At the center of the Gospel of Luke we come to the heart of the faith and to the way of life shown and taught by Jesus. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. The story of the Good Samaritan, which we hear on Sunday, and the account of Mary and Martha, which we hear one week from Sunday, are complimentary passages. The first one makes a point about the neighbors the second about God.

Of course there is loving service in the world–principled and ethical action–without worship. There is worship without caring for those in need. The Christian faith holds these two together. As we renew our Christian faith, week after week, this is the pattern of our lives: loving God and loving neighbor. This pattern and ideal is rooted in the faith of our brothers and sisters in the synagogue, and is the same as the faith of our spiritual mothers and fathers through the Christian centuries.

The confirmation class meets after church for “weeding and reading” As we weed the sunflower garden and water the plants, we hear the words that clear the “weeds” from our spiritual hearts, and we let the ancient wisdom water our lives. We’ll also begin thinking about our fall field trip to Boston to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of Science