St. Columba Sunday 7-6-25 You may download the bulletin at: https://files.constantcontact.com/7225c46f101/ed64e86b-22f6-4b47-bbd1-950e32434142.pdf?rdr=true You may download the bulletin insert at: https://files.constantcontact.com/7225c46f101/f3939812-60b1-4a88-905c-74ebfde63e04.pdf Our secure on-line giving portal at: https://stjameshawaiiorg.givingfire.com In this weekend's Gospel reading from Luke, we hear Jesus say to his disciples, "I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals" (Luke 10:3–4). It's a striking image of what it means to follow Jesus—not in comfort or certainty, but with vulnerability and trust. The mission Jesus entrusts to them is not just to speak about God's kingdom but to live it—bringing peace, healing, and hope wherever they go. However, there's a line in this Gospel passage that has always felt a bit harsh to me. Jesus tells the disciples that if they're not welcomed in a town, they are to go out into the streets and declare, "Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you" (Luke 10:11). I wasn't at our Men's Bible Study this week because I was away visiting the grandkids and had the joy of baptizing our newest addition to the family. Thankfully, Bishop Gillies led the group in my absence, and he later shared a beautiful insight that emerged from their discussion. He wrote: The wisdom was shared that if one has a negative experience when going to someone's house (for example), you are to shake off the dust from your feet so that you don't take the negativity with you to the next place, nor do you pass it on to others... you have simply shaken it off. What a gracious and freeing way to view this challenging passage. So many of us, myself included, carry negative experiences that have become like lugging around an overstuffed suitcase—weighing us down with what we've endured or what hasn't gone as hoped. But Jesus' instructions to his disciples were clear: travel light. Bring peace. Receive what is offered with gratitude. Proclaim that God's kingdom has drawn near. It seems to me that this takes a continual, conscious effort to let certain things go. This invitation takes on special meaning during this Fourth of July weekend, as we give thanks for the gift of liberty and the beauty of our island home. We live in a world that is often hostile to the way of Christ. As citizens and people of faith, we are people of two worlds. Or as said by my Christian Ethics seminary professor Stanley Hauerwas and Duke University chaplain Will Willimon, we are resident aliens. As Christians, the Church is called to be a distinct, alternative community—a colony of heaven—living out the values of God's kingdom in a world that often runs counter to them. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom is not just freedom from, but freedom for—freedom to serve, to heal, to welcome, to build up the Body of Christ. As our former Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, stated, "Evangelism is not about making your church bigger, but about making the world better." Jesus did not go to the cross for a bigger church. He gave his life that we might have life and have it abundantly—to live not only without fear of what will happen to us after we die, but to know the "Kingdom of God" is within you. So as we gather this weekend—around the altar, on beach blankets, at family tables—may we know ourselves to be both welcomed and sent. And may we live as people of aloha: welcoming, transforming, and sharing God's love in a world that longs for it. God bless you for all the ways you help our parish be a colony of heaven—and for how you travel light, carrying God's peace rather than life's resentments. In Christ's aloha, David
