It’s You I Like

Our first week of The Gospel of Mr. Rogers was fantastic!  We engaged with each other as neighbors and siblings in Christ in worship and in service to the community.  Well done!  I’m still getting pictures and reports from folks who participated at church and at OSCAR.

So -the Gospel of Mr. Rogers.  Many of us grew up watching him every afternoon, engaging each of us in the life of his neighborhood as well as the Land of Make Believe (on of my favorites).  2018 is the 50th anniversary of the start of the show. The grace filled messages we witnessed were designed to help us grow in understanding who we are and who are neighbors and helpers are.

This week, our theme is “It’s You I Like” There is not a model for how a faithful person should be physically. We learn throughout the bible that one should love God and love one another with all their heart, soul, and mind.  Unfortunately, as humans, we tend to avoid folks that don’t look like, sound like, smell like, or act like we do.  It’s apparent in the -isms we suffer from – and the divisions within our own neighborhoods.  Jesus told the Pharisees that it’s not things on the outside that make us different – but what comes from within.  Mr. Rogers encounters a young boy who has physical limitations – and has a hard time getting to know other people.  Mr. Rogers also sings a song, more than once in the show’s run, called “It’s You I Like”  The first tells us:

It’s you I like,
It’s not the things you wear,
It’s not the way you do your hair
But it’s you I like
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you

Each of us is bombarded with advertisements and opinions and prejudices all day long that can make us feel less than the wonderful creation of God, the one in whom God delights (that’s alot of folks).  As neighbors and siblings, we are called to see the image of God in the others – even if we don’t understand their unique qualities.

This is a message that we all need, right now.  Please join us as we discover how to accept ourselves as beloved and liked just as we are.

Beloved, know that whoever you are and wherever you find yourselves in your faith journey, that you are welcome and invited into our community.

Blessed by the Spirit,

Pastor Tina +