealthy, and maybe you're sitting here thinking, I'm not really that wealthy.

You know, this maybe applies to…I know that guy.

It applies to him, not to me.

If you're wealthy, and by that I mean you have a place to live in relative safety.

Right?

You know, we just this week are grieving the dramatic increase in gun violence in D.C.

And people we know in our community who know and are grieving kids who were shot.

Right?

And killed.

And that's awful.

And the reality is that there are certain neighborhoods in D.C.

where if you live in that neighborhood and you have a certain color skin,

and it's like a death sentence.

Right?

So, if you live in relative safety,

if you have a steady job, steady income,

if you have some kind of a plan or you've thought about retirement,

if retirement even is something that is in your sort of vocabulary,

if you have access to health care, if you have access to education,

if you have access to transportation,

if you have the kind of flexibility that allows you to work from home if you need to,

especially if like child care falls through,

if you have access to grocery stores that sell fresh produce,

24-hour pharmacies where you can get pretty much any medication you need within a day or two,

if you can get almost any product you can imagine delivered to your house within 24 to 48 hours

with the click of a button,

then chances are this probably applies to you.

Because here's the question, like if those things are true about your life,

how do you convince a person like that that they need anything?

It's like most of my needs I don't even think about

because they just get met automatically.

Right?

So, how do you convince a person like that that they need anything?

That's the danger of wealth.

So, that's the first point.

Second question,

how do we know if we're in danger?

Because as I said,

it's not…

you're not automatically corrupt if you're wealthy.

You're in danger.

How do we know if we're in danger?

Well, look at this man's question to Jesus.

Good teacher,

what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Right there, we know he's in danger.

This guy's in danger.

That one sentence,

he's in danger.

He's in the red zone.

So, how do we know that?

There are actually three signs.

If we break down this question,

there are three signs of danger

that we need to be aware of in our own lives.

The first thing that we see here

is the way this man perceives Jesus.

Right away, we see that this man perceives Jesus as an advisor,

a good teacher,

but not necessarily a savior.

He calls him good teacher,

and Jesus says,

why do you call me good?

Only God is good.

And this is one of those great places

where you see Jesus' genius

in the fact that he is not above using irony.

And this is a kind of dramatic irony here,

because we know who Jesus is as the reader,

and we're reading this,

and we see what this man is saying,

and so Jesus essentially says,

why do you call me good?

Are you saying that I'm God?

And it's this great moment of irony here, right?

And it's another way of saying,

you have no idea who you're talking to, do you?

This man fails to recognize Jesus for who he is

because this man fails to recognize his own need.

And if you don't recognize your own need for Jesus,

it's going to be almost impossible for you to recognize

the significance of Jesus.

And this man is standing face to face with the Son of God,

and Jesus is ready and willing.

We know from other encounters,

Jesus would be ready to give him the keys to the kingdom.

If only he would ask.

And this man essentially is saying,

can I just get some advice?

Can I get some advice?

So one sign that we're in spiritual danger

is when we start seeing Jesus

as merely a source of advice or wisdom,

but we don't really feel any need for salvation,

any need for mercy.

So, you know, the question is,

if you don't feel that,

why would you even give someone like Jesus

a second thought?

It's a kind of offshoot of the luxury

of not really having to think about

our need for salvation.

I'm good.

I don't really need much.

So that's the first thing.

The second sign that we see in this question

that this man's in danger

is that he clearly believes

that he can do something to earn God's blessing.

And, you know, we can say we don't believe this,

but all of us in our hearts do.

I teach this every Sunday,

and yet I'm constantly catching myself

actually believing

that I probably can actually earn God's blessing,

if I'm really honest.

This man says, what must I do?

You know, when you're wealthy,

which means you have agency,

which means you're able to sort of take steps

to change your circumstances,

you know, which means you can go out

and spend money to meet your needs.

When you're able to do that,

it's easy to start to think

that everything in the world has a price,

that anything and everything could be acquired

if you just know what to do,

if you just know what the dollar amount is

or what the behavioral requirement is.

And it's easy to start thinking like that

about eternal life and heaven.

I don't know if you all read this,

but years ago, Warren Buffett,

you know, the billionaire,

announced that he was going to donate

85% of his fortune to charity.

He said, I'm going to donate 85%

of all my fortune to charity.

And all these people freaked out and said,

you know, that's so amazing.

They asked him about it,

and he said this.

This was the quote in the article.

Well, there's more than one way to get to heaven,

but this is a great way.

And I think that there's a sense

in which a lot of people in our culture

do believe that.

Somebody who gives that much money to charity,

surely God's going to look at that

and say, wow, that's one of the good ones.

So another sign that we're in spiritual danger

is when we begin thinking

that we can earn blessings from God,

that if we live the way God wants us to live,

if we have enough faith,

if we pray enough,

that we should expect

a reasonable amount of blessing

from God in return.

And how do we know we're thinking that way?

Well, it's when we reach a point in our life

where God is not doing what we want,

where God does not come through,

where we've prayed all the right prayers,

where we've come to church,

where we've done all the right things.

We have clearly indicated

that we have faith that God can do it.

We've checked all the boxes,

and God doesn't do it.

The longing in your heart

is the most godly longing you can imagine.

It's a longing that God Himself

should want for everybody, right?

It's biblical, the thing that you want,

and God doesn't give it to you.

Right?

You don't get the spouse.

You don't get the child.

You don't get the job.

And then you're left sitting there saying,

well, how could you?

I did everything.

I did all of my part for you,

and you're just silent.

You're not doing anything.

And we begin to get angry at God

and shake our fist at God,

and how dare you?

You know, for years,

I've been living for you,

and all I wanted was this one thing,

and you couldn't do it.

That's how you know

that you've begun to believe

that we can earn.

What must I do, Lord?

So the phrase,

you owe me,

is the exact opposite

of have mercy on me.

In terms of meaning,

it's the polar opposite.

Have mercy says,

I need something from you,

but I don't deserve it.

You owe me,

says,

I demand something from you

because I do deserve it.

Right?

So that's the second sign

that we're in danger.

The third sign

that this man's in danger,

that we might be in danger,

is that he's after

what God can give him

instead of God himself.

He clearly wants eternal life.

My life is going really well

in this life,

and I just, you know,

the one thing

that I haven't quite

taken care of yet

is what's going to happen

in the next life.

So I've got to make sure

that's,

I've got to cover that base.

Okay, teacher,

what do I have to do

to get eternal life?

Now, I think this is really hard

to see in our own hearts.

I think it can be very hard

to know if we want God

because of what he can give us,

or if we want God

for his own sake.

Because, of course,

there are lots of things

that we should rightfully

expect God to give us, right?

I mean, it's right.

A part of being

in a relationship with God

is to want God

to give us the things

that God can give us.

We want God to bless us.

Of course we do.

We want God to soothe our anxiety

and give us peace in the storm.

We want God to guide us

in our decision-making,

major vocational junctures.

We want to know,

God, do you want me

to go this way in my company,

or do you want me

to change and go over here?

Do you want me to live here,

or do you want me to live here?

Do you want me to marry this person,

or do you want me

to marry this person?

We want God to speak

into those things.

We want God to provide for us.

And it's right

to want those things from God.

But it's very easy

for us to begin treating God

like a kind of

divine vending machine.

You know,

you need something,

you come to God,

you pray,

you get it,

thanks God,

and then we kind of

go on our merry way.

And we begin to see God

like a vending machine

rather than a heavenly Father.

As someone who's there

to meet our needs

rather than somebody

who's created us

for a relationship

with himself.

And it's really hard

to know the difference

in your own heart.

Often,

the only time

we really know the difference

is when, again,

we don't get the thing

that we want.

And then we have

that really hard decision

confronting us,

do I still want to be

in relationship with God

if He's not going to give me

this thing that I want?

Would I take God

without the thing?

That's how we begin

to know.

But if we've begun

to kind of do this,

if we've begun to say,

you know,

I want advice from Jesus

but not salvation,

I just want to know

what I have to do

to get blessing

from Jesus,

and really,

I'm more interested

in what I can get

from God

than having an ongoing

relationship with God.

If those are true of us,

then we're in major danger.

And if that's true of you,

then wealth really is going

to be incredibly toxic

for you.

It's going to have

a horrible influence

on your heart

if those things

are true about you.

It's going to be

very dangerous.

It's going to be like

radiation in your home.

You know?

Asbestos,

spiritual asbestos

in your home.

And so you're in danger.

And so then the question becomes,

well, what can we do about this?

What can we do about it?

And of course,

the real question,

the real question is,

what can Jesus do about this?

Because right there,

if we're in danger,

we know that our only hope

is Jesus.

And so in Jesus' response,

we begin to see

an answer to that question.

Jesus responds first

by saying what the man expects.

Jesus says,

well, you know,

you know the commandments.

And he lifts off

five of the commandments.

You know,

and the man is ready

with an answer.

Well, yeah,

I know the commandments.

I've kept these commandments

as long as I can remember

is essentially what he says.

But Jesus is setting him up.

Right?

And then Jesus says

the thing that starts

to get at this man's heart.

He says, okay.

And you can imagine

Jesus sort of saying,

you know the commandments.

And the man says,

oh, yeah, I know them.

I've kept them.

Great.

All right.

And Jesus,

you can imagine Jesus

kind of turned away.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

One more thing.

I want you to sell

all that you have.

I want you to give it

all the way to the poor.

And I want you

to come and follow me.

And that's the heart.

That's the heart.

This man leaves sad,

but he can't do it.

Now, you read that

as a Christian

and you say,

well, what does this mean?

Does this mean

that the only way

to follow Jesus

is to sell everything

that we have,

give it all away?

Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe.

What I think's going on here

is Jesus is directly challenging

the three issues

that we just looked at.

This man says,

hey, I want your advice,

not your salvation.

In this statement,

Jesus is saying,

you don't just need my advice.

You need me

to become the center of your life.

And in order for me

to become the center of your life,

the thing that is already

at the center of your life

needs to be displaced,

and that's your self-sufficiency.

And you could say,

oh, yeah, yeah,

I'll follow you.

But the only way

to know for sure

whether or not

I'm actually

the center of your life

is for you

to actually get rid

of the thing

that is at the center

of your life.

Take away

your self-sufficiency.

Put yourself

in a position

where you have no idea

what you're going

to eat tomorrow.

And then you'll know

whether or not

I'm at the center

of your life.

That's what you need.

I need to become the center.

This man says to Jesus,

what do I have to do

to earn God's blessing?

And in Jesus' response,

Jesus is essentially

saying to this man,

there's no possible way

you can earn

anything from God.

You know,

by calling this man

to get rid of his wealth,

he's exposing the sin

in this man's heart.

Notice, by the way,

that when this man

asks,

what must I do,

Jesus says,

well, you know the commandments,

and he doesn't list off

all the commandments.

He only lists

five of the commandments,

the what we would call

the kind of social commandments,

the commands that have to do

with our relationships

with other people.

Notice he did not mention

the first commandment.

What's the first commandment?

Have no other gods

but me, right?

And as it's been famously said

by Luther and others,

Martin Luther and others,

all sin

and all breaking

of commandments

is essentially

a breaking

of the first commandment.

Right?

So this man says,

I've kept all the commandments.

He says,

well,

except the first one.

Have no other gods

before me.

This man thinks

he's lived a good life

and probably has,

but he worships

a different God.

His God is his wealth.

His God is himself.

And then the third thing

that Jesus is doing

is he's saying,

you don't just need

what God can give you.

You actually need God himself.

And again,

this is why he says

to this man,

sell all that you have,

give to the poor,

and come and follow me.

It's very easy to say

that you love God

and that you're in it

for a relationship with God

when you're surrounded

with abundance.

But as I said earlier,

what happens

if you lose all of that?

What happens

if you don't get

the thing that you want?

What happens

if there's another

major stock market crash

and you lose your job?

What happens

if, God forbid,

you actually decided

to sell all that you have

and give it away?

What happens then

to your relationship

with God

when you have to wonder

whether or not

you're going to eat again?

Do you still want God

in your life then?

or not?

So, in a nutshell,

Jesus is inviting this man

to leave behind

a life of self-sufficiency

and to put himself

in the position

of total dependence

on Jesus

to provide for him.

He's inviting him

to receive the kingdom

like a child would.

He's inviting him

to cry out in the temple,

Lord, have mercy on me,

a sinner.

And he's saying,

I need to become

the sinner of your life.

With me,

it's an all-or-none deal.

And, of course,

this man refuses

because he says,

or it says in the text,

he's extremely rich.

And so, he refuses.

And that's the Bible's

way of saying,

that's Luke's way of saying,

this is too great

a sacrifice

and the man can't

bring him to do it.

The sacrifice

is too great, Jesus.

I'll give it some away

but I can't give it all away.

It's too much.

It's too much to ask.

The sacrifice

is too great.

And here's the hard truth

that we need to confront.

Every single person

in this room

would do the same thing.

As much as I would like to say

that I would respond

differently to Jesus,

not true.

If none of you were around

and it was just me and Jesus

and there was nobody else to see,

I would probably say,

thanks but no thanks.

I prefer things

the way they are.

Where you're an accessory,

you know,

you're an app

on the operating system,

you're an advisor.

And this is why people say

in this passage,

then who can be saved?

What?

What?

What?

So Jesus says,

what's impossible with man

is possible with God.

Now what's he talking about?

Well, he's talking about the gospel.

He's talking about the gospel.

You know,

there's two rich young rulers

in this passage.

There's the rich young ruler

that we've been talking about

and then there's Jesus himself.

Jesus is a rich young ruler.

Jesus has all the wealth

because everything in heaven and earth

actually belongs to him.

All of this man's wealth

actually belongs to him.

Jesus is at this point

fairly young

in his earthly ministry.

And talk about rulers.

Jesus is the king

of the heavens and the earth.

All authority

belongs to him.

He's the ultimate

rich young ruler.

And yet we have

this amazing contrast

where this man

refuses to sacrifice

this little bit of wealth

that he thinks is his

for the sake of Jesus.

He says,

that's too great a sacrifice.

He goes away sad.

He can't do it.

But the gospel says

that Jesus was actually

willing to sacrifice

all of his wealth

and all of his power

and all of his status

and all of his dignity

and even his own life

for us.

The gospel says

that when we look at Jesus

we say,

it's too great a sacrifice.

I can't do it.

But when Jesus looks at you

he says,

that sacrifice

is worth it

a thousand times over.

I would do it again tomorrow.

You're worth it.

My Father in heaven

is worth it.

Right?

And so we see

Paul says in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:9

chapter 8 verse 9,

For you know the grace

of our Lord Jesus Christ

that though he was rich

yet for your sake

he became poor

so that you by his poverty

might become rich.

that's the gospel

that this rich young ruler

needs to hear.

And this kind of change

that is needed in us

can only happen

when the truth of those words

hit home in our hearts

and we begin to realize

that sacrifice

the willingness to give

everything away

has already happened

on our behalf.

Whatever we have

at the center of our lives

whatever you currently have

as the center of your life

as your operating system

as the sun

in your solar system

I guarantee you

it does not love you like that.

I guarantee you

it will not sacrifice

for you like that.

And this is why

Jesus is the only one

worthy

of being at the center

of our lives.

So the question

that I hope

we can sort of

think about

as we move on

in the service

is what does sit

at the center

of your life?

And how do you know?

You know

is God at the center

or is God

an accessory add-on?

Is Jesus Lord and Savior

or is Jesus

an advisor and teacher?

You know

is God an app

or is He

the operating system itself?

Is God the sun

in your solar system

or is God

orbiting around

something else?

You know

one of the only ways

to know

how central

wealth has become

is when we have

an opportunity

to give some of it away.

So that's why

we talk about

something like

the home campaign

as a major

spiritual opportunity.

As my wife

Laura and I

as we have talked

about this

we have sort of

hit that place

where we're having

to figure out

what role

does this play

in us

and what difference

is it going to have

on our life

by giving it?

And that's the place

where you began

to see how central

something has become

for you.

So it doesn't matter

to me

as much

how much

we raise.

The thing that matters

most is that

everybody is able

to be a part of this

and that everybody

has the opportunity

to give sacrificially

at a level

that makes us

question

and clarifies

what is really

sitting at the center

of me.

Because in the gospel

we have this opportunity

to recenter our lives

away from our own

self-sufficiency

and on to Jesus.

Let's pray.

Lord we thank you

for your word

and we thank you

for the encounter

with this man

and I confess

that I see

so much of myself

in this man.

and Lord

we see here

why we need you

so much.

We see what we need

from you Lord

which is not just input

but we need

a Copernican revolution.

We need you

to displace

dislodge

forcibly remove

with a crowbar

the things that sit

at the very center

of us

and to become

the center

to sit on the throne

to realign

our orbit.

Lord we pray

that we would be

the kind of community

moving forward

that is centered

on you

and that that would

be a blessing

not just to us

but that that would

enable us to be

the kind of blessing

that we want to be

to those around us

in this city.

Lord that that would

spill out into love

and spill out

into reconciliation

and spill out

into justice

and spill out

into evangelism

and spill out

into healing

and spill out

into all of the things

that we hope

will happen

as we call

the city

our home

that you would

make your home

in us.

We pray this

in your son's

holy name.

Amen.

Amen.