Fields United Methodist Church

Side by Side with Jesus.                                                      Pastor Tom Joyce

January 18, 2021

“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.”  Galatians 5:22-23

We search for answers in a world that is increasingly hard to understand, yet the answer is clear, unambiguous, and simple; Jesus. While taking some Sabbath time away, we watched an old movie “City Slickers,” where one of the lead characters, Curley, said the answer to life was “one thing.” Now he never articulated what the one thing was but as the characters in the movie worked together, they lived out the one thing that was most important. Enter 2021, a year so far with many challenges but at the same time opportunities and adventures, if the eyes of our hearts are opened. When Jesus walked amidst hatred, prejudice, and abject judgment of others, rather than acquiesce to the same attitude he contrasted the world around him with loving neighbor as they were never loved before, and loving God with all his mind, heart, soul, and strength. Lives were transformed and a new era became a reality that is eternal. What Jesus offers to you and me is a new way of seeing the world around us, with the realization that there is goodness in the world, focusing more on what is right and not what we believe to be wrong. The “one thing” is Jesus and that one thing is living a lifestyle that shares the grace of Jesus the Christ with the world. It is a lifestyle that does not deny evil in the world yet is not “overcome by evil, but overcome[s] evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) Maybe Jesus is telling us to take the time truly celebrate those outside our “bubble,” trying to understand those we do not understand, focusing on witnessing a lifestyle of grace, “joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” If ever we need Jesus, the “one thing,” it is now.  

Rev. Tom Joyce