A Safety that Lasts

In this week’s Faith at Work sermon, Pastor Harry Jarrett reflects on John 14 and Acts 7 to ask one of the questions many of us carry quietly into worship: Am I going to be okay?

Jesus does not answer that question by promising that nothing painful will happen. Stephen’s story makes that clear. As the stones are coming toward him, Stephen is not temporally safe. Yet he sees heaven opened, sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and finds a kind of freedom that even violence cannot touch.

This episode explores the difference between temporal safety and timeless safety. Temporal safety is what we usually mean when we pray for protection: keep danger away, keep illness away, keep conflict away, keep the people we love safe. Those are honest prayers. But the gospel offers something deeper than temporary protection. It offers the abiding presence of Christ at every waypoint in the journey.

Drawing on John 14, Acts 7, Richard Rohr’s contemplative wisdom, and the prayer traditionally known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate, Pastor Harry invites us to trust that God’s safety is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of the One who has gone through suffering, death, and resurrection and remains with us still.

Listen, subscribe, and join the conversation. Like, share, and comment wherever you listen. You can also follow along at Pastor Harry’s Substack, learn more about Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren at pleasantvalleyalive.org, and find online discussion and study guides at discipleship.pleasantvalleyalive.org.