SERMONS
Do You Go By Any Other Names?
We use images and metaphors to name a God beyond naming, beyond our limited grasping to express a great and wonderful mystery. A God we can only name as Love. Peace. Mercy. Justice.
Bodies are Holy
Jesus shows us that bodies are holy, worthy of care and protection. Our bodies are holy because God fashioned us into who we are. Our bodies are holy because God became one of us, lived and laughed and loved and died and rose again as one of us. Knowing that God is one of us, changes how we see not only our own bodies, but every other body.
Where is the calm of Christmas?
There is no room in the inn. Yet God is born beyond the “reach of the emperor’s grasp,” as the writer goes on, off the grid. With the animals. You could say God is born homeless, unregistered, undocumented.
Born Today for You
We glued the pieces back together as best we could, and then set it back in its central location. And I love it even more now, because I see in the cracked places and gaping holes the brokenness and vulnerability of our world. And it is to this world that Christ comes and lives among us.
Whos' Your Daddy
The geneology. The pregnancy out of wedlock. The scandal. The dream. Plan B. It’s not just the background to the story. It is the story. Christ comes amid the least likely people and places and situations. In all the messiness and wonder of being human.
I Can't Wait
Impatient people are always expecting something to happen somewhere else and thus they want to go elsewhere. The moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Nurturing the moment as a mother nurtures the child growing in her.1
When You Feel Like a Stump
Mental health is something our society does not like to talk about. Its taboo. “21% of US adults, that 1 in 5, experience mental illness, and yet, people will suffer an average of 10 years before seeking treatment.
Fruit and Chaff
Here in Chicago, on lands previously cared for by the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, as well as the ancient peoples that preceded them, we are called to ensure that our grain, our young, the people and places and ideas that we care for, are worthy of our repentance. We must ensure they are capable of responding to and healing the harm we leave behind.
ADVENT’S WAKE UP CALL WHEN ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS SLEEP
When we are tempted to give up hope, to sleep through life, this vision keeps alive in a us the dream for a better world. God’s shalom. A peace that will last. A world without violence, a world without weapons, a world without senseless killings.
What the God of Love Looks Like
Now is a good time to be reminded that in scripture we encounter God whose power and majesty differs radically from the reign of a human monarch or any political leader in a democracy. We need to use the image of Christ the king as a corrective to our human understanding of kingship because our king, Christ, has a completely different way of reining.
When Things Fall Apart
In our part of the globe, November is a stark reminder of life’s impermanence. We could simply notice the barren leaves, the shorter days, the colder weather. But the rhythms and cycles of the earth alert us to our place in the universe. Everything changes.
Unconventional Saints
This morning, surrounded by photos of our dearly departed who were also blessed in this life, we remember that God sees us. The Holy One knows the losses and struggles that weigh us down. The exhaustion from caring for others. The disappointments at home, work or school. The worry about a loved one who is ill or preparing to die. God sees us and honors us. God blesses us and accompanies us.
Tricks, Treats, and Trees
Zaccheaus decorated a tree with himself. His neighbors saw the chief tax collector.
Jesus, passing through, saw Zacchaeus.
Sorting People
For God is not a sorter like we are. Rather we have the sort of God that always surprises us with mercy. And forgiveness. And a new beginning. At the baptismal font. At the table. And in the world.
Prayers and Justice
You see, our prayers and actions go together to manifest the reign of God. When we beg and plead with God for justice, we may not be changing God, but we are likely changing ourselves. Changing our outlook. Changing our energy. Changing our focus.
Being the Least Bit Thankful
We can be free, spontaneous, unpredictable, improbable, and content in gratitude, not because it is a requirement, but because it reflects the confidence we possess when we cry out “Have mercy!”
Finding Our Place
Give us faith, O God. Give us a vision for the future. For finding our place in the universe may just give us a surprising path forward.
Being Seen
There is a basic human need to be seen and known. Chasms between the rich and the poor, the hungry and those who feast sumptuously, the un-housed and well housed still exist today. Seeing the other is a big deal. We are called to acknowledge their presence, their needs and gifts. And above all, their status as children of God, worthy of respect and dignity.
Marked Down
Rather than hoarding, let us be about dispossessing. Let us be about letting go. Let us be about extending grace to the underserving and the unsuspecting. Moving away from a tit-for-tat way of looking at the world. To a divine economics full of surprising mark-downs.