Rev Robert Moses

Lessons, Proper 19A: Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103:1-13; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 "John Chrysostom", mosaic, Hagia Sofia, Istanbul, 10th cent. (Public Domain) In the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom—whom the church remembers this week—served as Archbishop of Constantinople. His preaching was fearless, his pastoral care tender, and his commitment to the gospel unwavering. But Chrysostom’s life was anything but peaceful. His reforms angered the powerful; his honesty unsettled the...

To “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” is to clothe ourselves in his pattern of self-giving—his patience, his mercy, his courage, his willingness to cross boundaries for the sake of healing. Paul’s admonition and Jesus’ instruction are not relics of the ancient world. They speak directly into our contemporary lives—lives marked by polarization, hurried communication, and relationships stretched thin by stress and misunderstanding.

Paul’s admonition in Romans 12—“Let love be genuine”—echoes Jesus' call to "follow him" with pastoral precision. Paul describes a love that clings to what is good, that honors others, that perseveres in suffering, that blesses even those who wound us. This is cross‑shaped love. It is the love Jesus embodies as he walks toward Jerusalem, refusing to abandon the world even when the world abandons him.