Holy Hospitality

Transcript

Well, good morning, Trinity Church. It is a true joy to be with you, to sing the praises of our Savior with you, and to confess sin and to revel in the pardon that is ours through the work of Jesus Christ with you. Especially thank you, Andy, for how you explained confession. Very helpful. There are many new faces here this morning. Some were here this past Sunday, but there are even more that I don’t recognize. My name is Samuel Nagel. I have the privilege of serving as one of the staff pastors to the members that make up Trinity Church of Portland. And this morning, we are going to be preaching through John chapter 6, verses 1 through 15. I’m going to read the passage, I will then pray, and we will see how this text points to Jesus as the Son of God and how this changes the way we live.

So again, our text this morning is John chapter 6, verses 1 through 15. There are Bibles if you need them underneath the seat in front of you. You can find our text this morning at the very end of page 837. Go ahead and remain seated, I’ll read the text, and then we’ll pray and get started. John 6, 1 through 15.

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so

— John 6

(ESV)

that these people may eat?

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? Jesus said, have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves

left by those who had eaten.

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself

— John 6

(ESV)

. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Would you please pray with me? O great God, our Father and our Creator, our Savior and our Redeemer, I pray for the preaching of your word this morning. May you be glorified and faithfully proclaimed. May my words be true. We know your words are truth, Lord. May these words this morning be true. But may they also be seasoned with love and care and sincerity. May your spirit open up the hearts of all those here this morning. Illuminate the text, I pray.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who has provided far more abundantly than we could ask, amen. Well, Trinity Church, we’ve been preaching through the gospel of John for the past three months. So this morning, here on week 12, we find ourselves starting the sixth chapter of John. So we’re on track to conclude preaching through John’s gospel in April or so of next year. And as we’ve been working through John, we have been looking at the magnificent, beautiful person of Jesus Christ. We have seen that Jesus is the very Son of God while also being fully man. And we have been noting that all of the signs or miracles throughout John’s gospel have been recorded for us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing this, we may have life in his name. Now last week, we heard from Sean as he faithfully preached from the end of John chapter five.

We looked at how Jesus gives life because he is life. And in doing so, we heard of how Jesus submitted himself to the authority of the Father while simultaneously possessing authority. And this morning, we are going to see Jesus further exercise his authority as we examine the fourth sign or miracle of Jesus recorded in the gospel of John, the feeding of the 5,000. Now, John chapter six has been called the grand central station of Johannine critical issues, meaning every doctrinal issue, every thematic issue, every theological issue throughout all of John finds its intersection in a truncated fashion in John chapter six. This morning, we are just looking at the first 15 verses. Now other than the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this miracle that we are about to take a look at as recorded

by John. Now we certainly can pull in some helpful additional details and information by cross-referencing what the other gospel writers have to say about this event. However, for our purposes this morning, we are more concerned with what John has to say about the feeding of the crowd. And as we look at the text, we will see our Lord and Savior demonstrate a perfect holy hospitality as he sees our needs and is able to provide for us abundantly even when we are unaware of our own needs. This morning’s sermon is titled Holy Hospitality. And as we look at the text, we’ll break it up into the following three sections. In verses 1 through 4, we will see the where of hospitality. In verses 5 through 9, we will see the why of hospitality. And in verses 10 through 15, we will see the who of hospitality.

And then at the end, I’ll spend some more time applying this passage to us and to our lives. Now before we begin, I recognize that I’ve just introduced and used a word quite a few times that we don’t find in the text, and that word is hospitality. And as we progress this morning, especially as it pertains to the application of this text to our lives, I will make the claim that there is a biblical form of hospitality and that inversely there’s something that we have mistakenly identified and accepted as hospitality that is something different than biblical hospitality. But rather than identify and define those two opposing forms now, instead I’m going to let the text do that as we continue and then touch on it some more at the end with application. So now we begin with section 1, the where of hospitality, in verses 1 through 4, which I’ll read again.

The Where of Hospitality

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was at hand. This section sets the context and the scene for the unfolding sign from Jesus that we are about to read of. Here we find Jesus traveling to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Alternatively, we read John refer to this as the Sea of Tiberias. This is simply because this particular sea was traditionally or more widely known as the Sea of Galilee. However, around A.D. 20, its name was changed to the Sea of Tiberias in honor of the Emperor Tiberius. We could probably think of it somewhat similar to the Gulf of Mexico versus the Gulf of America.

Regardless, it’s the same sea, and the geographical setting for this unfolding miracle is established. Now as Jesus is headed to the other side of this sea, we read that a large crowd is following him. And the reason they are following him is clearly communicated, because they were seeing the signs that he had been performing. This is a fickle crowd, much like Thomas described present in the healing of the official’s son in John chapter 4, verse 45. Now here in our text this morning, we once again see a fickle crowd. At this point, interest in Jesus has been well established. He’s in the middle of his public ministry, and word of what this carpenter’s son has been doing and claiming is spreading. So curious, self-serving people have begun to amass and follow Jesus around. This crowd was only following Jesus in hopes of seeing a performance of sorts.

They weren’t true seekers. In a few short verses at the end of this chapter, where Jesus claims to be the bread of life and declares eternal life to be found in himself, just shortly after this claim in John 6, 66, we will read that many of his disciples, not the twelve, but still those that were following him, actually turned back and no longer walked with him. Again, this is a fickle crowd. They wanted to see the signs and wonders performed by Jesus, but this was done without faith and without honor for Jesus. They wanted to see the works of Jesus, all the while rejecting the words of Jesus. The crowd isn’t there necessarily for a free lunch, as they’re about to receive, but neither are they present to submit themselves under the authority of Jesus. But they are there to try to reap some sort of benefit in their own physical lives, stemming

from the miracles of Jesus. However, they don’t want Jesus to have any part or say in their spiritual lives. And Trinity Church, even in this, we have a healthy, sober reminder to examine ourselves to see whether we really are in the faith, whether we really are following Jesus and pursuing Jesus out of love for him and faith in him, or if we’re doing it for self-serving reasons. This is one of the beauties and blessings of church membership. We need other Christians to call us to repentance and to exhort and to encourage us and to even affirm our profession of faith. The Christian life is a life united to the body of Christ, but that body of Christ displays itself through local assemblies of Christians. We need other Christians in our lives. Now continuing, as Jesus is being followed by this crowd of thrill seekers, he sits down

to the mount… he sits down on the mountain with his disciples, and we are told that the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Now we know that the Passover celebrated the past event of the Exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites were under Egyptian slavery. We read all about that in Exodus chapter 12. The historical Passover connects to the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn in Egypt. The Israelites were instructed to prepare a lamb as a sacrifice for each family and then apply the blood of the lamb to the doorpost, thereby securing the safety of the firstborn of each household. But moving forward to where this crowd was present, the Passover also laid the foundation of hope for a present deliverance and for a present deliverer. So it was a time marked by religious and societal fervor, excitement, and zeal.

The Why of Hospitality

This will tie into verse 15, where the people tried to forcefully make Jesus the king of the Jews. Furthermore, the fact that it was the time of the Passover will come into play more prominently in a few weeks as we hear Jesus proclaim that it’s his flesh and his blood that all must eat and drink of to not perish in sin, not the flesh of a sacrificial animal. Now with the fickle crowd present on a mountain during the time of Passover, the where of Jesus’ soon-coming display of hospitality has been established and we move on to the second section, the why of hospitality, in verses 5 through 9. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? Here in verse 5, we read an incredible phrase that beautifully demonstrates the compassion and love that Jesus has for humanity. And it’s this phrase, lifting up his eyes. Jesus, lifting up his eyes, sees the crowd and recognizes their need for food as he says to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? Within the text, the lifting of the eyes described by John puts the emphasis on the initiation of the action from Jesus. And this isn’t the first time that we see this phrase in John. Just a couple pages back in John chapter 4, which Andre preached from a couple weeks ago,

we see this phrase as Jesus speaks with his disciples following his interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. With the woman at the well, Jesus demonstrates his immeasurable grace. And after her life is so transformed by the grace of God that she cannot help but run back into the town where she had previously hid from her fellow countrymen out of her abundance of shame, she now proclaims to them that she has found the Christ. And as the Samaritan woman is doing this, Jesus, in John 435, instructs his own disciples to lift up their eyes for the fields are white for harvest. Jesus conveys to his disciples that they are to open their eyes and see the readiness and willingness of those around them to receive the good news of the Christ having arrived. And it’s now here in our text that Jesus proceeds to do that very thing himself.

In verse 5, Jesus lifts his eyes and sees the crowd. And in doing so, he sees a crowd that needs to know who Jesus is, the very son of God clothed in human flesh. And as he sees them, he demonstrates a care for them as he identifies their need. But it’s not just a need for food. It is that. It’s not less than their need for food, but it’s more than just that as well. In fact, in Mark 6, 34, we read that Jesus had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. It doesn’t matter to Jesus that this is a fickle crowd motivated by insincere, self-serving things. This doesn’t shock or offend Jesus. This is the very son of God described in John chapter 2 as knowing what was in the heart of man. Their fickleness doesn’t exclude the crowd from receiving mercy and kindness, as we will

soon see. This is the very Lord that declares in Exodus 33, 19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Additionally, lest we mistakenly infer that Jesus is employing some spiritual form of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, wherein the crowd will never be able to accept him in faith for who he is until their most foundational physical needs, such as food, are met, it is helpful to see how Matthew and Mark describe the event. And in Matthew and Mark’s telling of the miracle, it’s because of the compassion that Jesus has for the crowd that he is compelled to spend the day teaching them many things before he ultimately provides food for the crowd. John excludes that fact, but it’s helpful to note for our understanding this morning. This isn’t some holy form of the trite expression, people will never care how much you know until

they know how much you care. Jesus isn’t using food to meet the hunger needs of the crowd to then manipulatively declare to them the truth of he is like some holy bait and switch. No, Jesus is very much concerned with proclaiming truth through teaching. Jesus recognizes that the crowd’s immediate need for food driven by hunger is not their ultimate need for the bread of life driven by their sin. But he is still willing to meet their need for food. In the previous miracles that we have seen throughout John’s gospel, Jesus never performs a miracle for the sake of the miracle. Rather, every sign or miracle enacted and accomplished by Jesus serves as a revelation of a person. The miracle itself is not the point, but identifying Jesus as the son of God is the point. And for those of us who are Christians here this morning, prior to Jesus, we were the

same as the fickle crowd looking for something to call true, all the while completely unaware of our deficiencies and need for a savior. Before the truth of Jesus was so graciously revealed to us, we were the same as the fickle crowd, unaware of the fact that our greatest need is for our sin to be dealt with and to receive the bread of life that only Jesus offers. After all, according to Ephesians chapter 2, we were all once dead in our trespasses. Dead people don’t know that they need life. And this crowd didn’t know that they need the holy hospitality of eternal life offered to them by Jesus, who is the bread of life. Now continuing, as we look at verse 6, John sees fit to tell us that despite asking Philip where they were to buy bread for the crowd to eat, Jesus actually knew what he was going

to do and was only asking this to test Philip. And it goes without saying that in his omniscience, the Lord always knows what is going to happen next and what he is going to do. And specifically within the context of John and within the context of this passage, we know from the preaching last week what Jesus is going to do. According to John 5, 36, it’s the works that the Father has given him to accomplish that Jesus is concerned with doing. And that’s what we see unfolding here. And Philip responds in such a way that highlights his complete misunderstanding of the situation. Despite this total miss of a response from Philip, Jesus withholds any rebuke with words. Rather, in just a moment, he will reveal the answer to the question with his hands. In verses 8 and 9, we see a response from Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, that further

reinforces the failure of the disciples to truly know and understand Jesus, his heart for people, and what he may do. The beginning of Andrew’s response seems innocent enough if he would have left it at that. He points out that there’s a young boy who has five barley loaves of bread and two fish. He then goes on to highlight his complete lack of faith and understanding as he adds, but what are these for so many? The disciples were only able to think in terms of the natural world, failing to recognize that the teacher they were following was the very one through whom the natural world was created. This section of the text, the why of hospitality, concludes with Jesus having identified the need of the crowd. The issue of the crowd’s hunger is laid at Jesus’ feet, much like the issue of no more wine was laid at his feet at the wedding in Cana in John chapter 2, and Jesus’ disciples

The Who of Hospitality

have been bold enough or naive enough to offer a mild rebuke to Jesus regarding the lack of ability to adequately provide for the hunger needs of the crowd. So we’ll now turn to section 3 in verses 10 through 15 where we see the who of hospitality. Jesus said, have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet

who has come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Now seemingly more quickly than the problem is presented, the solution is seen and the conflict ceases. Here in verses 10 and 11, Jesus moves toward a resolution with one small directive to his disciples, have the people sit down. And following that directive, Jesus then gives thanks for the food, and we are told that he, that is Jesus, is attributed responsibility for having distributed the food to the masses. The act of distributing, therefore the responsibility of it, is attributed in the text to Jesus. Most likely Jesus distributes to his disciples, who then disperse the food amongst the crowd. But the disciples bear no responsibility for the miracle that is done here. They simply receive from Jesus what he created and distributed.

Now earlier, Philip expressed that roughly eight months of wages would not be enough for the crowd to get a little. But Jesus provided so abundantly that the crowd ate as much as they wanted and to the point that they had eaten their fill. This wasn’t just a satisfactory meal, no, this was a lavish banquet that was entirely fulfilling. So much so that there’s even extra leftover, which Jesus instructed the disciples to gather so that they would not be wasted. And we can theorize as to why there are 12 baskets full of leftovers, and many faithful Christians have different ideas as to why this is the case. But at the end of this chapter of John, in John 6, 67, we will soon hear the disciples of Jesus be referred to for the first time as the 12. So presuming that these 12 were present on the mountainside at the feeding of the 5,000,

at the very least, each of them would have been able to hold in their hands a visible, tangible expression of the ability of Jesus to provide abundantly. And as this passage concludes in verses 14 and 15, the crowd seeing this incredible sign, the miracle, combined with the religious social fervor due to it being the time of the Passover, understand that Jesus must indeed be the prophet that they have been waiting for. Now while the crowd got it right that Jesus is indeed a mighty Redeemer that has finally come after centuries of waiting, the concluding comments from John in this passage highlight that their response to that was wrong. You see, the crowd most likely wanted to seize Jesus and forcibly take Him to Jerusalem where He could be formally recognized at Passover as the King of the Jews, but not the suffering servant King that Jesus is revealed to be later in this gospel and throughout all of

Scripture. No, they wanted a warrior King that would lead Israel to political dominance and victory over the world, or at least over Rome, the world at that time. For the Jews at that time, their version of the hospitality of God involved God fulfilling their own human plans and desires. But Jesus, as a better host, demonstrated even greater hospitality through following the will of the Father who sent Him, rather than the will of sinful man. Trinity Church, what this miracle forces us to answer for ourselves is the very question posed to Philip by Jesus, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? Trinity Church, do you believe that Jesus is the prophet King sent by the Father as the greater hospitality for the world, providing even more than we can imagine or desire or even know that we are in need of?

Living Out Biblical Hospitality

Is Jesus able to provide all we need, or do we need to look elsewhere? Well, it’s not just in our passage this morning that we see Jesus demonstrate a perfect, holy hospitality as He sees our need and is able to provide for us abundantly, even when we are unaware of our own needs. All throughout Scripture, Jesus repeatedly shows Himself to be a superior host. He does this in His first miracle at the wedding at Cana. There He provides abundantly as He turns water into wine, and not just any wine, but good wine. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus is a superior host, offering better hospitality. And with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4, Jesus shows Himself to be a better host as He offers her living water. And soon in John, we will see the hospitality of Jesus in chapter 13, as Jesus washes His

disciples’ feet. And in John chapter 14, as He tells His followers that there are many rooms in His Father’s house that He is preparing for His followers. We even see the Lord provide in unexpected ways abundantly more than is needed in the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter 22, Abraham and his son Isaac go up to a mountainside where Abraham obediently expects to sacrifice his own son. And instead, the Lord provides a ram to be sacrificed. And Abraham’s family remembered that story and would say, on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. God always provides more than His people need or deserve. We see this most prominently as God provides the final, ultimate sacrifice, as He sends His very Son to a mountain to die in our place for our sins. And in response to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, we are invited to be the recipients

of God’s grace-filled hospitality found in Jesus Christ. We are invited to embrace Jesus in faith, Jesus the bread of life who takes away the sins of the world. But it’s not just eternity with our Savior in His Father’s house with many rooms that we are invited to step into. Remember that each of the 12 disciples were left with a basket of food pointing to the abundant provision of Jesus? Well, it also served as a reminder of the work of hospitality that every follower of Jesus is called to on behalf of Jesus. The Christian life doesn’t end with receiving the hospitality of God. In many ways, that’s just the beginning of the Christian life and the Christian ministry that we are all subsequently called to. As Christians, we serve as the hands and the feet of Jesus to a lost and dying world filled with people unaware of their need for Jesus and unaware of the ways in which Jesus has

so graciously provided with abundance. Christian ministry is demonstrating and inviting others to experience the same hospitality of God that we have all already received. Trinity Church, after seeing in our text this morning the where, the what, and the who of hospitality from Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 as well as the superior hospitality of the Lord all throughout Scripture, I want to end this morning by asking, what does godly biblical hospitality look like for us today? And I don’t mean the nuts and bolts of hospitality. A worthwhile class someday might be talking through how we create a warm, welcoming environment for people to be loved and feel cared for, but I mean more along the lines of what are we serving to others or what should we be serving to others as we demonstrate biblical hospitality? And I must say that in preparing for this sermon, I found myself burdened with the ways

in which I fall so woefully short in this area. In fact, this compelled me to talk with Rachel, my wife, last week about ways in which we can more faithfully demonstrate biblical hospitality to others. So please hear me as I apply this for us. I am speaking just as much to myself and to my family as I am to you, dear family. But I fear we have mistaken entertaining others with practicing hospitality for others. Charcuterie boards and cookbook clubs, saunas and cold plunges, bike riding and breweries, play dates and cultural performances, these are all good things or have the potential to be good things. But gathering together around shared interests and similarities to participate in these activities is not necessarily hospitality. And this is why Christian hospitality can be confusing and difficult at times. Often, not always, but often, in practicing Christian hospitality, we utilize and leverage

the same resources and possessions that we would when hosting or entertaining. That is, inviting others into our homes, sitting down at our table with them over a meal, going out somewhere for coffee. These are all resources or activities that can be used for the purpose of showing hospitality, but they aren’t necessarily hospitality. But again, since these are the same resources that are used, it’s somewhat understandable that we could mistake hosting or entertaining with practicing hospitality. The differentiating factor often comes down to the motivation or the heart behind what we are doing. Entertaining seeks to impress and often involves performance. Hospitality is intentional and seeks to serve and care for the deeper needs of others. Hospitality seeks to care for the deeper needs of others. All Christians are called to demonstrate hospitality. We saw that in our one another passage earlier this morning. It should be an ordinary part of our lives, certainly challenging at times, but ordinary.

Charles Spurgeon, when referencing our passage this morning, says, Jesus gives that we may give away. If you have received the truth from Christ, tell it out. In the Trinity Church, just as the disciples could only give away what they had already been given, so too can we only tell of what we have already received. And so in that way, Christian hospitality looks like sharing Jesus’ words of life that we have already received, proclaiming to others the reconciliation to our Creator that we find in Jesus. Hospitality creates space and an environment to share the words of life that we have received from Jesus, the ways that we have so lavishly been provided for through Jesus. Christian hospitality looks like preaching the gospel to those who don’t know Jesus. It looks like the everyday work that we find for all Christians in Ephesians that is speaking the truth in love to one another.

Christian hospitality looks like meeting people where they are, like the crowd was met by Jesus and telling of the great hospitality that we find in Jesus. The disciples could only distribute to the crowd what Jesus had already created and provided for them to distribute. We too can only offer Jesus’ words of life which he has graciously revealed and provided to us. And any fruit from that is not the result of our work and our labor. No, any fruit or success or result or whatever you want to call it from that work is solely due to the kindness and graciousness and blessing from the Lord. But Christian hospitality is concerned with the deeper needs of others. Now I’m not going to name names this morning, but there is something that I am so encouraged by when I witness it here in this room most Sunday mornings.

There’s a member of our church who apart from Christ has nothing in common with several other members of our church body. But almost every Sunday I see those exact members that I’m referencing gathering together before and after the service, engaged in meaningful, serious conversation with each other. Why? Why would they do that? It’s because they have all received the same hospitality from God, having been welcomed by him into his body, and they are able to then practice that same Christ-like hospitality with each other. All of us who are Christians have been recipients of God’s incredible, gracious hospitality. He loved us when we were still enemies of him due to our sin. And all of us who are Christians, out of love for God and even as an act of obedience and worship to our great God, are called to demonstrate and proclaim the Lord’s incredible, grace-filled

hospitality to those around us. And as we do, we do so empowered by the Holy Spirit. And as that is done, it is only accomplished through the work of the Lord, and he receives the glory for it. I can’t help but think of this ministry of hospitality within the context of Ephesians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, amen. Let’s pray together. Father God, we rejoice in the provision of life and eternal life that we have through Jesus, which is reconciliation with you, our creator. May we never cease to be amazed at the ways in which you so lavishly provide for us.

I pray that you would equip us all through your spirit, through the preaching of your word and through the ministry of those around us to glorify you well as your hands and your feet to a lost and dying world, unaware of their need. May we be quick to proclaim to others that our greatest needs are satisfied in Jesus Christ. May we be a church known for demonstrating grace-filled hospitality. I pray that we would not be content with church as a social club or a place filled with similar people participating in shared interests. Help us to love you well, Father, and may love for others flow from the love with which you first loved us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.