On September 9th, Inés Velasquez-McBryde led us in a reflection on Luke 10:25-37 — with new thoughts on the good Samaritan. Inéz first notes that the expert of the law puts Jesus, the teacher, to the test.

Jesus invites the expert into a dialogue. “What is written in the law?” And as the dialogue progresses, the expert asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor” — in an attempt to justify himself. He seems to understand the idea of loving God with all of his heart, mind, and soul — but does not understand the work of love toward his neighbor.

We often separate “social justice” from more “religious” ideas of holiness, but Jesus does not artificially separate these. He teaches us that the tree and the fruit are intimately tied together. A tree is known by its fruit, and it matters who we are and what we do.

But this is not a call to perfectionism. Rather, James tells us to develop habits of listening and reception, to encounter God, who plants good seeds, who tills the garden, nurtures the soil, and grows the tree, so that we might be doers of God’s peace and justice as people tilled by God the Gardener, illumined by Jesus the Sun.

On July 15th, Madeleine Cameron spoke to the PMC shared a sermon with PMC that she’d prepared during an internship in Fresno, where she’s preparing to take part in a community project following her graduation from Fresno Pacific University.

On July 8th, Tim Reardon referenced David Benner’s book Surrender to Love, asking our congregation, “Imagine God thinking about you — what do you think God feels when you come to mind?” Though we might have various responses, he went on to describe that we are created out of love by a God whose essence is love; that Love is the source and ground of our existence — an unending mystery that extends beyond and precedes time and space; that sustains us, holds us, and extends to the innermost parts of our being.

On July 1st, Tim Reardon talked about Luke 18:18-30 and Luke 19:1-10 — and the difference in how a rich ruler approached Jesus in comparison to the story of Zacchaeus. What did it mean to be a wealthy ruler in Jesus’ time? How did this differ from Zacchaeus, in spite of his wealth? Zacchaeus was “small in stature” — likely more a reference to his status than his height. What is the focus of each? How does Jesus receive each of them, and why? Who do we identify with?

On June 24th, Lisa Lockwood Thornton of PICO California (www.picocalifornia.org) talked about the lectionary passages — 1 Samuel 17:38-45 where Saul dresses David to enter battle with Goliath, Psalm 9:7-10 about God establishing justice in the the world, and 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 where through adversity Paul says they carried the weapons of righteousness — in light of her presence at a border action at the Otay Mesa Detention Center over the previous two days.

PMC Pastor Tim Reardon talks about our commitment as members of a lay-led church, our recent leadership planning and visioning day, and the need for us to take many roles to move our mission forward. We are the church, and we choose our direction together as a community in the jubilee economy of God.

On June 3rd, Melissa Hofstetter spoke to Mark 2:23-3:6, beginning with the connection of baptism to census and taxation at the time of the formation of the Mennonite faith, and a move to adult baptism as a sign of discipleship—just as Jesus was baptized as an adult. Pentecost is a season when believers celebrate their collective baptism in the Holy Spirit. For Jesus, this time would have been Shavuot, which marked the harvest festival 7 Sabbaths after Passover. Pentecost, the pouring out of the Spirit of Jesus, marks a harvest of his disciples, reaping the radical love that Jesus has sown in their hearts.