Reflections from the July 5, 2026 sermon.

Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30

What If Our Greatest Creation Is Still Ahead?

Sometimes the better way forward does not make sense at first.

A familiar route suddenly slows to a crawl. Traffic turns from red to dark red. The way ahead is blocked, and the road we are on no longer seems to be getting us where we need to go. Then the map suggests another way — one that feels longer, less obvious, maybe even wrong. But once we take the exit, the road opens.

As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, we may find ourselves in a similar place. There is much to celebrate: blessings, freedoms, opportunities, and gifts we should not take for granted. There is also much to confess: harm done to immigrants, racism, sexism, fear, division, and the ways faith itself can be misused in the pursuit of power.

The road ahead can feel dark red on the map. We are siloed. We are angry. Many are weary. Many are afraid. Many are carrying heavy burdens.

Into that weariness, Jesus speaks: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

This rest is not escape. It is not a vacation from the world’s pain. It is an invitation to take a different road — to take on the yoke of Jesus, a way of seeing, living, and loving that is rooted in the mercy of God.

Jesus’ way is love and mercy. Nothing else. Only love. Only mercy.

That kind of love is not sentimental. It is not selective. It does not stop with people who are easy to love, people who agree with us, or people who are like us. It asks us to see one another through God’s eyes: as wounded, beloved, and unshakably good. It asks us to let go of the illusion that there is an “us” and a “them.”

Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, has spent decades walking alongside former gang members. His witness is simple and demanding: no one is outside the reach of goodness, and we belong to one another. That kind of love does not shake its fist at the world. It rolls up its sleeves and points the way.

What if Christians chose that road?

What if our witness in this moment was not more outrage, more fear, more judgment, or more line-drawing? What if we became people who make space for others to be heard, cherished, and healed?

In the past 250 years, human beings have developed democracies, walked on the moon, harnessed the atom, cured diseases, and created artificial intelligence.

Perhaps our greatest creation is still ahead:



A society rooted in love.