This week’s sermon began with a question most of us have asked—or answered—countless times: “What do you do?” It’s such a common question that we rarely notice how easily our identity can become tied to our productivity.
Looking at the quiet life of Isaac, we considered another way of seeing. Isaac wasn’t remembered because he achieved great things. He remained part of God’s promise because he belonged to God. As I said during the message, “The promise precedes the performance.”
That truth reaches farther than we might imagine. It changes how we see people whose lives don’t fit the world’s definitions of success. It changes how we think about aging, dependence, disability, and even how we speak about ourselves. Perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that every person we meet is already someone God loves.
Instead of asking only, “What do you do?” perhaps we might learn to ask a deeper question: “Whose are you?”
I hope you’ll take a few moments to listen, read, and reflect.
We’d love to see you in person at Lincoln Park-Lynnwood United Methodist Church, 3120 Pershing Street, Knoxville, TN. Come as you are. We’re not in the judging business. We’re in the welcoming business.
