"Love from the Center"
Romans 12:1-9
Rev. Emily Labrecque, Westmoreland UCC
Sep 13, 2026
Have you ever been in a situation where you saw someone left out and had to decide whether or not to invite them in? Or maybe you saw a kid getting picked on at school or on the bus and you had to decide if you wanted to stand up for them?
In our scripture verses from Romans, Paul helps remind us what it means to follow in the way of Jesus by nurturing a love of God and love of neighbor. And what this scripture reminds us is that following Jesus isn’t always the popular thing to do. Sometimes it means we have to take a risk or stand up for a friend even when it isn’t easy.
We live in a world that is full of ... shall we say ... not goodness. Popularity contests, power grabbing, too much stuff, people and institutions focused on “looks” ... Every billboard, youtube Ad, reality show whispers to us: come, be like these other people.... Hey you, you’ll be happier if you make a lot of money ... psst – you just need this squishy or these shoes to be happy. And when we really think about it, none of that is actually true. These whispers call to us, encouraging us to be like everyone else so we don’t disrupt the status quo. When in fact, that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do. The first people who followed Jesus didn't care about being popular or doing what everyone else did – they did what was right, even when it was hard. And as Christians, that’s our responsibility too.
A really famous example of this is the story of Ruby Bridges, who was on my mind this week because her birthday was on Tuesday. As many of you know, Ruby Bridges was the first black child to attend a formerly white only school in Louisiana back when schools were segregated. But Ruby didnt make that choice alone. Her father was reluctant to send her because, although she was escorted by US Marshals, it was an unsafe and unpredictable time. But Ruby’s mom, Lucille, felt strongly that she needed to attend this school not only to give Ruby a better education, but to “take this step forward ... for all African-American children.”
As soon as Ruby entered the school, white parents pulled their kids out; teachers refused to teach. Only one teacher, Barbara Henry, agreed to teach Ruby. On the second day of school, a white student broke the boycott and entered the school because his father, a 34 year old white Methodist minister, walked his son through the angry, protesting hoards of people. A few days later, more white parents brought their kids to school. Still, Ruby remained the only child in her class until the following year.
Ruby’s incredibly brave actions were transformative. And “transformed individuals become the transformed community.”[1] When one person is brave enough to change, their courage helps other people change too. We need each other, we need each other to love from our center, from the core of who we are, so we can continue to transform and be transformed. And as Paul reminds us, we don’t do this alone. God walks alongside us and is indeed the very thing that helps transform us and others. Transformation is the result of God’s presence in our lives, but we can’t just sit around and wait for it to happen. It takes doing the loving thing even when everyone else is doing something different. It requires loving from the center of who we are. It takes standing up to do what is right because as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”
So what does it mean to love from our center? Our text from Romans lays out a few ways to do this: Stay hopeful – serve others with joy and pray during difficult times; be generous and inviting – give more than you think you “should” and welcome others into your life; be friends with the kid sitting alone on the playground or reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in a while; celebrate when others celebrate, and share in their sadness too; let go of revenge – it never did anyone any good. And lastly, “Love from the center of who you are.” Because, as Fr. Greg Boyle writes, “Everyone is unshakeably good (no exceptions).” At our core we are full of love and goodness. And we are all worthy of receiving that love and goodness. And we are invited by God to share that love and goodness with others.
There’s a statue of Ruby Bridges outside the elementary school she first walked into in 1960. When asked what she hoped children would feel when seeing the statue she responded, “I think kids will look at it and think to themselves, ‘I can do something great too.’ Kids can do anything ... Hopefully that will remind them that they can change the world.”[2]
Transformation can happen anywhere – on the playground, at lunch, at home, at school. It happens whenever we open our hearts and ask God to help us love like Jesus did.
Love from the center of who you are. And you will be transformed by the love of God and transform the world in the process. May it be so.
Amen.
