Driven and Tossed | Tuesday of Holy Week | "Anchored"

 We get swayed in our relationships, our work, our faith — quietly, gently, like a boat we didn't notice had moved. Father Aaron brings the sermon's challenge into the specific places we drift. From St. John's Fort Smith. 

Transcript

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Good morning, this is Northwood. You don't have to be in a crowd to be swayed. It happens quietly, in the decisions nobody else sees. Good morning. This is Northward, the word the North Your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. I'm your host, Father Aaron. On Sunday I told the church about a friend of mine who had been going through a difficult legal battle. He was surrounded by advice. Lawyers, relatives, strangers. Everyone had an opinion. The noise was constant. But what he needed wasn't more voices. What he needed was devotion. What he needed was the calm, clear, unwavering work of God in his life. He did not need emotion. What he needed was devotion. Most of us, we know that feeling. Maybe not a legal battle, but the moment when everyone has an opinion. The noise is loud, and you can feel yourself being pulled in six different directions. And somewhere in the middle of it, the voice you most need to hear gets crowded out. That's Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus is in Jerusalem. The tension is building. The religious leaders are circling. The disciples are anxious. The city is watching, and in the middle of all that noise, Jesus keeps doing the same thing: teaching, healing, pointing towards the Father, anchored. We get swayed in our relationships, reacting to how someone makes us feel instead of responding from who we're trying to be. We get swayed at work, going quiet when it would cost something to speak. We get swayed in our faith, staying silent about what we believe, or slowly reshaping what we believe, because the current is strong and drifting is easier. James said it plainly. That's not a rebuke, it's a diagnosis. And the prescription isn't more willpower. It's anchoring. It's the steady, repeated practice of coming back to the real Jesus. Not the one we've constructed, but the one who is walking toward Friday no matter what. Where in your life right now are you being swayed? Not dramatically, just gently, like a boat you didn't notice had moved. This has been Northword The Word, the North, Your Week, a daily podcast from St. John's Fort Smith in collaboration with the Anglican family. Follow us, share this episode, and reach out through the text us link in the description. We'd love to hear where you're listening to this podcast from. And until tomorrow, God be with you. In the name of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.