SERMONS
Waiting for Figs
Our gospel today provides rich imagery for the happenings in the world; When I look around, I do see nations distressed and confused; seas roaring, and rising; folx scared of what is coming upon the world; sometimes it really does feel like heaven itself is shaking. What does that mean? The text suggests that these are signs that Jesus is coming, to redeem us, to bring about the reign of God.
Beyond Coping
Why does it seem so much harder these days to cope with the problems in our country and world? Throughout history there have always been hard times. What’s different, some say, is the screen in front of our face. All day long. Getting constant updates. One commentator said we should read or watch the news once a day, and then turn it off. Get on with your day. Do you work. Love your family. Say your prayers.
Today’s apocalyptic readings reveal that humanity continues to face daunting times. Empires rise and fall. There are wars and earthquakes. Fear and unrest. It’s part of life, then and now. The question is: how do we cope?
Storing Up Reserves
Even before Election Day, I was spent and exhausted. Like many of you, carrying worry and stress. Hearing hateful, divisive speech that you think can’t ratchet any higher. Or lower. Sexism and racism and transphobia and xenophobia.
I woke up Wednesday depleted. Dispirited. Dejected. Quite emotional, I preached at the seminary that morning, not feeling in my midsection much good news to proclaim.
Speaking Truth to Power
When times of hopelessness arise, just like the summer when George Floyd was murdered, or the week when the genocide in Palestine became a prominent news story, I turn to my mentors, my elders, and my ancestors in search of practical wisdom. I turn to God and my community, to express my rage and anger in prayer. To be held in love, and to find a way to cope.
Seasons of Grief
For there is a helplessness in grief. The grief over the death of thousands of children in Gaza. Wars that have no end in sight. A political landscape here and around the world that weighs us down.
We will all grieve in our own way. Again, refrain from telling someone to move on with their lives, or to get over their grief. It asks a lot of us to simply be with someone. Not trying to give answers. Not needing to offer a pithy saying or bible verse. Being with what is. That is holy.
Look Again
We get acclimated to great jobs—or relationships—or works of art—or churches. And we stop seeing them anymore. It’s called habituation. Our brains focus on the new and the unexpected. So we stop noticing what was always there. When we leave our normal surroundings or predictable routines, and then come back, we see with new eyes.
Theology of the Cross
Glory…now that’s a word we don’t use very often, right? I mean we use it in church a lot–to sing hymns or say prayers or talk about God. But in daily life? It's hard to think of a single example of a way that I would use that word. Instead the word glory has been replaced by terms like success, fame, prestige, or distinction.
Don't Do It All, Baby
At the very start of this year, I learned some new things about myself. I was faced with decisions about where to give of my time and energy, and in my excitement to begin ministry, I felt like I needed to say yes to every opportunity I found to live into my call! But I realized that I was spreading myself too thin. All of a sudden what had been excitement about my call became a desire to prove myself worthy of my call.
What's in a name?
Names matter. In one of the two creation stories in Genesis, God does not want Adam to be alone. The animals are brought to Adam and he gives names to every living creature! A kind of companionship, but not quite enough. English translations miss a fascinating detail. This first human creature of the dust wasn’t necessarily gendered. Was ha-adam both genders, neither gender, gender fluid?
One Humanity, One Earth
This reading tells us that we were created as one humanity, from one earth. That not only are we one humanity, but every animal, bird, fish, bug, reptile, and mammal - is our sibling of Earth and Spirit. They were all created to be in community with us. They are meant to be our companions - not to be brutalized and captured, but to be loved and cared for. This scripture names that it is a human need to be part of the whole community of creation! It is not good for humans to be alone - so God created animals and new people and a way to create more people - so that we could all be here together.
Calling All Angels
It was minutes before the recent debate and an online meeting was ending. One of the participants said, I’m calling all angels, all the spirits, all the ancestors. She had high hopes for her candidate. And she asked if I knew the song by k.d. lang about calling all angels. I didn’t. But it’s perfect for today.
How many times, oh, before it's too late?
Calling all angels
Walk me through this world
Don't leave me alone
Calling all angels
We're tryin'
We're hopin'
But we're not sure how.
Greatness in the Eyes of God
How often do we let our fear and our desire to be right get in the way of truly listening to others? How often do we demonize those with whom we disagree, instead of taking the time to understand their perspective? When we are caught in this cycle of needing to be right or superior, we are trapped by our egos.
But Jesus calls us to something different. He calls us to humble ourselves, to set aside our egos, and to approach one another with the openness and curiosity of a child. The path to greatness requires humility. It requires us to ask questions, even when doing so reveals that we don’t have everything figured out.
Losing It
He lost it. She’s losing it. Who wants to do that? To lose control. To lose your temper. To have an ugly cry. I certainly don’t want to lose it. Though sometimes I do.
Peter seems to lose it when Jesus says his mission will involve suffering and death. That’s not what a Messiah does, Peter thinks. We need you to come in and overthrow Rome. Show your political and military might. We need a political strongman.
How did Creator become commercialized?
The wounds we’ve carved into the Earth do not happen in a vacuum, the wounds leech into issues of global politics, gender, and race. The pollution of water and air in the United States often coincides with red-lined neighborhoods - those are neighborhoods which the American government designated to be ghettos for black and brown people. The genocides in Palestine and Congo are rooted in a desire to tear minerals like Cobalt from the Earth, to possess or destroy or pillage land. Hawaiians call the land the ʻāina. And their connection to the land, just like all indigenous peoples, is essential to their culture, spirituality, and freedom movements.
Are You Leaving, Too?
Why did you leave? Why did you leave the place you grew up or another place you lived a long time? Why did you leave a marriage or a relationship? Why did you leave a job? Why did you leave a church?
What Did Your Mother Teach You?
In Gaza, Mohammad Abu Al Qumsan is grieving his two twins, Aysal and Aser, born three days before they were killed in an Israeli strike this week. Mohammed says that when he married his wife, Dr. Joumana, his joy was immense, but when he learned of his twins’ deaths, he also learned of his wife’s death. In a single day he lost everything. Yet he bore his wife’s weight, being a pallbearer for her, and then prayed at his family’s funeral. A burden too great to bear—the loss of mother and twins. This Palestinian mother had no opportunity to nurture or teach her children.
We wonder what Jesus learned from his mother. What she modeled. What she taught. What kind of advice she gave.
What's For Dinner?
Jesus issues an invitation that is far more intimate and provocative when he calls himself our bread. He invites us to eat him and never be hungry again.”
What are you hungry for? Security and belonging? Meaning and purpose? Connection. Community. Intimacy. Love. An ongoing hunger for wholeness, courage or a healing of old wounds?
The Power of Kings
We can see in our world today, that these two kinds of power continue to show up. The Power of Kings could be used to create peace and stability for all people, but recently it seems like it has been used to create destruction and pain. We see the Power of Kings abused in the way a police officer killed Sonya Massey in her home after responding to her call for help. We see it abused in Israel’s continued destruction of Gaza, and in the support that its destruction has garnered. We also see the Power of Kings being used by those who are looking to save Gaza, and by those who continue to work to create justice even through broken and failing systems.
But where do we see the Power that God gives?
Get Away From It All
Sometimes it’s too much for me. The over-stimulation, the information overload, the screens everywhere.
It’s almost like a nightmare. You just want space to clear head and think. You finally close your laptop and put down your phone. And you pull into a gas station. And there is a screen babbling to you about something. You sit in the doctor’s waiting room and there’s a home remodeling show playing. You’re at your gate, waiting for a plane, and CNN is on. You get into a taxi and video clips are showing. Stop. Turn it off. It’s too much. Take me to a deserted island to get away from it all.
Don't Lose Your Head
We are called to speak truth to power. Amos proclaims that God will judge Israel for its mistreatment of the poor. And like most prophets, Amos becomes a threat to the powers that be. One writer puts it this way: “The truth will set you free, but first it will shatter the safe, sweet way you live.”