tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50716374095483508982024-03-13T02:29:18.825-04:00The Slightly Heretical Musings of a PastorS. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-70558416085727715352018-08-12T15:02:00.000-04:002018-08-12T16:35:39.688-04:00Power and Weakness<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today was the second in a series bookending our first ever Harry Potter Vacation Bible School at Calvary UMC in Frederick. I described it in this way: The Harry Potter story is one in which love for friends and for the world wins out against this relentless drive for power and control. God uses our vulnerabilities (weaknesses) too.</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Scripture:</b> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><i>2
Corinthians 12:6-10</i></span><span style="color: black;">
(NRSV)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">But
if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the
truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me
than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the
exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from
being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I
appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said
to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect
in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my
weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I
am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and
calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am
strong. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Luke
22:24-27 </i></span><span style="color: black;">(NRSV)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">A
dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be
regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, “The kings of the
Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are
called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among
you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who
serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one
who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one
who serves.” </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Sermon:</b></span><span style="color: black;">
Power and Weakness</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Let
us pray:</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><i> </i></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Patient
teacher, we know we seek to control our own lives, but you remind us
through scripture and story that you have different intentions for
us. You intend us to love. So be with us in worship this morning,
speak through the words of my mouth and the meditations of our
hearts, so we draw ever closer to your intentions for us. Amen.</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">I
have a confession to make. I am a huge nerd. I know that is
surprising to all of you, but I had to preface my sermon this week
with that. When I wrote my ordination paperwork, I referenced </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Doctor
Who</i></span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Lord
of the Rings</i></span><span style="color: black;"> and
probably </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Star
Wars</i></span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Firefly
</i></span><span style="color: black;">too. So I am
pretty used to connecting the Bible to my geekery. And that’s what
we did this past week. We looked at the popular world of Harry Potter
and used it to teach about Biblical stories and Christian values in
our second Vacation Bible School of the summer. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">One
of those values has really struck me lately. The Harry Potter story
is an illustration not just of a battle between good and evil but
between the love of power and the power of love. </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Sure,
there are definitely evil characters in the books. Lord Voldemort is
the epitome of evil: he has no redeeming qualities and really spent
his whole life being evil, even his childhood. Harry, Ron, and
Hermione, the heroes of the story, are a little more complex, but
they are at their cores good people. I would think many of us would
prefer to think of ourselves as the Harrys, Rons, or Hermiones of the
world, but even though evil is apparent even in our own communities,
I think we would be hard pressed to point to someone and label them
as the embodiment of evil the way Lord Voldemort is in the story. And
so we can distance ourselves from the story. Oh, we think, we would
join resistance movements if we lived in that kind of world, but we
don’t, so as long as we are nice to people that counts as acting
out goodness in the world. We have less responsibility in this
framing of the story as good v. evil. So I want us to look at it
differently. This is not just a battle of good over evil, but of
power and weakness.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Did
you catch that phrase in our scripture reading today about power and
weakness? Paul, was writing to the Corinthian community in what
sounds like a defensive way. Someone must have accused him of being
weak, of being not as important as everyone made him out to be. I
mean, if someone refered to me as weak, I would probably be mad. And
Paul probably was too. But his response is not to show power, not to
prove that he was strong, but to agree with the criticism. Yes, he
says, yes I </span><span style="color: black;"><i>am</i></span><span style="color: black;">
weak. This, as my friend David points out, is a truly vulnerable
moment for Paul. </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">He tells his Corinthian readers
that he is hurting; really hurting. He is looking for God to take
something from him, some part of him that caused him deep pain. We
don’t know what it is, but we do know that Paul wants to be done
with it. He wants an instant cure.</span><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></span></sup><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>And he <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">admits to that desire to the whole Corinthian community. He is
hurting and uses the famous phrase everyone wonders about: he says he
has a thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). We don’t know what
it is. But I understand his desire to be done with pain and want an
instant cure. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">My
understanding comes not from a physical illness or pain in my own
life, but from the pain that comes from being vulnerable enough to
love and then having to face losing that love. Brené Brown, a
researcher and storyteller, defines “vulnerability as uncertainty,
risk, and emotional exposure.”</span><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a></span></sup><span style="color: black;">
It is easy to decide the risk is too great, to decide that feeling is
linked with failing, with weakness, and we try to shut ourselves off
from vulnerability. This is what Voldemort’s whole life
illustrates. His father left, mother died, he grew up in an
orphanage, and so even as a child, he decided that loving someone who
could leave him or die was too great a risk. Instead, he would focus
on what he could control and began to pursue power and success at any
cost. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Over
and over again throughout the books, Voldemort scoffs at the power of
love. When he confronts Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets, he
wants to know the great power that protected Harry as a baby, and
when he discovers that Harry was protected by his mother’s love,
Voldemort dismisses that as luck.</span><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote3sym" name="sdfootnote3anc"><sup>3</sup></a></span></sup><span style="color: black;">
Voldemort always believed that if he discovered a more powerful wand,
or used more powerful magic, he would never have to love anyone and
risk being hurt by them. But that meant that he never risked knowing
the power of love either.</span><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote4sym" name="sdfootnote4anc"><sup>4</sup></a></span></sup><span style="color: black;">
He was so afraid of experiencing the thorn in his side that Paul
spoke of, so afraid <span style="font-family: inherit;">of being weak, that he never knew the true
strength of love.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">When
Voldemort was preparing to face Harry Potter for the last time, one
of his henchmen asked to go find Harry and bring him to Voldemort.
Voldemort declined the offer, saying “[You do not understand
Potter] as I do. I know his weakness, you see, his one great flaw. He
will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it
is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost. He
will come.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"></a></span></sup><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"></a><sup><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><sup><span style="color: black;"></span></sup></span></span></sup></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote5sym" name="sdfootnote5anc"><sup>5</sup></a></span></span></span></span></sup><span style="color: black;">
Voldemort called Harry's love for his friends, his compassion for
those who were hurting, his willingness to sacrifice himself for
others, a weakness. And surely, Harry felt weak in the Battle. Over
and over again, the narrator describes how Harry tries to
compartmentalize as he sees the death toll rise, tries to keep
putting one foot in front of the other, but he feels so much pain.
And still he is willing to give up his own life for the ones that he
loves. And that love is what kept him alive when he was thought to be
dead. That love, that weakness--- spoiler alert--- wins.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
I don't think any of us are like Voldemort, not in the</span> sense of his
complete failure to empathize or feel remorse, but I do think we
sometimes avoid being vulnerable because we don’t want to risk, we
don’t want to appear weak, we don’t want to hurt. And we don’t
want to change. Maybe we don’t trust that love actually wins. Many
of you know I have had multiple miscarriages and suffer with
infertility, and I have found that despite all the ways I have
witnessed love winning in the pursuit of parenthood, despite all the
different ways there are to parent, there are absolutely times I want
to shut myself off, stop trying to be a mother in any way and just do
something different.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span>Maybe take up juggling? Have you ever felt that way? In the wake of a
divorce or a friend’s betrayal or a lost job or an unexpected
death, do you want to run away, shut yourself off from feeling? Find
some way to not feel so weak and exposed?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Or
maybe your avoidance of vulnerability comes within community. Maybe
you don’t want to argue anymore, so you don’t engage with anyone
about politics who doesn’t agree with you unless it is to shut them
down. Maybe you are afraid of illness and so you don’t want to
visit anyone in the hospital, not matter how lonely they may be.
Maybe you are uncomfortable around people speaking a different
language and so you belittle them and avoid them and start to believe
they are profoundly different from you. To be vulnerable means that
we might have to feel not only our pain, but also another’s pain.
And if we feel someone else’s pain, we might feel a responsibility
to do something to support them. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Harry,
Ron, and Hermione are vulnerable throughout the story. And their
vulnerabilities are risks, they do get hurt. Harry spends so much of
the books looking for a father figure in the headmaster Dumbledore,
in his godfather Sirius, in teachers like Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody.
And these figures often fail him in some way; they hide truth from
him, they leave him, they turn out to be someone they are not, or
they simply make a mistake. And yet from each of these figures, Harry
learns love and grows stronger in that love. Even with their
betrayals and failures, still that love built him up to be the hero
he becomes at the end of the story. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">And
that’s the point Paul is trying to get across, I think. He is
acknowledging that he is just like us, just like Harry. He doesn’t
want to hurt. He doesn’t want to be so vulnerable. He has asked God
to take away his weakness. But God </span><span style="color: black;"><i>didn’t</i></span><span style="color: black;">
take away his weakness, and God doesn’t take away ours either.
Through Paul’s prayers, God speaks to him and all of us, saying,
“</span><span style="color: black;"><i>My grace is
sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.</i></span><span style="color: black;">”
Through the Harry Potter story, through our own lives, we see the
same thing. True power, the power of love, is made perfect in
weakness, in vulnerability. In taking risks and walking without
certainty.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">This
is what Christ asks of us. This is how Jesus himself lived. In our
Gospel story today, Jesus reminded his disciples that true greatness
isn’t about power but about service. Throughout Jesus’ life, he
consistently chose love over power, even though that meant instead of
a crown of gold he wore a crown of thorns. He chose love even when
facing violence and ridicule. But this choice of love is the power of
Christ. That in our vulnerability, in our risk taking, in our
weakness, love has the last word over death. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">My
question for you, for us, to go home with this week is in what ways
do we choose love? Not in what ways are we good and nice to other
people, but in what ways do we open ourselves to one another, even
when it makes us weak and vulnerable? In what ways is God making us
perfect in our weakness, perfect in our love?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a><span style="font-size: x-small;">David
Finnegan-Hosey, <i>Christ on the Psych Ward</i> (New York: Church
Publishing, 2018), 67.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a><span style="color: black;">Brené
Brown, </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Daring Greatly: How the
Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent,
and Lead</i></span><span style="color: black;"> (New York: Gotham Books,
2012), 34.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote3anc" name="sdfootnote3sym">3</a>J.K.
Rowling, <i>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</i>, (New York:
Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic Press, 1999) 317.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote4anc" name="sdfootnote4sym">4</a>See
J.K. Rowling, “Chapter 35: King's Cross,” <i>Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows</i>, (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books,
Scholastic Press, 2007) 705-723.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote5anc" name="sdfootnote5sym">5</a>J.K.
Rowling, <i>Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows</i>, (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic
Press, 2007) 654.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-56682013852852441812018-06-21T15:04:00.001-04:002020-10-17T17:14:59.096-04:00Wasted?<p>This content has been moved to: </p><p>https://www.shannonesullivan.com/blog/wasted<br /></p>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-5306580513090230352018-06-03T15:18:00.000-04:002018-06-26T20:57:16.039-04:00Creating Enemies<i>This is a sermon I preached for <a href="https://calvaryumc.org/">Calvary UMC</a> in Frederick.</i><b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Scripture:</b> Matthew 5:38-48 (NRSV)<br />
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.<br />
<br />
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”<br />
<br />
<b>Sermon:</b> Did Jesus stutter?*<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mememaker.net/api/bucket?path=static/img/memes/full/2014/Jun/5/22/love-one-another-but-what-if-theyre-immigrants-or-gay-or-poor-did-i-stutter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://www.mememaker.net/api/bucket?path=static/img/memes/full/2014/Jun/5/22/love-one-another-but-what-if-theyre-immigrants-or-gay-or-poor-did-i-stutter.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the variants of the meme.</td></tr>
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There is a meme that I see from time to time that shows Jesus sitting beneath a tree, surrounded by people. He's teaching, and he says, “Love one another.” Another speech bubble appears from the crowd; “but what if,” the crowd asks, “what if they are gay or Muslim or have less money than me or don't have a home or have a different skin color or were born in a different country or voted for someone I don't like?” And Jesus answers, “Did I stutter?” Jesus tells us in our scripture reading today from Matthew’s Gospel to love our enemies. He tells us to pray for those who persecute us! And he doesn’t stutter when he says it. <span id="goog_1841432225"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1841432226"></span><br />
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But we can still get around the difficulty of this scripture because, really, who are our enemies? After all, we are not superheroes. Most of us anyway. We aren’t fighting shadowy villains in spandex bent on taking over the world. Nor are we feudal kings fighting other lords for land, even though we might be side-eyeing our next-door neighbor for planting an ugly bush on our side of the property line. While there may be plenty of people we don’t like, enemy is probably not a word we use in our daily vocabulary. But we do have enemies. And some of them are taught to us.<br />
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Some of you remember the Cold War, right? My dad loves bad 1970s action movies, so I have seen many many movies in which all the bad guys have terrible Russian accents. The epitome of evil, such movies teach us, can be found in Soviet Russia. It seemed so silly to me, but remember, I was two when the Wall between East and West Berlin came down. I never had duck and cover bombing drills in school. But I have experienced the creation of an enemy. When I was in ninth grade, we huddled in Health class and watched the news when the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City came down on September 11, 2001. I was taught pretty quickly that I had enemies after all. At first, it was just learning about this terrorist group called Al Qaeda. But eventually, through news reports that constantly used the word “Muslim” to describe the word “terrorist,” I forgot about white domestic terrorists like Timothy McVeigh, and learned that Muslims were the real terrorists. And terrorists were my enemy.<br />
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No one ever said to me, “Shannon, Muslims are your enemy.” But through media and people’s fear, that notion kind of sunk into me. So imagine three years after 9/11, when I went on my first trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I found myself surrounded by Muslims. It was a little confusing. They were not very scary. We went to a big international event one evening when we on that first mission trip and I saw people wearing shirts in English that playfully, or snarkily, read: “I am a Muslim. Do not panic.” In fact, the Muslims I met had undergone far worse terror at the hands of Christians during the genocide in the 1990s than I had experienced on 9/11. But how easily we create these universally bad people in our imaginations. If it had not been for Muslims, I might not be the Christian I am today. You may have heard me tell this story or read about it because I talk about it a lot: Ðana was one of our translators on that first trip to Bosnia, and she is who I visited earlier last month when I was on vacation. She is a Muslim; her father was killed near the community mosque by Christian soldiers when she was a child. One day, our host Saja took me and my sister with her and Ðana to a friend's house for a dinner. Being on a strange continent with strange people who didn’t speak our language eating strange, but surprisingly tasty, food in front of a house that was still stained with bullet holes should have been terrifying. But my sister and I sat thigh to thigh on a tiny bench and ate, listening to the drone of the huge beetles that zoomed around the porch light as well as the music of the almost-guttural Bosnian language. And in the midst of this, Ðana reached over and hugged us to her. “I love you,” she said. <br />
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Ðana, a Muslim woman who had grown up during a war in a country that most USAmericans cannot locate on a map, a woman I had only known for something like two days at this point, told me and my sister, white Christian Americans who had idyllic childhoods but whose country was waging a war against Muslims in the Middle East, that she loved us. And it was in that moment of her telling us that she loved us that I felt God telling me that God loved me. Love your enemies, Jesus said. He doesn’t tell us why. But in my life, loving someone I was taught was my enemy opened up new worlds for me. It was one of the most transformative experiences of my Christian journey. <br />
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Now you might not get a chance to go someplace like Bosnia to test out Jesus’ command to love our enemies. But Muslims are not the only enemies that have been offered to us. Throughout history and in every culture, we demonize and marginalize. And right now our culture seems to be all about the creation of enemies, along religious, racial, and political lines especially. Two weeks ago, I went to a preaching conference where two senators were also invited to speak. One of those senators was Cory Booker from New Jersey. He shared a lot about how we are in a moral moment as a country, one that should transcend political parties and he shared what he called the Tale of Two Hugs.<br />
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The first hug was between President Obama and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy. Senator Booker joked about how it was an awkward man hug, but pointed out that no matter how awkward it was, it was used as a political weapon against Governor Christie. How dare a good Republican hug that terrible President Obama! But Senator Booker reminded us how awful the devastation was after the hurricane, how exhausted and upset Governor Christie was. And how in that pain, the president reached out in compassion and the governor received it. Similarly, after Senator John McCain’s cancer diagnosis, when he came back to the floor of the senate, Senator Booker crossed the aisle to hug him. And he immediately received hate tweets. How dare he, a progressive, hug a terrible Republican! But Senator Booker said he saw a brother, one he disagreed with often but one who was a fellow human being, in pain, and so he reached out in love. <br />
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Now in some ways, these men are enemies. Unlike me and Ðana who, when we first met, were teenage girls who liked the things all teenage girls liked despite the differences of our backgrounds, Republicans and Democrats often have competing agendas. And those agendas matter. Often, when we read the Gospel lesson to love our enemies, we use it to mean that we ought to just let people take advantage of us, that turning the other cheek when we are wronged means let ourselves be abused over and over again. We pray for those who persecute us and neglect voting against that persecution or marching in the street to speak out against it. I don’t think that’s what the scripture means at all. What Jesus is telling us to do is to recognize one another as human beings, as people in need of love and prayer even when we come from different backgrounds. Even if we disagree with one another. And that love and prayer can be transformational and draw us closer to God.<br />
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Jesus explains, <i>For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?...And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? </i>Jesus tells us that there is a reward in loving even those enemies. That there is more to the abundant life he calls us to than us only hanging out with people who look like us and act like us and think like us. Instead, God intends a more beautiful world, one of real relationships and transformed hearts--- not only our enemies’ hearts, but our own hearts as well.<br />
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Now, I admit that I am preaching to myself this week. Not because society has created new enemies for me, or because some have been constructed when disagree with people, but because some of my friends were deeply wronged. You may be in a similar situation, sometimes seeing enemies at work or at family gatherings or even here at church. And you may see them as enemies because they are simply different from you and you don’t understand them, because they disagree with you, or maybe because they deeply wronged you. This scripture gives us direction to liberate us from the fear and anger with which having enemies burdens us. It reminds us that we don’t have to live this way; that instead we can choose to see one another as human and call one another to live in a new way together. <br />
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Because Jesus doesn’t stutter. He says we are to love one another. Even when we disagree. Even when we are angry. Even while we keep working for justice. Even then we love. And we pray. My prayer for us is that we take this scripture to heart and learn to expect transformation.<br />
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*The original title of the sermon and refrain throughout that reference a meme perpetuate ableism. Rather than stuttering, we should be asking if Jesus misspoke. I am committed to reeducating myself about the ableism I've internalized and will work to not make such thoughtless mistakes in the future!S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-82484131067768066602018-03-19T09:00:00.000-04:002018-03-19T09:23:19.043-04:00Manna Collecting at Our Feet: A Review of Christ on the Psych WardAs a pastor and chaplain, I have experienced the presence of Christ on behavioral health units, or psych wards. I led a weekly Bible study on a local behavioral health unit as a volunteer chaplain, and served on a behavioral health unit as the student chaplain before that. Nearly every experience I had on the behavioral health unit brought me face to face with God. One week, we read the Beatitudes together in Bible study, and we spoke of how blessing does not mean being lucky, because we did not feel very lucky that day on the locked-down unit. It does not mean being prosperous. It means God is walking alongside of us, choosing us, whether or not we realize it. So many weeks, a patient would lead us in prayer for another patient, for me, for our world, in a way that we would know the Holy Spirit was with us. It was hard, too; especially on days when everyone sat and stared at me, or when someone tried to read scripture out loud but couldn’t because the hospital didn’t have Bibles at a more accessible reading level, or when I met someone who was so angry I remembered why the nurses’ station gave me a panic button. But even then, God was there, offering love again and again. When I would share (in very general terms to keep confidentiality) about my experiences on the behavioral health unit, my parishioners would begin to open up about their own stories of mental health struggles. In his new book, David Finnegan-Hosey asserts, "telling our stories is an act of resistance to the alienation and isolation of mental illness." And we have found, in telling those stories, in resisting alienation and isolation, we draw closer to one another and to God.<br />
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David Finnegan-Hosey has written a book to help us tell those stories and to share his own. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Psych-Ward-David-Finnegan-Hosey/dp/089869051X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521078501&sr=8-1&keywords=christ+on+the+psych+ward&dpID=41uVr%252BvRM3L&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch"><i>Christ on the Psych Ward</i></a> is part memoir about his experience in and out of psych wards and part theological text, using the Biblical story to help frame not only his story but all of our stories.
As he tells his story, he helps us discover what my congregation was beginning to discover as we broke the silence around mental illness. He writes, "Rather than a conversation about people with mental illness, and how the church can help them, I want the church to listen to and hear the stories of people with mental illness, and to discover the surprising gifts we have to offer."<br />
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One of the most surprising gifts that <i>Christ on the Psych Ward</i> offers was not surprising to me at all, because I have known David for a long time.* I found it incredibly refreshing to experience his readings of scripture, especially his interpretation of Genesis 3, the story we often refer to as "The Fall." He asks questions of the text, doesn't fall into easy readings, and, from the depths of the psych ward, shows us why these stories and how we read them matter. Who told you you were naked? God asks in Genesis 3:11a. And David imagines God's voice shaking, saying, "Who told you...that you were lacking in anything? Who told you that you were anything but beautiful and good?" These are questions of life and death when read from psych wards, but they are also questions of life and death that our faith communities should be wrestling with instead of perpetuating tired agendas of shame. I want to use this book not only to interrupt the stigma of behavioral health struggles in church, but also to teach confirmands about sin and shame and challenge Sunday school classes to locate the presence of God in their own lives every day. <br />
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I found refreshing challenge in David's words, and I also found grace. This book gives us, clergy and Christians and simply people who are seeking, the grace that is God’s vulnerability in our own vulnerability. When I first read this book, it was on the eve of the first anniversary of my beloved mother-in-law’s unexpected death and while recovering from surgery before my last (in this chapter at least) attempt to live out my call to have a baby. And so I found myself drawn in because of my own need, not only as a pastor, but as a child of God. David speaks of God’s grace being sufficient for us, about learning to take life day by day, moment by moment. He said in the psych ward, he kept a “victory column,” with things like getting out of bed, taking a shower, eating a meal, and other small wins, to help him notice the sufficiency of grace we have to help us get by. He said, using the story from Exodus 16, “Perhaps we are all struggling, longing for an abundance that seems always out of reach, missing the manna collecting at our feet." David’s book was some of that manna collecting at my feet as I struggled on a difficult day. It was a surprising gift, much like many of the patients I have worked with behavioral health unit and the sharing of stories in my own congregation. May it be so for you as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5c2OPwZ0388pm0KDvSMx9SV_60_0B_g7dX73hq8LMsSpr5ua6M6iSaSAFGXqcb_BH4X55WWllYUZZ1AKx0N8mavNKbQ2NsHQECi_E1QxtxDlNpQJe3tZNb4T2tg83tuIPKM3bAvKy6ukS/s1600/20180201_102421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5c2OPwZ0388pm0KDvSMx9SV_60_0B_g7dX73hq8LMsSpr5ua6M6iSaSAFGXqcb_BH4X55WWllYUZZ1AKx0N8mavNKbQ2NsHQECi_E1QxtxDlNpQJe3tZNb4T2tg83tuIPKM3bAvKy6ukS/s400/20180201_102421.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manna collecting at my feet. Or, in this case, laying on my feet and snoring.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*David and I met on a mission trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2006. We got to work together often in United Methodist Church circles, but he has since joined the United Church of Christ because The UMC's commitment to justice has rotted as we continue to discriminate against queer folks and as we have been unwilling to listen to and act upon our missionaries' call to peace in Israel/Palestine (among other things). The whole time I read this book, I lamented the loss of his voice in our denomination (the guy is so freaking Wesleyan, really) and wonder at the sheer number of passionate theologians The UMC has lost or silenced because we just can't love our neighbors. But that is a whole other blog post.</span>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-18487764886477002032018-02-18T15:22:00.000-05:002018-03-17T15:30:09.692-04:00Rainbow Covenants<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
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</i><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I wrote this sermon for <a href="http://calvaryumc.org/">Calvary UMC</a> based on one I wrote back in 2014 for <a href="http://www.presburyumc.org/">Presbury</a>. It is a story that has captivated me and I've been trying to move out of the way enough for the Holy Spirit to share it. </i><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture: </b></span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Hebrew Bible: </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Genesis 9:8-17
(NRSV)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Then
God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am
establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and
with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic
animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out
of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall
all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall
there be a flood to destroy the earth.” </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">God
said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and
you and every living creature that is with you, for all future
generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over
the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my
covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all
flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all
flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all
flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign
of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that
is on the earth.” </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Gospel:</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV) </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">In
those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by
John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he
saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on
him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him
out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted
by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on
him. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Now
after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good
news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let us pray:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Patient Teacher,</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>we give you thanks for this
scripture even when the stories within it are hard.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Open our minds today. Open our
hearts.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Write your covenant within us,
so that these stories we read become more than just children's
bedtime stories. May they become our story. Amen.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How many of you have heard the
story of Noah's Ark before? It is somewhat familiar, I know. Most of
us if we have any religious background at all growing up hear about
it as children. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Look
at the animals in the ark! </i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">we
say, mimicking the lion's roar. When I was a kid, we used to read
these silly stories written from the points of view of the animals on
the ark. We used to laugh and laugh at Noah trying to keep the
elephant away from the mice they were so terrified of. But when you
take a moment to read the Genesis account, you realize that this is
not a nice happy story. Lots of people die. Earlier in chapter six of
Genesis, the scripture actually says that God was </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>sorry</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
God had made humankind. It is a heartbreaking, confusing, terrifying
tale. But from the terror emerges this beautiful promise, a covenant,
one of many that God makes with us throughout our history as people
of faith.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You may have heard a tale of
terror this week if you turned on the news. Or maybe you didn't. Can
something really be a tale of terror if it replays over and over
again to no effect? But surely what happened in Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Florida on Wednesday was the kind of evil that
would make God regret creating us. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I think of the story of Noah
and the ark now it is the idea of God who is angry and frustrated and
done with the world that sticks with me. It sticks with me because it
is an image that makes me uncomfortable. And because it is a feeling
I understand. I scrolled through images of the victims, read stories
about them, heard the nonsense from Washington about thoughts and
prayers but no action. And I thought, you know what we need, God.
Another flood. How can we possibly come back from this? How can we
rebuild in a world where so much has gone so wrong?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But God does not work like we do,
thank goodness. Well, in the story of Noah, God does take on some
decidedly human tendencies, which makes me wonder that we decided the
destructive flood came from God because humans have a capacity for
violence we would like God to have as well. I'm not so sure God does
share those qualities. But there is something in this story that God
does share with us. And that is grace. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God is able to redeem even the
worst of situations. A flood was coming, everyone would die, but
maybe God could still save us. And God did. Noah built the ark.
Teachers and coaches gave up their lives for their students. First
responders saved who they could. And now survivors are claiming their
voices and standing up to politicians who refuse to enact common
sense gun laws to try and save more children from the horror they
lived through. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We may think in these stories of
terror that God should pack up shop and move on. But if God does
that, then we don't have to change either. We get to wash our hands
of the world, stop trying to figure out how God is calling us to
change it. We don't have to sit there and be grieved over loss as we
move toward new life anyway. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But God has made a covenant with
us. Set a rainbow in the clouds to remind God’s self, supposedly,
but also to remind us: new life is possible. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I see the story of Noah as a
resurrection story. Sure, it is a much more depressing resurrection
story than the one we will read in forty days, but it is about new
life that comes out of the horror of death. Not </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>because
</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">of the horror of
death--- God doesn’t need destruction to bring about new life. But
new life is always possible for humanity. The thing that makes Noah’s
story a Lentan one is that it covenants with us, requiring us to
rebuild. To try again. To take forty days to dig deeper into
spiritual disciplines, to fast and pray, and turn our lives back to
God. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So already I have suggested in
this sermon that maybe it wasn't exactly God who caused the Flood
like the text says. Now I am reading a responsibility for us into the
covenant we read this morning. If you look carefully at the covenant
we read, God covenants with us that humanity will never again be
destroyed by a flood. There is no response for humans. It isn't a “if
you do this, then I will do that” kind of covenant. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe the Gospel story explains
this part better. In the scripture we read from Mark, Jesus has been
baptized. He emerges from the water, the heavens open, God names him
beloved, and then he is immediately driven into the wilderness. We
can presume he is still wet, that’s how quickly he moves. He
doesn't have time to celebrate his belovedness; he gets right to work
in the wilderness, relying totally on God in the midst of difficulty
to discover what his identity as Beloved means for his work here on
earth. God never says, “This is my Son, the Beloved if he does all
the things I want him to do.” But Jesus knows that his identity as
Beloved of God means that he has a responsibility to help live into
the </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>kindom</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
of God. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And so do we. God's covenant with
Noah says there is no such thing as too far gone. We might not
believe God, but that is what the rainbow tells us anyway. There is
no violence, no grief, nothing that is too far gone that God can't
eke some good out of it. And we, as beloved children of God, baptized
as Jesus was, also have a responsibility to work with God to eke out
this good. We are agreeing to work with Jesus to renew the world from
the inside out. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was talking to Pastor Beth this
week about this passage from Noah. When I read it now, I picture less
the art we find in children's Sunday school rooms, and instead I
picture an experience I had the last time I was in Bosnia. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bosnia, to those of us who
remember the news in the 1990s, is one of those places that seemed to
once mirror the wickedness of the world that must have so
disappointed God. During the war, neighbor killed neighbor,
concentration camps were established, mass rape was used as a
calculated tool of war. Today, the violence is not rampant though
tensions still course along ethnic lines, but corruption still
defines the country. There is apathy, disgust, hopelessness. A dark
rain flooded the country with a hate so powerful that it is a wonder
anything is left, but even today stagnant water left over from the
war seems to cover so much. Bosnians know the wickedness of
humankind. They have wondered if God can ever pull them out of the
violence they have endured--- if they are too far gone. Bosnians know
what Noah felt, looking over the wickedness of his fellow humans as
those first fat drops of rain fell on his nose. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That wickedness is always very
apparent in graveyards in Bosnia, especially if you can look across
and see just how many graves are marked 1993 or 1994. And one day, I
found myself in one of these graveyards. I had gone with my friend
Đana to visit her family because it was Bajram (or Eid), a family,
food, and faith-oriented holiday. First, though, we stopped at the
community graveyard; during Bajram, one also says prayers for the
dead. The cemetery sits almost precariously up on the mountain, rows
of skinny white graves sticking out into the sky. We stopped the car
and got out to see Đana's cousin Dijana and her family were already
there. Dijana and Đana covered their heads with these huge scarves
and went over to the graves. I stood around awkwardly trying to keep
Dijana's three-year-old and Đana's two-year-old from falling down
the mountain. But at one point I paused and looked up at the two
cousins praying, their veils flapping in the mountain breeze, at this
little line of graves all with the last name Domazet--- most of whom
I knew. Đana's father was killed during the war in 1994, her mother
from a heart attack when she was in her early forties, her
grandmother from Alzheimer’s, and her aunt from cancer. Đana was
crying, and reached over to touch her mother's grave. So much loss in
such a young life. So much pain. The floodwaters in life had taken so
much from her. And yet, yet here we were. The sun was shining, the
grass was so green, and two toddlers were running around hand-in-hand
laughing. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Đana rebuilt her life. She
decided that the destruction of war, the pain of grief, the constant
fear of loss would not keep her from living. Noah rebuilt his life,
built a home and planted vineyards. And many in the community of
Parkland, Florida, are rebuilding already as well, refusing to let
violence have the last word in their community. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps there is a part of your
life that needs rebuilding. Perhaps there is a part of you destroyed
by fear or apathy, shriveled by bitterness and loss. Invite God into
those places this Lent. Look for rainbows, seek goodness together.
Perhaps that means taking up a practice like gratitude journaling---
forcing yourself to look for the good in your life and nurture it.
Perhaps that means becoming an advocate as many students are,
standing up to death-dealing things in our world and working to stop
them. Perhaps that means spending time in service, helping someone
else to rebuild. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The rainbow covenant reminds us
that God will work beside us to bring life from dead situations
anywhere and anytime. Won't we choose to work with God?</span></span></div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-61201229285403982002018-01-21T15:27:00.000-05:002018-03-17T15:30:23.798-04:00Pray for Us<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture: </b></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Hebrews 10:24-25</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">And let us consider how to
provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and
all the more as you see the Day approaching. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>1 Thessalonians 5:16-28</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Rejoice always, pray without
ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise
the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is
good; abstain from every form of evil. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">May the God of peace himself
sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept
sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one
who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. Beloved, pray for us.
Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. I solemnly
command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Matthew 22:34-40</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">When the Pharisees heard that he
had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them,
a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which
commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first
commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.” </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon: </b></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Let
us pray:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Patient
teacher we give you thanks a morning of welcoming new members. And we
give you thanks for this time of worship. Guide us now, in the words
of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts, to follow the path you
have laid before us. Amen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Growing up, my mother led the
church every Lent in taking up a practice. Originally it was to be a
new spiritual practice every year, but the very first one they tried
stuck and they continue to do it year after year. They call in
“prayer partners.” When you walk into church during Lent, you get
a slip of paper that you are to write your name on. Then the slips of
paper are collected and at the end of the service, they are passed
around in a basket for everyone to take a name. You have to make sure
it’s not yours, but that week, you commit to praying for whoever
you chose at some point every day. Growing up, our family put all our
prayer partners together on the Lazy Susan on our kitchen table, and
every day before dinner, we would light a candle and take turns for
praying for all of them together. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I thought it was a nice
tradition. So I stole it when I started serving a church as a pastor.
I passed out slips of paper every week, encouraged people to pray,
and got a lot of good feedback from folks. But I didn’t know the
transformative power such prayer had until the first year I started
this at Presbury. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">One week, a parishioner who
let’s call Maria, got another parishioner who we’ll call Tamara’s
name. Maria was one of the matriarchs of the church at that time, a
widow with more money than most in the congregation. She loved music
and when her grandkids came to visit. She struggled with her health,
but always spoke about blessings rather than her struggles. Tamara
also did not talk much about her struggles, which were many. She was
older and lonely. She wished her family would visit more, but she was
also surrounded by affection and respect at the restaurant where she
still worked. She was retirement age but she was unable to retire.
She also never complained and lifted up blessings frequently, but she
was generally quiet. Maria prayed for Tamara, not knowing quite what
Tamara’s prayer concerns were since there was only room on the
paper for a name, not an explanation, and then she came into church
next week and reached into the basket for a new prayer partner. And
she got Tamara. Again. Now, Presbury is not a large church. And both
Maria and Tamara sat on the same side of the church and I usually
tried to switch the baskets to mix up the possibilities of whose name
people would get. But Maria had Tamara two weeks in a row.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">And so this time, as Maria
prayed, she also felt a deeper connection to Tamara. She began to
wonder how she could reach out to her. So she decided to send her
flowers to work, and signed that they were from her prayer partner.
And by the end of the week, Maria gave me cash in an envelope to give
to Tamara anonymously. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Tamara told me about the flowers
and cried, and then cried again when she opened the envelope. She
wanted me to tell her who her prayer partner was so she could thank
her. I couldn't, but even if I could, I'm not sure I would have.
Because I think that though what Maria did for Tamara was special, in
some ways it is the normal next step on our discipleship journey when
we are praying and worshiping together. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">For
the past few weeks, we have been talking about Discipleship Pathways,
which are those ways that we can draw closer to God. A disciple,
remember, is a follower, in this case a follower of Jesus. Disciples
of Jesus set out on a path to become more and more like Jesus,
especially when it comes to how we relate to God and one another. The
past few weeks, we have talked about how serving God and others and
how generosity and giving help us grow and mature in our spiritual
lives, help us to become more like Jesus. Worship and prayer are
another pathway to help us encounter the living God. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Prayer are worship are two of
the ways we are most often drawn into life in the church. Worship
attendance is often one of our basic litmus tests for Christians,
right? Prayer is ubiquitous to the point that even people who don't
know much about God or even go to church still admit to praying,
especially in times of need. With this framing, they seem more like
entry-level tasks of discipleship than life-transforming ways to
deepen our discipleship. But worshiping together and praying together
are not just for beginner Christians anymore than our Gospel lesson
today about the greatest commandments to love God and neighbor are
ones we check off our list of how to become a Christian when we get
join the church. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Loving God and neighbor are easy
to say, easy to understand, but hard to do. So it is with prayer and
worship. We have scripture to tell us the words to say--- heck, my
personal prayer life consists more of breathing than it does
composing actual words in my head. We have alarm clocks to wake us up
and cars to hop in and drive to get us to worship once a week. But to
let prayer and worship change us? That is another story. But think
about Maria and Tamara, how both of their lives were enriched through
prayer and worship. They found a deeper connection to one another and
to God. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">This connection is something
that we don't just need as Christians, but that we need as human
beings. Aaron and I listened to a podcast about loneliness this week.
Britain's prime minister Theresa May was quoted in the podcast as
saying that in Britain, “Two hundred thousand older people have not
had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month.”
Apparently Britain has appointed minister for loneliness because
research suggests it is a growing health epidemic, as dangerous as
smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. It is a risk factor for premature
mortality. In fact, they called it a public health crisis.<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a>
</span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">While listening to this podcast,
I kept thinking about this pathway to discipleship. I'm sure that
like me, you have heard people say that they worship just as well at
home in the quiet or in the woods alone as they do in church. They
can read the Bible by themselves, and they don't need anyone to pray
for them. And while sometimes being alone is important, research like
this reminded me at least that we are not created to be alone. And it
follows that loving God, worshiping God, even praying are not things
we are supposed to do alone either. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Of
course, when we pray and worship together, we take a risk. You have
heard C.S. Lewis' assertion that “prayer doesn't change God--- it
changes me”? But we don't like change. We don't want to change. We
want to God to listen to us and do what we want. But prayer and
worship in community? That's risky. Too many moving parts. When Maria
prayed for Tamara, she felt compelled to do something. She couldn't
just go about her daily routine like nothing had changed after
praying for Maria. Both of them entered deeper into discipleship,
both found a closer connection with God, and began to live with the
hope and expectation that God was working in and through them. Prayer
and worship are not solitary activities. They must be done in
community, for community. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Connection
is important, to our health apparently, but also to our faith. Our
connection to others makes possible our connection to God. Many of
you know that Rev. Beth Richards and I went to a conference to learn
about Stephen Ministry, a one-to-one caring ministry designed to be
led not by pastors but by people in the pews. Calvary is starting up
Stephen Ministry again as a way to help foster those connections.
People who are going through a hard time--- grief, illness,
loneliness, for instance--- are paired with a Stephen Minister who
will pray for them and meet with them weekly just to listen. One of
the people at the conference who was a Stephen Minister herself but
had had her own Stephen Minister in the wake of a diagnosis said, “I
knew God was with me, but I needed someone with skin on.” </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">This
is what the discipleship pathway of worship and prayer does: point us
to the God who is ever-present with us by putting us alongside others
with skin on who God is working through. Does that mean that your
prayer will always be transformative if you start praying with a
friend? Does it mean that everytime you join us for worship here at
Calvary you will immediately feel closer to God? No, not always. But
being here, praying for and with each other, and worshiping together
clears a path to allow us to move ever closer to that ever-present
God. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">So after sharing about this
pathway, I really think you needed me to give you some homework to
help you work on it throughout the week. I didn't cut up pieces of
paper to have all of you exchange prayer partners, but you aren't
leaving empty handed today. Today, you have prayer partners right
there in your bulletin. Our list of new members. Take that page out
of your bulletin and put it in your wallet, in your car, on your
bedside or kitchen table. Put it somewhere to remind you to pray for
each of these folks every day. Shake their hands today and remember
their faces to say hi next week. Go online or call the office and
look up their address and send them a welcome card. Who knows? Maybe
you will find yourself more connected to God by connecting to one
another in prayer. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">To echo the words from our 1
Thessalonians reading today: Beloved, pray for us. Me, yourselves,
the person sitting next to you in the pew today, and our new members.
Pray daily. And show up here next week to see where God is leading
each of us, drawing us ever closer in love. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">
</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><br />
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="background-color: white;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">The
Loneliness Epidemic, accessed 27 January 2018,
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2018/01/23/the-loneliness-epidemic</span></span></div>
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S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-41129865075375858862017-12-10T15:18:00.000-05:002018-03-17T15:30:57.112-04:00Do Not Be Afraid, Mary<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture: </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Luke
1:</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">26-38</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(NRSV)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in
Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was
Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he
came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with
you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what
sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He
will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the
Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will
reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will
be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am
a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore
the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And
now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son;
and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For
nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I,
the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her. </span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon: </b></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Our
theme for Advent comes from the words the messengers from God, the
angels, be they Gabriel or a whole host, say when they appear to
share the good news of Jesus' birth. Do not be afraid. Our world is a
fearsome place, and we are fear-filled people, often for good reason.
But the angels remind us that such fear can keep us from hearing and
experiencing the good news that God is with us. Last week, we looked
at the story of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist and
cousin-in-law of Mary of Nazareth, Jesus' mother. His fear was so
much a part of his identity he didn't believe the angel standing in
front of him. This week, we are talking about Mary, and our fear that
God has made a mistake and that nothing can ever change. </span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">So
as we delve into this story, let us pray:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: transparent;">Patient
teacher, we give you thanks for the words of your messengers, and ask
that they sink into our hearts today as we worship you. Amen.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="docs-internal-guid-72442f8a-38fa-c587-75"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Aaron
and I returned from vacation just over a week ago. We went on a big
European adventure for our thirtieth birthdays, spending most of our
time in France, though we also spent a few days in Italy and an
afternoon in Switzerland. We drove, well, Aaron did anyway, to get
from place to place because we figured we would see more that way.
Anytime we saw a really cool old church or old castle, we could just
stop on a whim. Except every town in France has an old church or
castle. That may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. I
distinctly remember at one point Aaron pointing out the window and
saying, “Oh look. Another castle.” Now castles sometimes cost
money to go inside, so we didn't always go in those. But churches are
free. So we visited a lot of churches. And most of them, being
Catholic, seem to be named Notre Dame, or Our Lady, in deference to
the Mary we read about in our scripture today. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
saw so many statues, icons, and paintings of her in these churches,
particularly of the moment our scripture today describes. She's
always calm and serene, regal, usually reading a Bible or some kind
of devotional in the Annunciation. Even if she appears small and
child-like in stature, there is a calmness to her in these images
that makes her seem not just older but otherworldly. And though we
Protestants may complain about this veneration of Mary of Nazareth
sometimes, we too are guilty of relegating Mary to a pedestal of
perfection. Because the more perfect we make her, the less we feel we
can emulate her. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
when I read this scripture, I don't read this Mary as this meek,
ethereal being. I think she's kind of snarky. Whereas Zechariah
cowered in fear and clung to disbelief when faced with Gabriel, she
raises an eyebrow and points out the flaw in God's plan. In fact,
reading back over the scripture in preparation for this sermon, I
had trouble figuring out</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
where such a delightfully self-confident young woman was fearful.
Notice the words: perplexed, not fearful: </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of
greeting this might be.</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Zechariah is terrified when he meets the angel. The shepherds are as
well. Mary is perplexed. She is confused and has no qualms about
asking the angel to explain himself. That is a bit different than
fear. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
is the angel himself who brings up fear. Writer and theologian,
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Frederick
Buechner imagines the scene of Mary encountering the angel from the
angel's point of view, and in so doing uncovers an interesting
understanding of where that fear comes from. He writes:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She struck him as hardly old
enough to have a child at all, let alone this child. But he had been
entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her
what the child was to be named, who he was to be, and something about
the mystery that was to come upon her. “You mustn't be afraid,
Mary,” he said. As he said it, he only hoped she wouldn't notice
that beneath the great golden wings, he himself was trembling with
fear to think that the whole future of Creation hung on the answer of
a girl.<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe the fear in this story is
not Mary's fear at all. Maybe it's Gabriel's. From scripture, we do
not know much about angels, what they think. We don't know that they
experience emotions like fear. We only know that they share God's
message with us. But I, like Buechner, wonder. Was anyone in heaven
talking to God, throwing ideas about redemption back and forth. And
did anyone think the whole incarnation thing was a good idea? As
Buechner points out, “the whole future of creation hung on the
answer of a girl.” </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the beautiful images of
Mary of Nazareth that we encountered in France was a Mary with an
intricate and expensive crown on her head and royal bearing. This is
not the Mary Gabriel encountered. Mary was just a young woman, girl
really. She was nothing special in the conventional sense, certainly
not someone who had proven herself responsible or worthy or anything
else we might consider a requirement to bear God's own self into a
world filled with violence, pain, and suffering. How could one young
girl bring God into this kind of world?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So maybe the fear in this story is
not just Gabriel's. Maybe it's ours. Fearing that God has made a
mistake. A mistake to choose a young, poor, brown woman to bear God’s
own self. A mistake for God to put on flesh and dwell among us at
all. A mistake to keep loving us. A mistake to keep offering us
opportunities to transform the world.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="docs-internal-guid-72442f8a-3dc2-3edc-06"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most of us, though, would never
admit that we thought God would make a mistake. But we act like we
do. We throw up our hands and say, “I don't know what you're trying
to do, God, seems a little off, and nothing we do is ever going to
change anything anyway.” And so we don't. Even with angels before
us, sharing God's plan, more often than not we don't say yes, as Mary
did. More often than not, we have a list of reasons why God's plan
wouldn't work. We want a total do-over, to wipe the slate clean.
We've given up on the world as it is. We believe changing it is
impossible.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But Mary didn't. She asked
questions, of course. “How can this be?” she asked, eyebrow still
arched in confusion. Almost like she's saying to the angel, “You
know there's a pretty big problem with your plan, so how are you
going to get around that?” But when the angel answered her, she was
in. Because she believed the angel. Nothing is impossible with God.
This mess that our world is in is not irredeemable. God uses us,
maybe not to bear Jesus in the same way that Mary did, but God uses
us to bear God's self, to bring light and love into a hurting world,
and to work for the kingdom that will have no end. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, I should admit to you that I
had a rough week. I found myself crying or clenching my teeth in rage
whenever I turned on the news and heard something about politics. On
Friday, I read a powerful letter about moral bankruptcy in our
country and in the church that made me wonder if we should just shut
everything down. And then I came back to this sermon. I came back to
Mary of Nazareth and her unwillingness to let fear turn to disbelief
and disbelief turn to apathy. When God said, “Will you do this with
me?” She said, “Here I am. Let's go.” </span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">And
so, even though the news is filled with stories of morally bankrupt
leaders, I began to think of other stories, stories like Mary's, of
people who have not given into despair but instead transform the
world by saying, “</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here
am I, the servant of the Lord.” I want to share one such story with
you. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tarana
Burke is a name that has come up recently in the news.<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a>
She is the founder of the Me Too campaign ten years ago, recently
taken up on social media and exploded. An actress used this campaign,
writing, “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or
assaulted wrote 'Me too.' as a status we might give people a sense of
the magnitude of the problem.” The hashtag exploded everywhere and
got people talking about the epidemic of sexual violence in the
country, and even creating cultures in some places where that
violence is no longer tolerated. Tarana said that the campaign
evolved out of her own experience. She said the simple words, “Me
too,” are so powerful because someone said that to her. She is a
survivor, as well, and those two words helped her in her healing, and
so she has been able to help others in their healing. We still have
far to go, so far it may seem daunting and impossible. And in some
ways it seems useless, as some senators are being forced to step down
over allegations of harassment but others are possibly getting ready
to be voted in regardless of similar acusations. How easy it would be
to let our fear that nothing will ever change, our fear that we are
powerless keep us from breaking the silence! But Tarana didn't let
that fear keep her locked in shame. She spoke out, and through her
campaign and survivors sharing with survivors, she shared God with a
hurting world. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now
perhaps it's not exactly a fair comparison, to say that either Mary
of Nazareth or Tarana Burke's stories are about a simple response of
hope in the face of fear and despair. After all, Mary's “Here am I”
launched her into a pregnancy outside of marriage and a motherhood
that would lead to watching her son die on a cross. Tarana Burke's
“me too” has deepened her organizing work with hurting people in
hurting places. You can't say, “me too” and go back to life as
usual. But so often we think that if it isn't something big, it isn't
going to make a difference, so why even bother? Mary's and Tarana's
stories show that even simple words can be transforming in big,
though difficult, ways. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Do
you know of other Mary of Nazareth stories? Of people who refuse to
let the fear that nothing will ever change and God's plans are crazy
keep them from working with God anyway? Perhaps you may know one from
history, like Harriet Tubman, or maybe from watching television and
hearing of peacemakers like Malala Yousafzai, or maybe you know
someone from church or school or work who has in some way brought God
into the world. Find those people. Become those people. Yes, our God
might seem pretty crazy at times. But, as the angel Gabriel said to
Mary, nothing is impossible with God. Let's jump into the possibility
together. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a>Frederick
Buechner, <i>Peculiar Treasures</i>, as quotes in Maria LaSala,
“Mary's Choice: What the Annunciation Story Tells Us About Moral
Agency,” 19 December 2011,
https://rewire.news/article/2011/12/19/marys-choice/.</div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote2">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">See
17 October 2017 accessed 9 December 2017,
</span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a class="western" href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/10/17/meet_tarana_burke_the_activist_who"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">https://www.democracynow.org/2017/10/17/meet_tarana_burke_the_activist_who</span></a></u></span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">.
See also Tarana Burke, “The Inception, </span><i><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">Just
Be Inc.</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">,</span></span><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">
accessed 9 December 2017,
http://justbeinc.wixsite.com/justbeinc/the-me-too-movement.</span></span></div>
</div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-71899889910414212242017-10-16T22:29:00.001-04:002020-10-17T17:17:28.871-04:00Birthday parties for those who are gone<p>This content has been moved to :</p><p><br /></p><p>https://www.shannonesullivan.com/blog/birthdayparties<br /></p>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-66171113413049347602017-10-15T15:10:00.000-04:002018-03-17T15:31:03.485-04:00Leaning into God: Living by Faith<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>A sermon for <a href="http://calvaryumc.org/">Calvary UMC</a> right before Reformation Sunday.</i><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Romans 1:16-17,3:21-31 (NRSV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is
righteous will live by faith.” </span>
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…</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has
been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through
faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine
forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was
to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he
justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of
boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by
the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith
apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews
only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground
of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then
overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we
uphold the law. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon: </b></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Let
us pray:</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Patient
teacher, we give you thanks for your wisdom and ask that you move
among us to open our hearts to receive that wisdom. Speak to us this
morning through the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our
hearts. Amen. </i></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">October
is a wonderful month, and October </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>this</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
year is very special. It started with a very important birthday of my
own, and it is ending with a very important anniversary--- 500 years
since the Protestant Reformation began. One of those days may be a
bigger deal historically than the other. But anyway, this month we
are celebrating with a sermon series on the important themes of the
reformation that continue to help us reform today. Last week, Pastor
Steve preached on God's sovereignty, a much needed message in the
midst of the chaos that sometimes seems overwhelming. Today we will
talk about another key theme: living by faith.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Faith
is one of those words we use a lot without being too clear on what it
means. Sometimes we use it to mean trust. I have faith in the new
directors that the next </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Star Wars </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">movie
will be good. Or, perhaps more relevant for us in church today, we
have faith that God is at work in the world. Sometimes we use </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>faith</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
to mean believing in what we can't see. Hebrews 11:1 is one of the
more famous Biblical definitions: </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Faith
is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">. Belief
in heaven, for example, or the resurrection of Jesus. And faith is
those things. But I think the definition of faith we often forget,
the one that Paul speaks of in our scripture today, is more than
trust, more than belief. Faith is the ability to open ourselves to
receive the </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">gift of grace God has already
offered to us.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Martin
Luther, the German monk who lit the tinder that began the Protestant
Reformation five hundred years ago, became obsessed with the concept
of faith.</span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;">
Luther was a monk, faith was his job. He was trained in the faith,
immersed in scripture. And still, he doubted. He felt distant from
God, sure his sins could never be forgiven and he would find himself
eternally punished. He sought to discover what good works could
cleanse him. And yet, still he felt distant, and he began to see how
the payment of indulgences that were created to help assuage people
of their guilt and give them a way to atone for their sins prevented
people from truly connecting with God. It wasn't until he discovered
this passage in Romans that we read today, let it sink into his
heart, that he realized he had gotten faith all wrong. In reading how
the righteous will live by faith, he felt the “burden of his soul”
begin to roll away.</span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;">
He knew he no longer had to earn his salvation. That God has done the
work. He had only to open himself to God and receive the gift of
grace.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Luther
preached this good news of faith his whole life. The Church was
Reformed, and for five hundred years we have experienced the peace
and joy that comes with the assurance that God loves us and forgives
us, right? Well, apparently, this ability to walk by faith is more
difficult than it appears. Though it ought to bring us relief, though
it ought to feel for us like we have strong, comforting arms wrapped
around us in love, too often we want to be in control. Believing we
can earn our own salvation means that we have some control, that we
don't have to rely on God after all. If we check the right things off
a list, or if we pay the right amount of money, we can control our
fate. We can earn God's love. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Only,
have you tried to earn someone's love before? How did it work out for
you? But we still do it all the time. This is not a problem of the
medieval Catholics, my friends. Even today we find it easier to
clench our fists in control than we do to open our hands to receive.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Two
hundred years after Luther nailed 95 theses about how we are made
right with God through our faith not through our works, John Wesley,
one of the founders of Methodism, was also struggling with his faith.
John Wesley was the son of a preacher. He experienced a miracle as a
young child being saved from a fire. He started a club in college
with his brother and other friends that earned them the name
Methodist because their practice of faith was so regulated,
scheduled, methodical. He became a missionary, crossing the Atlantic
to preach to people in Georgia in early 1736. He was on board a ship
bound for the Georgia colony when a ferocious storm shredded the main
sail and flooded the decks. Many of the English passengers aboard
screamed in terror that they would soon be swallowed by the deep. But
a group of Moravian missionaries from Germany calmly sang throughout
the squall. They were unafraid of death, an astounded John Wesley
later recounted in his journal. But it wasn't until two years later
on May 24 that Wesley, back in England, discouraged by the path his
life had taken, and miserable, stumbled into a Moravian society
meeting. He would never have gone if he did not remember the calm
singing on the ship two years before. That evening someone read from
Luther's </span><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Preface to the Epistle to Romans.</span></i><span style="font-size: medium;">
About 8:45 p.m., he writes, “while he was describing the change
which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart
strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for
salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my
sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Wesley
realized that as much as he tried, he could not control God's love
for him. It is a free gift. The Moravians he saw on that boat
understood that gift. They found peace even when it was difficult
because they were secure in God's love for them. They knew God was
with them through the storm. They didn't have to compete for God's
affections, or try desperately to get God's attention. Their hands
were open, and they trusted God.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
myself have been try to unclench my hands and open myself to receive
God. As I have mentioned to you before, I might not be the most
organized person in my everyday life, but I have a plan. Graduate
college, graduate seminary, get a job, get married, get ordained,
have kids...only that last piece hasn't worked so well for me. Three
years of trying, two miscarriages, and decreasing hope. Last year, I
lamented to a friend that hope hurts too much. That I don't trust
hope. And so she told me not to focus on hope. She said, focus on
faith. Lean into God in troubled times, stop trying to control
everything, and look for the good things in life. Seek the gifts
instead of just the things you are missing. Around the same time,
someone gave me a simple gift, a candle in a jar with the words,
“Faith does not make things easy--- it makes them possible.” And
for a year, I have lit that candle and prayed. I have tried to lean
into God when I am feeling bitter and hurt and lost. I have given
thanks when I don't really want to because there is always something
to be thankful for. I have tried to let go of all the “shoulds” I
have in my life. This </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>should</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
have happened. And instead I have tried to see God beside me and
receive not the grace I think I should receive, but the grace I
already have just for being a child of God.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now,
Wesley still struggled with doubt, and so did Luther, and I certainly
will too. Wesley wondered why he wasn't more joyful sometimes.
Reformation is a constant process, which I hope you will find through
this sermon series. Faith is a journey. It is something we have to
live by.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
don't know that one day I will wake up and lean into God naturally,
always seeing the beauty and possibility in every day. Luther and
Wesley didn't. But in those moments they did, in those moments I do,
that is what it looks like to live by faith. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So
in what ways do you clench your hands, telling God that you know a
better way of doing things, or simply unable to believe that God
could love you of all people? And what can help you to open your
hands ever wider to receive the gift of grace God offers us? My
prayer for all of us is that we can continue to reform our own
hearts, that we may live by faith.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Marin
E. Marty, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ocober 31, 1517: Martin Luther and
the Day that Changed the World</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
(Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2016), 19 and 23.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote2">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a><span style="font-size: x-small;">“We
Live By Faith- Romans 1,” 1 June 2005, Calvin Institute of
Christian Worship, accessed 14 October 2017,
https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/we-live-by-faith-romans-1/.</span></div>
</div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-31872134504415024632017-07-16T15:05:00.000-04:002018-03-17T15:31:26.559-04:00Lombriz of Grace<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Another sermon for <a href="http://calvaryumc.org/">Calvary UMC in Frederick</a>. </i><b><br /></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
Matthew </span><span style="font-size: medium;">13:1-9, 18-23</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>
</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(NRSV) </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">That
same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such
great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat
there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them
many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and
ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not
have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth
of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they
had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and
the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and
brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let
anyone with ears listen!” </span>
<br />
<br />
…<br />
<br />
“<span style="font-size: medium;">Hear
then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the
kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches
away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As
for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word
and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root,
but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises
on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for
what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but
the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it
yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the
one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and
yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another
thirty.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon: </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Lombriz of Grace</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Let
us pray:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Patient
teacher, help us to listen to scripture, the words of my mouth and
the meditations of all our hearts. When you tell us many things in
parables, open our hearts to receive the word of the kingdom of God,
and to live into that kingdom. Amen.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
hope you all will get to meet my grandfather. He and his girlfriend
like to travel bit together, so they might come by one Sunday. He
doesn’t quite get the whole preacher thing despite the fact that
his daughter and granddaughter are pastors. But he dutifully brags
about me anyway. That’s what grandparents are supposed to do after
all! One of the things he brags about most, though, is about how many
places I have traveled to. He always says, “Tell Ruby again how
many countries you've been to!” And sometimes, if he wants to tease
me, he'll say, “And how many of those trips did you go on for
free?” Because most of the trips I raised money for either through
missions boards or research grants. And frankly, if someone offers to
send me somewhere, I will go. For instance, my last year of college,
I took a year-long class on agriculture and politics in Venezuela
just so I could go to Venezuela. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now,
I explained last week that Aaron and I are from the country; we grew
up around farms and helped our parents garden, but I am not a huge
fan of dirt--- or rather worms. I won’t even eat gummy worms. But,
as it turns out, dirt and worms are actually a big part of
agriculture, even in Venezuela. Taking this class about Venezuela was
great, and going to Venezuela was even better, but at one point on
the trip, we were standing in this huge pavilion positioned near the
top of a mountain, listening to one of our hosts giving a lecture in
Spanish about worms. In this pavilion they had huge troughs where
they put a combination of manure and dry coffee husks or paper with
rice inoculated with a beneficial fungus that prevents disease. They
threw some worms in, the worms ate the mixture and secreted the
resulting compost that was then taken to the fields. Underneath the
troughs, they collected the juices that dripped through the dirt and
they bottled it up. Apparently it is really good to then pour on top
of the soil or spray on the leaves of plants and stuff. So, here I
was, a little grossed out by all these worms, listening to this guy
talk about worms in Spanish and throwing some political teachings
about socialism in there too, wondering what the heck I signed up
for. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
also should confess, that sometimes I feel that way when I read some
of Jesus’ teachings. What the heck is this Christian discipleship
thing I signed up for? Look at this parable. Jesus shares the
parable, and, in a rare teaching moment, also interprets it for us.
The seeds are the word of the kingdom, he says, meaning the kingdom
of heaven, the world of goodness and mercy that God intends for us.
The soil is our hearts. He doesn’t tell us who the sower of the
seeds is, so we’ll come back to that. Once he explains what the
seed is, he gives us four types of soil, or people’s hearts. He
says that some people hear about the kingdom of heaven, but they
don’t understand it. Rather than having time to ruminate on it,
instead the devil snatches it away. It’s as though they never
experienced God’s love at all. Then there are people who receive
the word of God, perhaps they start going to church or a Bible study
or AA, but as soon as trouble comes their way, they let go of the
word they have received, angry that they are still struggling.
Bitterness and anger don’t just define them for a season, but
shrivel them up until they turn away from God. Still others hear
about the kingdom of heaven, start to seek it, but choose wealth and
other cares of the world instead. It is the good soil that we want
our hearts to be like--- soil so healthy that the harvest is beyond
our wildest imaginations and we find ourselves doing mission and
studying scripture and inviting others into our community. These
hearts make up for the failings of the other hearts, and ending with
the abundant harvest leaves us without worry for the future. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Most
of us have heard this parable many, many times. So you might be
confused about why it makes me wonder what I signed up for. But here
is my question: how many of us can say our hearts are that good soil,
healthy soil, all the time? What about all the people I love who are
like the hard-packed path: people who just never grew up in church
and never quite get what’s so good about Jesus or church or the
Bible? Or who </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>did</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> grow
up in church and were treated so poorly by people calling themselves
Christians that they just cannot let those seeds take root? Will they
remain that hard-packed path forever? And what about those times I
myself feel like the rocky ground, that all the goodness God has
showed me withers under the bitterness in or busyness of life? Can I
and people like me never become good soil again? Sometimes when you
start asking questions of scripture, you begin to wonder if it really
is such good news after all.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">But
then I remembered standing on that mountain in Venezuela listening to
a guy talk passionately about worms. Before learning about
vermicompost, I assumed the quality of soil was fixed. Rocky soil
will always be rocky. Certain weeds or thorns can never be gotten rid
of. Missing or depleted nutrients can never be reintroduced. The soil
was created that way and thus it shall always be, right? Wrong. Soil
can be transformed. Adding compost to soil, fertilizer, or worms---
you can buy thousand-count red wrigglers in packs for vermicompost in
case you were interested--- these are ways you can add nutrients back
into tired or thin soil, give it a boost to help nourish healthier
plants. Can all soil become good soil? Probably not, and definitely
not without time or work. But soil quality can be improved. Just as
our own love for God can grow and transform us. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">So
there is good news in this passage. It’s just such news involves
work. We can become good soil through the simple acts of being in
community, praying, reading scripture, and serving one another in
mission. It may be a long process, even worms cannot transform soil
overnight, but it can be done. And then that soil that may have been
too inviting to the birds, or too rocky, or too thorny, might slowly
be transformed until it can bring forth grain, growing up and
yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Remember
who the sower represents, after all.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Sowing
seeds is an ancient way to farm, but people hearing Jesus tell this
story would not be picturing a rich person but rather a poor farmer,
a tenant farmer who can only eke out a living. Such a person would
want to sow wherever the best possibility of a harvest would be, not
on a path where birds could eat the seed, or on rocky soil, or
somewhere where there was a weed infestation! But the sower </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>did</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">
sow seed all over those places, extravagantly, as though there was an
unlimited supply.</span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></span></sup><span style="font-size: medium;">
Do you know anyone so extravagant? Jesus, perhaps. You know, the guy
who fed five thousand people with some bread and fish, who could heal
people if they just brushed up against his clothing, who stood up to
the might of Empire and the power of evil to show us the way of love.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">If
this is the one who sows the seeds, then this one can help us
transform our at times thin and pitiful soil to reap a harvest that
you would not believe, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty,
and in another thirty. Jesus’ audience that day, would consider a
twofold harvest to be a good one. And instead their ears hear a story
about a sower who throws seed and reaps and abundant harvest. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">It
was yet another story that reminded them and should remind us that,
with God, all things are possible. Maybe that first time we hear the
word, it will not take root in us. Sometimes we have to talk about
it, share it with others, pray about it until we finally get it. But
God can help transform the kind of soil we are, so that we will bear
fruit of the kingdom of God, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I
want to end with a prayer written by a pastor on a beautiful blog
called Unfolding Light. Let us pray:</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Sower God, what hard-worn paths of habit, what
packed-down roads drivennness have we trod out across our lives, ruts
that do not receive your seed? Soften them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">What birds of desire snatch up your seed before it roots
in us? Calm them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">What shallow, rocky soil lies in our hearts, what
refusal to open our depths and surrender? Loosen us.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">What thorns of bitterness choke your grace? Let them
wither, all of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">And where is your lovely soil in us— humble, human
hummus— thick with holy rot and death, rich with all that has
failed and fallen, crawling with the secret worms of grace that give
life in the dark earth that we are?</span> </blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Find those places, fall upon us, sink in, and flourish.
Amen.</span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2sym" name="sdfootnote2anc"><sup>2</sup></a></span></sup></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">In
this time of dedication, pray on those worms of grace.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a><span style="font-weight: normal;">Some
of this was inspired by Sarah Dylan Breuer, “</span><b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">God
is a Foolish Farmer: A Farewell Sermon for St. Martin's,” Proper
10 Year A, 6 July 2005, </span></span></b><b><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sarah
Laughed: Dylan's Lectionary Blog</span></i></b><b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
accessed 11 July 2017,
http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/07/proper_10_year_.html.</span></span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote2anc" name="sdfootnote2sym">2</a>Edited
for first person plural rather than singular. Steve Garnaas-Holmes,
“Sowing,” 12 July 2017, <i>Unfolding Light</i>, accessed 15 July
2017,
https://www.unfoldinglight.net/reflections/2232pzkreec8354mnsjkp99ywa9bg6.<br />
<br />S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-55116430047452715562017-07-09T15:00:00.000-04:002018-03-17T15:31:34.069-04:00Rest in Our Souls<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>This was my first sermon for <a href="http://calvaryumc.org/">Calvary United Methodist Church</a> in Frederick, my new appointment where I serve as the associate pastor. </i></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture:</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Matthew 11:16-19 and 25-30</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(NRSV)</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But
to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting
in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the
flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not
mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say,
‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and
they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” </span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">...</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At
that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such
was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my
Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows
the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and
learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sermon:</b></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Let us pray:</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: transparent;">Patient
teacher, we give thanks for this day, for an opportunity to see new
mercies. We don't always give thanks for your word, especially when
it is confusing, but we know we should anyway. So we give you thanks
for this word too, and ask that the words of my mouth and the
meditations of all our hearts help us to better understand you, and
open us even more to that mercy and grace you shower upon us. Amen.</span></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Someone asked me
what I was going to preach on my first Sunday here, and I said the
scripture where Jesus talks about giving us rest. I have always liked
this scripture because of a song that quotes it, but I guess it might
come off as a little strange that your new pastor has only been here
a week and she's already talking about weariness and a need for rest.
But no, this is not a cry for help! Or not exactly. Because I think
what Jesus was telling his followers here is actually something I
need help with, and I suspect some of you may need help with as well.
</span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Summer is often
seen as a season of relaxation in our culture. Many of us try to go
on vacations. We spend weekends with friends eating hot dogs and
hamburgers, especially for Memorial Day and Fourth of July. But I
find for many of us summer becomes even more of a scramble than the
rest of the year. Who will take care of the kids when we are at work?
Will we get enough rain for our gardens? When will we find time to
mow the lawn? Or, for many of us struggling with the basics, where
will our families find something to eat without free school lunches?
Where will we find a safe and cool place to sleep if we can't afford
air conditioning in our own homes? The heat alone can make us weary.
Summer brings so many questions and it can easily become more of a
juggling act than a restful season. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Our culture is not
one for rest anyway. How often have you felt like you are trapped in
a hamster wheel, trying to do all the things, but as soon as you
accomplish one task, there are ten others? And of course, we can't
ask for help. We have to be independent, pull ourselves up by our
bootstraps or something. Sometimes we seem like we'd rather do it on
our own than actually rely on God. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">My story is
definitely one that as much in love with God as I am, I have been
known to try to do the work on my own rather than rely on God. In
fact, my call story is one like that and the last few years have been
like that as well. I was called to ministry when I was nineteen years
old. Well, it was before that, but I didn't pay any attention. I
didn't think God knew what God was talking about so I kept doing my
own thing. My mom is a pastor and I certainly didn't want to be like
her! (I was a teenager, after all.) In fact, the call I heard first
was not to be a pastor but to be a missionary. I went on a mission
trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina when I was sixteen with our very own
Beth Richards, among others. And I had never heard God clearer than
in that country, with those people. I had never really recognized the
transforming power of God's love before I went to Bosnia. So I was
set. Sixteen years old, I knew what God called me to do and I worked
to make it happen.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">I am a planner.
That doesn't mean I'm organized, but I have a plan. My roommate in
seminary reminded me recently that when we were serving as student
chaplains in a hospital together, I mapped out all my hours and
figured out what two days I could get sick. “You know you can't
pick what days you get sick, right?” She asked me. But that's just
how I am. I have a plan, and I put it into motion. I had a call, so I
had decided how I was going to respond to the call, what steps had to
happen. I recognized God's voice and then promptly told God I'd take
it from here. So when I was nineteen and one of those steps I had to
take to realize my call fell through, I was desolate. I was studying
abroad in France at the time, and I remember feeling so lost. I would
sit in these huge stone cathedrals, a little like this one, in fact,
and wonder why God would make things so hard. Why would God give me a
dream and snatch it away like that? </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">As petulant as it
seems looking back on it, I have found many I minister with have the
same question in their own lives. And I find myself asking the same
thing now as I get angry at God for giving me the dream of a family
and snatching it further and further away. Aaron and I have been
trying to have children for years, and we keep coming up to roadblock
after roadblock. It is wearying. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">When I was
nineteen, I first felt a little of that weariness. I was weary and
angry and frustrated with God. But I was also a preacher's kid, and
so I kept going to church anyway. I was so weary that I think I gave
up. I didn't know where I was going to go or who I was going to be
after college. So I brought my burdens to Jesus and discovered that
his yoke wasn't so bad after all. That maybe he could be trusted to
plan things a bit. I found an awesome church community in Washington
DC, joined a Bible study and did mission with them. I began to
experience joy again. I didn't feel so alone. And so at the beginning
of summer, at a special worship service for young United Methodist
students, in a small chapel with low lighting and the strum of
guitars, a pastor friend of mine lifted homemade rainbow communion
bread before us, broke it, and I had this incredible sensation wash
over me. I felt like I was home. I felt completely loved, completely
connected. My weary soul, searching for what I was to do, who I was
to be, found rest at the Table. I found rest in Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">But that rest was
not a vacation. It was a call. God called me to keep working to make
all people feel at home at that same Table. And God told me I
wouldn't do it alone.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">If
you remember, Jesus urges the weary to come to him, but then he talks
about a yoke. I should let you know, I am a country girl. Aaron and I
went to a high school that had Take Your Tractor to School day.
Still, I don't know much about yokes. In fact, when I think about a
yoke, I think about bondage, even servitude. I think of a power that
someone places on top of another, human or animal, and forces us to
work for them. But I think what Jesus is talking about is more of a
double yoke to pull together, in tandem, a team. We don't have to
work alone, he says. We don't have to wonder how we are going to live
into our call alone. Jesus wears the yoke with us, labors alongside
us, is connected to us, and helps to make </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">our
work to spread God's love easier, not more difficult.</span></span><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></span></span></sup></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">I wrote in my
newsletter that the scripture through which I seek to understand the
journey of faith is John 10:10, in which Jesus tells us that he came
that we might have life and have it abundantly. As Christians, we
often think we have to work hard, suffer a lot, deprive ourselves in
order to be faithful. Such a life is not abundant. Such a life is not
that of one yoked to Christ. Yes, we will work. Yes, we will suffer.
Yes, we will have to give up some of the things we love. But we do
not have to bear our burdens alone. Christ walks alongside us,
working with us, offering us more abundance always. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">God called me. God
was not going to let me be alone, lost, empty. That doesn't mean that
God will prevent anything bad from happening to me. But God says I
don't have to weary myself trying to figure it out on my own. And God
has called each of you by virtue of your baptisms. God is not going
to let you wander alone, either. You might insist on doing the work
yourself. You might try to be independent. But Jesus is there,
reaching for you, offering to help so life isn't so hard. Offering to
help so you can find new life, abundant life. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">So, are you going
to keep insisting on doing it your own way? Whether that's your job,
your call, your faith, your relationships? Or are you going to settle
your weary self down and take up the yoke alongside Jesus? This
sermon is a bit of a commitment to you, to stop trying to do it all
on my own and to learn from Jesus. For Jesus is gentle and humble in
heart, and in him, we will find rest for our souls. Hallelujah. Amen.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a>Jan
Richardson wrote a beautiful reflection on this passage that I draw
on here: “If the yoke fits...” 2 July 2008, <i>The Painted
Prayerbook</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,</span> accessed 6
July 2017,
http://paintedprayerbook.com/2008/07/02/if-the-yoke-fits/.</div>
</div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-48497960558422766662017-07-02T16:52:00.002-04:002020-10-16T10:54:59.744-04:00A House Blessing<p>This content has been moved to my new website!</p><p><a href="https://www.shannonesullivan.com/liturgies/ourhouseblessing">https://www.shannonesullivan.com/liturgies/ourhouseblessing</a><br /></p>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-85057993132197033622017-06-21T21:48:00.000-04:002017-06-21T22:18:40.098-04:00Another due dateAnother due date. Still no baby.<br />
<br />
I am not hopeful like I was on our last due date. In fact, we conceived our son a week after my last due date, but, like the first baby, he died too. All my babies are dead, and I have since discovered that without genetic testing of an embryo before implantation, we have a slim chance of ever having a living baby, especially because I can't get pregnant easily in the first place.<br />
<br />
And yet, as I preached from Paul's Letter to the <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=365095339">Romans 5:1-5</a> and Rebecca Solnit's book<i> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/15/rebecca-solnit-hope-in-the-dark-new-essay-embrace-unknown">Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities</a></i> just two Sundays ago, hope is not the same as positivity and optimism. That kind of hope disappoints, as I have suffered three years to receive the gift that I have known I wanted since I was twenty-months-old and became a big sister for the first time. I know that no matter how much I may hope to bear a child, I may never become pregnant. And I am comforted that the medical end of our journey to become parents is in sight. But hope is really about action; it is about living into possibilities that we cannot begin to imagine, but that we can still influence in one way or another. As we begin this journey in our new house and new city with new jobs, we continue to act to build our family. Because those actions may influence us to become better parents and better Christians and better activists and more authentically ourselves. Because those actions may be a glimmer of light for someone else who is struggling. Because those actions are ways we can move forward in love for ourselves, love for others, and love for God.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEJt9IPDlpCcbDPo4f4eeUgH3wGU02_w9czKo2bzclchk0w8ABkZwSxY5OJ2bX4_Naox6u8mjvbQZu9_5_VsQ9xdg3bixKj-zzOTgU1EZORe9hT_VuVnVM9EF2o1RzBA5rGMM8VgoRKcK/s1600/20170616_090621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEJt9IPDlpCcbDPo4f4eeUgH3wGU02_w9czKo2bzclchk0w8ABkZwSxY5OJ2bX4_Naox6u8mjvbQZu9_5_VsQ9xdg3bixKj-zzOTgU1EZORe9hT_VuVnVM9EF2o1RzBA5rGMM8VgoRKcK/s640/20170616_090621.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't notice until after we bought the house, but there is a maple tree and a scraggly pine tree framing our home. Both are the trees I remember my autumn and Christmas babies by. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-28079790733884969092017-06-18T15:49:00.000-04:002018-03-17T15:57:24.837-04:00Love Never Ends<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-size: medium;">My last sermon for Presbury UMC.</span></i></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Scripture: </b></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">1
Corinthians 13:1-3, 8-13 (NRSV) </span></span></i></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">If
I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have
love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my
body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come
to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will
come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in
part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to
childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will
see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,
even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide,
these three; and the greatest of these is love. </span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">2
Corinthians 13:11-13 (NRSV) </span></span></i></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Finally,
brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my
appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love
and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All
the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of
God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Sermon:</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Let
us pray:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">Patient
teacher, we give you thanks. We should always start with thanks
because no matter how weak our faith or how slim our hope, we always
have your love. So we thank you. And we ask through the words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts this morning that you may
help us always to name that love and be part of that love ourselves
this day and always. Amen.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">How
many of you like love stories? Me too! In the famous romance story
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Star
Wars</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">,
the first time Han and Leia express their love for one another, it
went a little </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;">something
like this:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: #ffff00;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kdlRmWd_R7A" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">That
is true love right there. What does it have to do with our scripture
from 1</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">st</span></span></span></sup></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
and 2</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><sup><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">nd</span></span></span></sup></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
Corinthians? Nothing, I just wanted to make a </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Star
Wars</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
reference in my goodbye sermon to all of you. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Anyway,
love stories have been on my mind as I prepared to say goodbye to all
of you. Not romantic ones, except for </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Star
Wars</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
of course. Even though this 1 Corinthians 13 passage is frequently
used at weddings, the love it describes is not a romantic love in the
least. The apostle Paul who wrote this letter to the early
Corinthians church was not the most romantic guy. He wanted us to
understand at least a little bit the kind of love that God has for
us. You see, romantic love may inspire us, spark something within us,
but it is not stable. It must be grounded in commitment if it is to
endure any length of time, and even then it does not always last. But
that doesn't mean love, the love that God has used as the foundation
of our being, the love God has taught us through the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, the love that God offers us each and
every day through the movement of the Spirit, is not stable. In fact,
the scripture verse that keeps coming to mind is the last from this
chapter: </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">And
now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of
these is love</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
</span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I
talked about faith not long ago. I said that it was more than just
believing something to be true. Intellectually, we may know something
to be true, but that doesn't always mean that we no longer have
doubts in our hearts. Nor is faith the trust that the storms in life
will pass or reveal a greater gift. Faith is about leaning into the
presence of God even when we are afraid.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And
yet, that is easier said than done. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I
talked about hope just last week. About how hope can disappoint us,
but when it does it is not the hope God is calling us to. God is not
calling us to a specific outcome, to be postivie or optimistic. God
is calling us to act into the possibilites for good that God is
constantly creating. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">And
yet, still it is hard to hope. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">But
the greatest of these is love. That's what Paul tells us. In fact, he
writes that is all you have is hope, that is not enough. He writes
that if all you have is faith, you are nothing. He writes, </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">If
I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have
love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my
body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">
It almost sounds harsh. But my experience is that this love is what
sustains us when our faith slips. Love is what holds onto hope when
we no longer can. Love can transform us in the darkest hour of our
lives because love never ends. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">In
the last four years I have been your pastor, I have seen the
transformational power of love through this church. I have watched
when I bring one of you with me to see someone in the hospital or at
home, and I have seen their whole faces change. Sure it means a lot
to have the pastor come visit, but to have a fellow church member
come visit, someone you have known for years, that means something
even more. I have watched as you have offered help to one another,
whether it is a ride somewhere or letting someone stay with you. One
person told me this week that even though she doesn't have biological
family in Edgewood anymore, people in church have adopted her and
become her family, taking her to doctor's appointments, bringing her
meals, and helping her find someone to help around the house. Another
told me he introduces members of the church as his siblings because
that's how connected he feels. I have been witness to the
transforming power of love as our youth have gone on mission trips
and as our children have played with a Muslim youth group. I have
watched people sit and listen with our guests experiencing
homelessness at the shelter, offering them anointing for healing. I
have watched you love one another as Jesus loved us, which was the
commandment he gave to us before his death and resurrection in the
Gospel of John. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">I,
too, have been on the receiving end of that love. When I came to
Presbury, I'd like to think I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready
to work. Deer Creek and Mt. Tabor had taught me how to pastor, and
helped me to fall in love with the church again, and I was ready to
get to know you and jump right into ministry. You put up with my
hare-brained ideas, indulged my geeky-ness, and cleaned up after me
when I threw confetti around everywhere. You welcomed Aaron, and even
though he still considers himself to be a Baptist, he knows you are
his church home. He felt included and valued and discipled here. And
when we had the worst year of our lives, you were there, laying hands
on Aaron to ask for his healing, sending us cards and sharing your
own stories of loss so we did not feel so alone, and continually
telling me you were praying for me. You caravaned to Washington D.C.
to celebrate my ordination. You hugged us, laughed more </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">with</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">
us that </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">at</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">
us, cried with us, and continue to cover us in prayer. That love has
lifted us up, kept us floating above water when we have struggled
with our grief and anxiety so much that our own faith and hope have
waned. God poured love into you, and you poured it out onto us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Maybe
using the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Star
Wars</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">
clip about love was not so disjointed after all. Me telling you that
I love you may make you want to say, duh, we know. But I don't think
you </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">do
</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">know
how much your love has carried us through. You might say that it is
your work as the church to love. And it is. But churches are not
often described as loving places, but rather as places of judgment
and hypocrisy. But even when we fall short here at Presbury, we are
still a loving community, trying to learn to love better. So thank
you--- which incidentally was my response to Aaron when he first told
me he loved me. But that's another story. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Love
doesn't always get the words right, the way that faith tries to. Love
doesn't work toward vision of what the future will hold, the way
faith does. Love </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">is</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.
We know only in part, as Paul reminds us. But love reminds us that we
are fully known by God, in all our struggles, in our defeats, in our
joys, and God loves us. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">God
expresses that love to others through us. Our world is in such need
of the love that is crammed into the people in this building. After a
week of news of mass shootings at even a congressional baseball game
wondering when it will be difficult for people who should not have
guns to get guns, of yet another trial in which a murder of a black
man is seen as inconsequential when the officer who killed Philando
Castile was acquitted, and yet another trial that reminds us why so
few people report sexual abuse that ended with a deadlocked jury
because can women be believed over a rich, powerful man? And that's
just the news. What hurt is here in our church, here in our
community? Such hurt cannot be healed except with love. You have
shown it to me and to one another. You have shared it in service and
in mission. And you need to keep on sharing it now, with your new
pastor Tiffany, with your siblings in this new church partnership at
Cranberry, and with all of Edgewood. Because you never know who is
feeling drained of their faith and hope and in need of a little love
to remind them why they are on this earth in the first place. You
yourself may be in that position. Your faith may feel a little shaky,
like mine has, especially since Aaron's mom died. Your hope may
flicker like it is going out, like mine has through this whole
journey of infertility and miscarriage. As you face this new
transition with a new pastor and a new partner church, your faith and
hope may be solid but you may still be nervous and anxious. But love
never ends. You only have to turn to one another to find the love
that God pours out through us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Thank
you for the ways you have been part of my love story with God. And
for allowing me to be part of yours. I look forward to seeing how the
story continues with Pastor Tiffany and continues as Aaron and I go
to Calvary. When Paul wrote the second letter to the Corinthians, he
gave them farewell advice. It's short advice, and good, but my advice
for you is simply to love one another. For, as Paul wrote to the
Corinthians and I am sure is true for you, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">the
God of love and peace will be with you</span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.
Always. Amen.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-22751772576319326082017-04-25T17:52:00.000-04:002017-04-25T18:01:27.578-04:00You are a child of GodYou are a child of God.<br />
<br />
No matter what people think about you. No matter what you think about yourself. You are a child of God, and no one--- NO ONE--- can separate you from God's love. That's what we were reminding ourselves of today at the spring meeting of the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church.<br />
<br />
The Judicial Council is like the Supreme Court of our church, and for years their docket has been filled with complaints pertaining to human sexuality. Today's meeting was no exception. However, these meetings are not usually open to the public, except today. <a href="http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/court-hears-arguments-over-gay-bishop">Today, the Judicial Council heard oral arguments</a> over whether or not the election of a married lesbian to the office of bishop in the Western Jurisdiction is lawful under our <i>Book of Discipline</i>. The bishop in question is Bishop Karen Oliveto, a fellow Drewid who I have worked with at General Conference and marched beside on the fiftieth anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s "I Had a Dream" speech. She is a true leader and one of the most pastoral people I have ever met. She is also one of the most Wesleyan! Today, one of my professors from Drew described her as "one of the best of us" clergy. It is heartbreaking and horrifying to listen to a fellow clergyperson from the South Central Jurisdiction continually using the words "null, void, unlawful" when speaking of the ministry and person of such an amazing child of God. But then, the <i>Book of Discipline</i> itself uses the phrase "incompatible with Christian teaching" in reference to same-gender loving people, so why should we be so surprised?<br />
<br />
But in spite of witnessing the church at its worst in this trial, I also witnessed the church at its best. I have not been organizing with this particular church community at the last convocation or General Conference because of depression accompanying my infertility and miscarriages, turning me inward, sapping my energy. Today, though, a clergy colleague called me up and encouraged me to drive to New Jersey with her, and I am so glad we went. I got to see old friends and professors and classmates. I met people I have only met online and made new connections. I sang Mark Miller songs and received communion. I saw people who have been beaten down stand up straight and live into their calling. I was witness to the persistence of the resurrection. I witnessed how no matter how much death we might experience, God is still bringing about new life.<br />
<br />
When we arrived, we stood in the lobby to pray before going into the hearing. And we started to sing: "<i>No matter what people think. Think or say about you. You are a child, you are a child of God! No matter what the church days, decisions, pronouncements on you, You are a child, you are a child of God!</i>" And as we sang, Bishop Oliveto and Robin walked out among us on their way to the room where the hearing was and stopped to greet us. Here they were, and many of us were, feeling discouraged. Perhaps wondering what life could possibly be found in this United Methodist Church. But the life was this community, sprouting up from a deep grounding in love to show how we can live as children of God.<br />
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<br />
Before we left, we received communion from the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UMQClergy/">United Methodist Queer Clergy Caucus</a>. The tables where the members of the Jurisdictional Conference sat were covered in rainbow stones and bread and juice. The room where words were uttered rejecting the movement of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of queer people was washed in songs about grace and tearing down walls. We reclaimed a space of death for new life where all people are recognized as children of God. We spoke the truth that there is nothing, no one, not even the church, that can separate us from the love of God. <br />
<br />
I am not hopeful
about the future of the church based on the work of the Judicial Council or the <a href="http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/commission-on-a-way-forward">Commission on a Way Forward</a>. I am hopeful about the future of this church led by the amazing
people I saw witnessing to the resurrection today.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZTLQI6AhFB_vfQTWKzhWKz7aKKOFdAO4S513fN_JBXLiSs3SLLpiVA_8RnfRKkZcWaFr8ks8S3xoX4HlGVDhRFkz7Yvjfmu7C0Q4BkWzPZu3xeqgn1oYq6yPDj9Ip_gfIDrKdU9g5Im6/s1600/20170425_115606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZTLQI6AhFB_vfQTWKzhWKz7aKKOFdAO4S513fN_JBXLiSs3SLLpiVA_8RnfRKkZcWaFr8ks8S3xoX4HlGVDhRFkz7Yvjfmu7C0Q4BkWzPZu3xeqgn1oYq6yPDj9Ip_gfIDrKdU9g5Im6/s640/20170425_115606.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Communion reclaiming Judicial Council space</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-80738509007701443612017-04-14T22:57:00.000-04:002017-04-15T11:31:51.069-04:00Finished: A Good Friday Sermon<i>This year Presbury UMC worshiped with Lord of Life Church (ELCA) for Good Friday.</i><b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b>Scripture:</b> John 19:25b-30 (NRSV)<br />
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.<br />
<br />
<b>Sermon:</b> Finished<br />
Let us pray:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Patient teacher, we hear this story year after year. But even though it may be familiar to us, we ask that the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts startle us into transformation and new life. Amen.</i></div>
<br />
Jesus was dying. The women watched as he, already brutalized, was dragged through the city. They watched as the nails went into his hands, as the cross was lifted up. Their eyesight may have been blurred as they wept, their hearing may have been obscured by their own wailing, but they knew what was happening to their beloved teacher, healer, and savior. They knew his life was finished, and, with it, theirs as well.<br />
<br />
We have not been to public executions. They are considered barbaric, though of course this week I learned that the state of Arkansas prepares to put seven people to death in ten days because the drugs they use in executions are set to expire. And of course, you can see plenty of footage on Youtube documenting police shootings in our own country. And of course, we hear almost daily it seems of bombs being dropped, on our behalf we are told, in other parts of the world. But while with these reminders we may catch a glimpse the shame of public executions, the senseless violence of it, most of us do not really understand it. But we do understand pain. And the women at the foot of the cross in the Gospel of John are like we have been at one point or another or maybe like we are now, consumed by our own pain. Wondering how our lives could go on.<br />
<br />
And while the women stood there, hearts breaking, helpless, angry even, Jesus said, “It is finished.” And then he died. So what is finished<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">?<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1 </sup></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>His life? We know that not to be the case. His work? Well, I don't know. Have you ever met someone needing healing, redemption, salvation? So then “it” couldn't refer to sin either, since we know there is still some sin left in the world, right? Maybe “it” meant pain, his and others? The women at the foot of the cross could tell you otherwise. We could tell you otherwise. <br />
<br />
Like so much of the Bible, the statement “It is finished” is open ended, resisting easy answers. So you may read it differently than I do. Tomorrow I may read it differently than I do today. But today, I think that Jesus didn't mean all pain was over when he declared, “It is finished.” He didn't mean sin was gone. We read this statement as an ending, but instead it is a beginning<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http:///#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>2</sup></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Even as he was dying, Jesus was promising us a new way to live.<br />
<div class="sdfootnote">
You see, in the Gospel of John, “while the world hurls forth the worst it has to offer, Jesus remains unfazed and triumphant."<span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: transparent;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http:///#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>3</sup></a></span></span></span></span> Can you imagine what the women at the foot of the cross felt when they heard Jesus' words? They were despairing and fearful, but he was calm and confident. He wasn't belittling their pain, though; in fact, just a few verses earlier in our scripture, he encouraged them to continue to lean on one another when he told the beloved disciple and his mother that they were family now, saying, “Woman here is your son.” But death did not shake him the way it was shaking them. Because he trusted in God's transforming power. And he declared, even though no one could see it yet, that the old life was gone and new life was beginning already. It is finished. </div>
<br />
Frankly, I always preferred the Jesus of the Gospel of Mark, who cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). I want a God who knows my pain. But in the Gospel of John, the women are the ones who know my pain. They are huddled together, broken. But Jesus reaches out to them, not allowing the ugliness of the world defeat him and inviting us not to let it defeat us either. He does not let sorrow have the last word, or pain. In the Gospel of John, new life does not begin in the empty tomb, but even before, even from the cross. Because Jesus shows us possibility where we might never see it. Before the resurrection, he shows us how to remain triumphant even in the midst of pain. <br />
<br />
I don't know about you, but this is a lesson I need in my life. Presbury knows that my family and I have struggled a lot in the past year. This is not the first, but the second Easter in a row that I would have been pregnant if I had not miscarried. And I have still not yet experienced the promise of new life. I cannot see it. I don't have certainty that next year or the year after we will finally have a baby. The bitterness gets so overwhelming at times. But Jesus in the Gospel of John on Good Friday tells us we don't need certainty. And he tells us that we don't have to let pain overwhelm us. He tells us it is finished. He doesn't tell us how or when; when he says, “It is finished,” he invites us even in the midst of our pain now, today, to live differently.<br />
<br />
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So what has to be finished in your lives, and also in our world, for you to walk in this new beginning Jesus has made the way for? On a post-it note, I want you to name, on one side, what needs to be finished in your own life, and on the other side in the world, for us to walk in new beginnings. Maybe it is bitterness and jealousy, like I struggle with after miscarriage. It could be a sin that needs to stop controlling your life. It could be a toxic relationship or a job that keeps you from walking in new beginnings. And on the other side, what needs to be finished in our world? Let us trust Jesus' declaration that it is finished, even when we can't imagine otherwise. I want you to write it down and come forward and nail it or just post it to the cross. We will leave those things there, and prepare our hearts to follow Jesus into a new life trusting the old is finished and there will be--- that there is already--- a new beginning before us.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a>The
idea that follows riffs on the commentary by Randall C. Bailey,
“Good Friday,” <i>Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A
Lectionary Commentary</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, Year A,
eds. Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, Ronald J. Allen, and Dale P. Andrews
(</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Lousiville,
Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013</span><span style="font-style: normal;">),</span>
192.</span><br />
<span style="color: navy; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="http:///#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"></a>
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<br />
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http:///#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">2</a>Trygve
David Johnson, “Homeletical Perspective on John 18:1-19:42,”
<i>Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised
Common Lectionary</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
Year A, Vol. 2, eds. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor
(Lousiville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 301 and
303.</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <a class="sdfootnotesym" href="http:///#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">3</a>Mary
Louise Bringle, “Homeletical Perspective on John 18:1-19:42,”
<i>Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised
Common Lectionary</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
Year B, Vol. 2, eds. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor
(Lousiville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 309.</span></span>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-78036178027433106462017-02-21T19:23:00.001-05:002017-02-21T19:23:46.470-05:00A Tribute to My Mother-In-Law<i><a href="http://www.mccomasfuneralhome.com/mobile/obit.php?id=1698528&name=Bonnie-B.-Harrington&loca=Street-MD">We lost my husband Aaron's mother</a> a day before her fifty-sixth birthday and a week and a day before Aaron's thirtieth birthday. This is what I shared at her celebration of life. </i><br />
<br />
I am Shannon Sullivan, Bonnie's daughter-in-law. Or Ms. Bonnie, as I usually call her. What can I say--- it's hard to break habits from high school. We all know the stereotype of the relationship between mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law, but it probably won't surprise you to know that Ms. Bonnie was not like that. In fact she supported me and defended me and continually checked in to make sure that Aaron was treating me all right. Even though my sisters insist that I am the reacher and Aaron is the settler in our relationship, Ms. Bonnie--- and David too--- always looked out for me. “That Aaron better be spending time with you instead of always going to the airport!” she would say to me. <br />
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<br />
The first time I went to Aaron's house as his girlfriend, Aaron and I went walking through the woods and came back with the bottoms of my jeans caked in mud. She was mortified, worrying that my parents would never let me come back. So she made me borrow a pair of Aaron's pants so she could wash mine. And his pants fit me. Kind of a terrible experience for a fifteen-year-old girl who knew little about body positivity, but I later joked that we would have to get married because we would save so much money on pants if we could borrow one another's! But it was just the first of many ways she took care of me--- of us--- even while she made us laugh, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Mr. Mike told us the other night that she knew Aaron and I would get married when we went away for college even though we went to different colleges. But she never said anything to Aaron because she never wanted to influence him. Sure, she gave advice, but she always wanted us to make our own decisions and supported us no matter what we did. <br />
<br />
But it was her faith that really was transformational. There's a story in the Bible about the relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law. It's the book of Ruth. In it, a woman named Naomi loses her husband and both sons and decides to move back to her own country. One daughter-in-law kisses her and wishes her well but another clings to her and ends up going with her to Bethlehem. That one is Ruth, whose name means friend, and Ruth really took care of Naomi in the fog of her grief and nourished her into life. Bonnie was more like Ruth was in this story for me, and I was more like Naomi, especially this year. Naomi at one point says change her name to Mara, because Mara means bitter and she thinks God has dealt bitterly with her (<i>Ruth 1:20</i>). I felt a lot like Naomi this past year. Now, Ruth's life was one big struggle too, but she does not give up, as Naomi actually does and I felt like doing at times too. And Ms. Bonnie never gave up either. <br />
<br />
<span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">I
was one of the people who helped care for my mother-in-law on and off
for the past two years. I would come over to her house to help with
meals and moving around, but I would bring my grief baggage and my
frustration with God and my hopelessness that I would</span></span> ever have a baby. Ms. Bonnie always had hope, for herself, for me. She was always there to give me an encouraging word. She would often say that it was so hard because she couldn't do anything, couldn't offer anything because she was so weak. Carrying hope for someone who doesn't have anymore is a pretty big offering. So is prayer. She and Mr. Mike would pray for Aaron and I every day, even while Aaron and my prayers were often focused on ourselves because of how isolating our grief and anxiety can be; she didn't let her physical isolation and even later her depression keep her from directing her energy for prayer towards others. She was a true friend, a woman who was always giving, always loving, in spite of her own pain and in spite of my frequent bitterness. <br />
<br />
Chaplain Allen Seigel at Upper Chesapeake read Proverbs 31:10-31 as Ms. Bonnie was dying. Verse 29 says, “<i>Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.</i>” Bonnie did surpass them all. And even though I am still thinking of changing my name to Mara sometimes, I give thanks to God for Bonnie's friendship, her guidance, her prayers. And I know the love of Christ that she taught us will still sustain us as a family always.S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-16875407348046140082017-01-30T19:31:00.001-05:002017-01-30T19:31:20.430-05:00An Afternoon in a Refugee Camp<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-Ijgk0-9eqUWI0YtxJ2rZ9tnPxmQG7A_Fb45PBkKV-USNTiTV43byG9NLbMgWVVoP9Wn8GeAo5yFfZpIZqy__p5OtlwnAMdapds1QeWBGfyS8I9JcmCWsKz8mu0aZ-DvJnlVt02qCrBc/s1600/DSCN0092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-Ijgk0-9eqUWI0YtxJ2rZ9tnPxmQG7A_Fb45PBkKV-USNTiTV43byG9NLbMgWVVoP9Wn8GeAo5yFfZpIZqy__p5OtlwnAMdapds1QeWBGfyS8I9JcmCWsKz8mu0aZ-DvJnlVt02qCrBc/s320/DSCN0092.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The refugee camp in Bijelo Polje, 2004.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When I was fifteen, I visited a refugee camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don't remember much about it--- I think the people there were refugees from Kosovo maybe? I don't remember much what the camp director told us about how the camp ran, how many people were there, how long people could expect to be there. But I do remember the children in the camp. How we tried to play games with them but really the kids were clinging to us so tightly we could barely move our arms to toss a ball, and the ball would come right back to us. My sister, who was fourteen then, said she still remembers the face of the little girl who held her hand the entire
time. She remembers trying to get her to play but she'd just smile, shake
her head and just hold her hand. I remember not all the children had shoes, but perhaps it was just because it was summer? I remember the concrete everywhere--- different from the images of tent cities with blue UN tarps like we usually see on TV nowadays. But this camp was concrete encased in a chain link fence. I remember the faces of the children pressed into the fence as we left.<br />
<br />
The woman who translated for us while we were in Bosnia went on to work in a local school there and I remember her telling me that the children at that camp went to her school. So these refugees had different opportunities than ones crossing the sea or living in a tent on a border somewhere. But whenever I hear about refugees in the news, I remember the feel of tiny hands gripping mine with fierce longing. I remember the faces of children so desperate to be treated as something other than a criminal or a burden or unwanted that they were willing to attach themselves to a stranger like me who could not even remotely speak their language or, let's be realistic, throw or catch a ball. <br />
<br />
And so when the president of my country issues an executive order banning refugees from entering the country for 120 days--- except those from Syria who will be banned indefinitely--- I get angry. How dare we prioritize a mythical concept of safety over the lives of children? I remember the faces of the kids watching us leave--- those were not the faces of terrorists. Those were not the faces of threats to our national security. They were the faces of children wondering why they lived in a cage. Wondering when they would have a home. According to the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html">United Nations Refugee Agency</a>, 65.3 million people around the world have been forced from their homes, including nearly 21.3 million refugees. Over half of refugees are under the age of 18. These are the people we are really rejecting.<br />
<br />
So let's stop allowing our politicians to feed us lies about our safety and instead embrace our fellow human beings. <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/how-to-call-your-representative-about-donald-trumps-refugee-ban-33787">Call your representatives</a>. Financially support organizations working with refugees. Reach out to local organizations that help with resettlement (if you are in the Baltimore area, check out the <a href="http://www.refugeeyouthproject.org/">Refugee Youth Project</a>). Pray and work for a world where people are not forced from their homes in pursuit of peace and stability. Remember that it is not our safety that is a concern but the safety of these children in camps. S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-56854155375467324742016-12-12T19:45:00.000-05:002016-12-12T20:15:49.228-05:00The people who walk in darkness<i>Upper Chesapeake Medical Center has restarted a perinatal bereavement support group. I was the first speaker, and the group ended up being relaxed and informal, but this is what I had prepared to say.</i><br />
<br />
In the last year, I have had two miscarriages. The last one was only a few weeks ago. We have been trying to have children for over two years. And I should tell you I am a pastor, so this is a busy time of year for me. It is Advent, the season of preparing our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ by remembering and even reenacting the birth of a baby. It's also a season of waiting.<br />
<br />
Does this sound like a super fun time of year for a person dealing with the death of babies and wondering when, if ever, she will ever get pregnant again?<br />
<br />
Hint: it's not.<br />
<br />
One of the scriptures we read during Advent that I usually open Christmas Eve services with is from the prophet Isaiah. He writes, <i>The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined</i> (Isaiah 9:2). He writes about the Israelites, desperately hoping for a new reign of peace and prosperity after life under the oppression of the Assyrian Empire. Christians read it as the anticipation of Jesus's birth. And it is a scripture that has been sticking with me in this season. Because I feel like those people who walked in darkness--- not (necessarily) because of politics, but because of grief.<br />
<br />
I knew I was going to have a miscarriage my first pregnancy. We had conceived on Christmas day last year, which is probably more information than you need to know, but this was after over a year of trying and my desperation was so strong that I basically missed a day of work every month when I got my period because all I could do was sit around and cry. When we learned we were going to have a Christmas baby, it seemed too perfect. I didn't trust it. Perhaps that says something about my faith, you can analyze that later, but this moment should have felt like dawn after a long night. Instead it just felt like more darkness. That is until just before the eighth week, when I finally started picking out baby names and researching potential Halloween costumes. Finally, that light seemed to be shining! And then I had a miscarriage. I remember sitting in the car on the way to the emergency room on my husband's twenty-ninth birthday while he prayed for us and he was still praying that our baby would be okay. I had no such hope. I already knew our baby was gone.<br />
<br />
Now the days after our miscarriage were not as dark as that day. I could feel hope again. After all, we hadn't been sure we could get pregnant naturally but we did. And when it started to get dark again, after not getting pregnant for seven months on our own and with some help, the day of the baby's due date ended up being another experience of renewal that let some light seep in. And then I got pregnant again, a week after my first due date, and, even though I was cautious, I allowed myself to hope this time. To hold my belly and talk to the baby. To again try and decide on a middle name for a boy. But I only allowed myself to hope a little bit. I had grown accustomed to the dark.<br />
<br />
I miscarried again. And this time I saw no light. And when people reminded me that God was still with me, and that I have a wonderful supportive husband and church, and that I have so much to be thankful for, I just got more bitter. I wanted to be left alone in my grief. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and my heart adjusted to hopelessness.<br />
<br />
But I don't think hopelessness is all the darkness of pregnancy and infant loss can teach me, and maybe teach us. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again...”<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a><br />
<br />
One of those things I have learned is the power of community. I have always believed that community is beautiful, but it was not until I was stumbling in this darkness myself that I actually experienced it saving me. Like just his past Tuesday, when I was exhausted and ran into a family acquaintance in a hospital waiting room while looking for one of my parishioners. She asked me which of my sisters had lost the baby. I burst into tears when I told her it was me, not one of my sisters, even though I thought I was doing so well with not crying in public. But while I tried to blink back tears, she took my hand and told me about how between her two children, she lost five pregnancies. She told me about how her son was a twin, but his twin died at seventeen weeks. She had to carry the dead baby within her as she carried the living one. And she told me this story not with triumph, not with the smile and “See, one day you will have a beautiful baby too just like I did,” end to the story. She told me her story just to let me know I was not alone, and she had cried too, so many times.<br />
<br />
I want to run the show. I want to be able to plan my pregnancies the way my mother did, when she decided she never wanted to be pregnant in the summer again, so my sisters' birthdays are June 1 and June 3. I want my doctor to tell me the next IUI will work. I want to know when I get that positive on the pregnancy stick that I will be pregnant for forty weeks, not seven or eight. But we don't run the show. We don't have control over our ovulation or the quality of our eggs. We don't have control over crying in the middle of a hospital waiting room with an almost stranger. But when I stop trying to control the outcome, I might start to see beauty and goodness in the light there is, even if it isn't the kind of light I wanted or expected. Like the beauty and goodness there was in sitting with a woman, listening to her story and not feeling so alone anymore.<br />
<br />
The darkness of pregnancy and infant loss is horrible. I would give up this journey in exchange for a baby in a heartbeat. But there is still goodness in the midst of the horribleness, still light in the darkness, even if it is a just faint glow. And I believe that is because <i>the darkness is not dark</i> to God, as Psalm 139 tells us. To God, <i>the night is as bright as day</i>. God can work the good from even terrible situations. God can help us see beauty by that faint starlight even when the sun isn't shining.<br />
<br />
So though even today I do not expect to see a great light, to feel the warmth of a smile on my face when I get to hold my baby for the first time, I know that this darkness we walk in the meantime is not just a place of death and hopelessness. That we can learn to walk in the dark, and to reach out to our siblings in this journey and help them walk too. And maybe together we will find that even the night can be bright.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="sdfootnote">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5071637409548350898#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a>Barabara
Brown Taylor, <i>Learning to Walk in the Dark </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(New
York: HarperOne, 2014), 5.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-81764052372053095082016-12-11T19:22:00.000-05:002017-02-18T19:26:36.472-05:00Joy Happens In Relationship<i>This is a sermon from <a href="http://presburyumc.org/">Presbury United Methodist Church</a>'s Mismatched Nativity series. </i><br />
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW9_nfoemAsEMxlZhAh8pixjMJSfqQolhyphenhyphenDMlWvBcT1WtQ8xSgD_X2dSsezP_ZytYKL2YbsafJmfVcpwtMOSEktq-R5VeK66Uuj6938TdFoGjY7p6qP6qNCHKbwBUOwE3MEesYtAf3V29/s1600/Mismatched+Nativity.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW9_nfoemAsEMxlZhAh8pixjMJSfqQolhyphenhyphenDMlWvBcT1WtQ8xSgD_X2dSsezP_ZytYKL2YbsafJmfVcpwtMOSEktq-R5VeK66Uuj6938TdFoGjY7p6qP6qNCHKbwBUOwE3MEesYtAf3V29/s320/Mismatched+Nativity.png" width="320" /></a></i></div>
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Scripture:</b> Luke 1:39-58 (NRSV)<br />
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. <br />
<br />
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. <br />
<br />
<b>Sermon: </b><br />
Let us pray: <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Patient teacher, we probably don't all feel very joyful this morning. Maybe we are worried about a loved one in the hospital. Maybe we saw our credit card bill and are trying to figure out how long it will take to pay it off. Maybe we just got a bad night's sleep. There are so many things that keep us from rejoicing in you. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts show us how near you are today. For that is good news indeed. Amen. </i> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are continuing our sermon series on a Mismatched Nativity. You can come up after worship, or just see from your seats that this Nativity is composed of many different sets, and many from places like Haiti and South Africa. Of course, there are also gnome and Snoopy nativities represented, so it is a bit of a strange concoction here. But it serves as a visual reminder for what we have been talking about--- these characters from the story of Jesus' birth were not so different from us. Their lives are not perfect. They had problems like we do. They messed up once or twice in their lives--- but, even if you aren't convinced they did mess up, everyone around them thought they did and judged them for it, made their lives harder for it. Zechariah prayed but really didn’t have hope. Mary was less pure and holy than spunky and courageous. Today, we are talking about Elizabeth, a person of faith who experienced joy but also still felt fear and anxiety, just like many of us do. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Our scripture today is about joy pure and simple, from Mary to Elizabeth and back again. But remember that joy and happiness are not the same thing. We are not talking about a sense of contentment, like after a long day when you finally get to put your feet up and relax. We are not talking about the feeling of pleasure we experience when eating our favorite food. We are not talking about the warm fluttery feeling like the kind you get in your stomach when you realize the next Star Wars movie is out next week. Or maybe you don't get that feeling, but I do! Joy is a deeper feeling than those even though it is sometimes fleeting. Joy is a kind of resistance and resilience. Joy transforms us, and shows us possibilities we once thought impossible. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let's just look more carefully at Mary and Elizabeth's story. If we picture these women at all, which, let's face it, Elizabeth and Zechariah are left out of the Nativity so often we don't think of them as being a part of the story--- but if we picture these women, we picture halos and light, big smiles and big bellies. Scripture doesn't exactly tell us otherwise, though it does suggest that Mary probably did not have a big belly yet, but I wonder if the halos and smiles put us off from the part of the story we can best relate to--- that Mary and Elizabeth were afraid. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We aren't really sure why Mary set out and went with haste to see Elizabeth. Yes, the angel had given her the good news, but it wasn't like she had a car and could just run over with cake and balloons. Rev. Adam Hamilton in his bible study about the geography of the story of Jesus' birth says that the journey by foot between Mary's and Elizabeth's homes could have taken nine days. He writes, “The fact that Mary was willing to travel nine days across three mountain ranges [hill country, the scripture tell us, remember] to see Elizabeth speaks volumes about how she was feeling. She longed for someone who might believe her and who could help her make sense of what was happening.”1 </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now in those days, women would often journey to family member's homes to help with pregnancy, delivery, and taking care of the newborn baby. It was probably not out of the ordinary for Mary to go on such a journey, or at least women Mary's age. But I have a friend who has another theory. She believes that Mary was kicked out by angry and frightened parents. We really have no idea, but think about it--- how many of you would believe a teenager, even the sweetest, most innocent teenager you know, if they told you that the Holy Spirit impregnated them with God? Maybe they got angry and sent Mary away, to wait until her delusion had passed or to negotiate with Joseph's family so no violence would befall Mary, since the law at that time, whether or not it was enforced, was to stone a woman who had committed adultery, even against her betrothed. Whatever you believe, I think these possibilities tell us that this journey to Elizabeth's house was not taken by Mary while she was skipping and singing to woodland animals like a Disney princess. She was afraid and uncertain. Her courage in agreeing to serve God was waning in the face of very real fears and anxieties. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And Elizabeth, she was also full of fear and anxiety, despite the faith she exhibited when we read about Zechariah a few weeks ago. Of course, I could be projecting my own experiences onto Elizabeth, but two different people I talked to this week who had multiple losses and struggled with infertility agreed with me, so this is not isolated. As much as Elizabeth wanted to become pregnant, as much as she realized our God is a God of miracles, for those who experience pregnancy loss and infertility, pregnancy is scary. Every time I told someone I was pregnant this last time--- which was only a few people because I was so scared--- I burst into tears. And not happy tears. Every time someone responded with congratulations, I didn't feel like I could accept it yet. I felt like I was holding my breath--- and I could tell Aaron was too. I remembered seeing people post pictures not of 12 week sonograms but of the actual pregnancy test just weeks after conception and could not fathom how you could share something that was so uncertain. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Elizabeth, you may remember from the beginning of chapter one of Luke's Gospel, went into seclusion for the five months after she conceived. Even though she was a woman of deep faith, a woman who proclaimed, “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.” Elizabeth felt like she was holding her breath. Did Zechariah really have a vision? Did God really mean this baby would be the one, or maybe she would miscarry and have another? God's time isn't our time after all. Even though she had faith, she was afraid. Rev. Hamilton points out that, “It seems to have been Mary's visit that drew Elizabeth out of her seclusion. Mary needed Elizabeth, but perhaps Elizabeth also needed Mary.”2 </div>
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Mary and Elizabeth were not these majestic superwomen who could do anything and everything easily and without any fear or worry just because God called them to do it. They were people full of faith, people seeking to love God more. And as people of faith, when their belief waned, when their fear reared it's head, they reached out to one another. And that reaching out made their faith even stronger. That reaching out gave them joy, true joy, based on the knowledge that they were not alone. That God was with them, helping them to see beauty and goodness even in the difficult things.3 </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Joy happens in relationship.”4 There isn't some magic formula for joy, some specific prayer or action that only haloed people with big smiles can experience. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child that would become John the Baptist leaped in her womb. But her heart leaped too. And she finally felt the presence of the Lord again stronger than her fear and anxiety over her pregnancy. She blessed Mary, crying out to her in joy, which then prompted the most joyful song in all of scripture, at least to me. The Magnificat. With Elizabeth's blessing, Mary was able to let joy fill her again after over a week of walking and worrying, seeking a friend. She knew God had remembered her because Elizabeth did--- not as a teenage mom, but as a person blessed by God. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Do you have a person like Elizabeth and Mary had? A friend who is there to help you find God when it is hard, a friend who can help you hear God's voice when you can't? That is what this week was for me, from church people to life-long friends, to Muslim women, to a virtual stranger in a hospital waiting room, I encountered people like like Elizabeth, who emerged from their own pain to speak a word of blessing upon me. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a congregation full of Elizabeths and Marys who need to take the journey to reach out to one another in love and let God transform them. So let us open our hearts to the joy God already has in store for us. In the spirit of reaching out, I invite you to turn to your neighbor and rejoice together, as Elizabeth and Mary did together. Offer one another signs of God's joy! </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1Adam Hamilton, The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2011), 63. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">2Ibid., 65. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">3I thought about this following a comment on The Young Clergy Women Project Facebook Group, posted 1 December 2016, accessed 10 December 2016. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">4Another comment this time on the YCWs Preach the Narrative Lectionary Facebook Group, posted 10 December 2016, accessed 10 December 2016.</span></div>
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-77846958462318265332016-11-09T22:30:00.002-05:002016-11-09T22:43:07.811-05:00Tear Down this Wall<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPgPgIEMjqh7wk4dhptsyUcJY78eRztEpJIylKc7OHoMvBi24lQdduTrcyJ-_oYzwuGuSazf88Vj-iVSiFyvXus0gENhtJFbjzf5yLDNz81ecKBL1F-JjgniR0u3Z27hymdnRpWmTZOQR/s1600/GERMANY+037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPgPgIEMjqh7wk4dhptsyUcJY78eRztEpJIylKc7OHoMvBi24lQdduTrcyJ-_oYzwuGuSazf88Vj-iVSiFyvXus0gENhtJFbjzf5yLDNz81ecKBL1F-JjgniR0u3Z27hymdnRpWmTZOQR/s320/GERMANY+037.jpg" width="320" /></a>Today is November 9. It is 27 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I've been to the Berlin Wall. I've seen the bits of it left standing, surrounded by modern buildings, covered in colorful graffiti. It seems so much smaller, almost quaint. But still it is eerie, to imagine the rest of the wall, sprouting along the trail, marking where it once was. I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, witnessed story after harrowing story of how people from East Berlin would escape into West Berlin, how they would escape into freedom. And often into the arms of loved ones long separated by the unforgiving concrete. <br />
<br />
Of course, it isn't too hard to imagine the rest of the wall, imagine the watchtowers with guns pointing toward the wall, the barbed wire, the bare ground between living spaces and the wall. It isn't hard because I have seen the wall in between the USAmerican and Mexican border. Now this wall isn't as much concrete as metal, jutting out of the earth in between families and communities. Graffiti and art installations still decorate that wall, but only on the Mexican side. The other side, the side of the land of the free and the home of the brave, is all guns and barbed wire. Though nowadays, graffiti covers both sides of the wall in Berlin, the
museum speaks of the same, stark militarism that was once on the Soviet
side of the wall. The USAmerican side was full of art, tributes to those walled off. The reversal of roles in our country today is unsettling. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikugOcVyv4Us62GMU2Dqgv12gpvNBdVq6UrUQRp409vcT4GRwBXQbtYYP1hyphenhyphenKSlvyfg7eJZl7A3y1IRbi4frIMg5DmdRVWHR-2hzcVKs53IEYW2E6AW9mxCRrD1u-BoFK85HYCFroFbWrR/s1600/plainborderfence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikugOcVyv4Us62GMU2Dqgv12gpvNBdVq6UrUQRp409vcT4GRwBXQbtYYP1hyphenhyphenKSlvyfg7eJZl7A3y1IRbi4frIMg5DmdRVWHR-2hzcVKs53IEYW2E6AW9mxCRrD1u-BoFK85HYCFroFbWrR/s320/plainborderfence.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Today, 27 years after the joy of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we woke up to find the president-elect of the USA is the candidate who promised another wall. "Build the wall," became the chant at his rallies. One of his big campaign promises from the beginning has been to stop the flow of immigration from the south. But when I hear the chant, "Build the Wall," I think of Berlin, split down the middle between freedom and totalitarianism. I think of craning my neck to see the sky over the wire topping the fence of the existing wall in Mexico. I think of fear and loss. And I wish that instead of chanting, "Build the wall," we were echoing (Republican!) President Ronald Regan's words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" <br />
<br />
The work we have to do now, post-election, is this work of tearing down walls. Of putting this wall, and this whole campaign, in context with our shared history. Yes, there are some who feel disenfranchised, disenchanted, who wanted a big upset and change when they voted for the new president-elect. But now that the election is over, we need to step back and remember the reason we once fought against one wall. We need to spend some time tearing down instead of building up. Tearing down our walls, walls of hostility between white people and Muslims/Latinx/Black/queer/the-list-goes-on people, and the actual physical walls that divide families and communities. The actual physical walls that, even if they are built by the USA, fit seamlessly with a history of tyranny we ascribed once to the Soviet Union.<br />
<br />
<span class="st">Because tonight is also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, when in 1938, people attacked synagogues and Jewish businesses in Germany, a pogrom announcing what would become the Holocaust. Glass shards splintered in the streets, inside buildings, marking the shattered ideal of community and safety. The shattered ideal of freedom. Could this be a possible outcome of this election? The rhetoric of this campaign season, 78 years after Kristallnacht, has been violent, pitting races against each other. While our president-elect has not called for a night of Broken Glass against Muslims or Latinx, in the fearful and violent world we live in it would not be far to journey to such a night. But we can still tear down walls of hatred before we shatter our ideals of freedom.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I was only two years old when the Berlin Wall fell, but I grew up listening to my parents talking about the power of the images of people with sledgehammers descending on the wall. You could buy pieces of the wall--- and I know many people who still have a piece. The crumbled wall was a symbol of freedom, of reuniting families. Of the Spirit of Democracy. Not like the shattered glass on Kristallnacht, symbols of division and hatred. </span><span class="_5yl5">But it is up to us what we will choose to build up and what we will tear down.</span>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-48778717930040351672016-11-09T22:30:00.001-05:002016-11-09T22:42:51.409-05:00Tear Down this Wall<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPgPgIEMjqh7wk4dhptsyUcJY78eRztEpJIylKc7OHoMvBi24lQdduTrcyJ-_oYzwuGuSazf88Vj-iVSiFyvXus0gENhtJFbjzf5yLDNz81ecKBL1F-JjgniR0u3Z27hymdnRpWmTZOQR/s1600/GERMANY+037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPgPgIEMjqh7wk4dhptsyUcJY78eRztEpJIylKc7OHoMvBi24lQdduTrcyJ-_oYzwuGuSazf88Vj-iVSiFyvXus0gENhtJFbjzf5yLDNz81ecKBL1F-JjgniR0u3Z27hymdnRpWmTZOQR/s320/GERMANY+037.jpg" width="320" /></a>Today is November 9. It is 27 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. I've been to the Berlin Wall. I've seen the bits of it left standing, surrounded by modern buildings, covered in colorful graffiti. It seems so much smaller, almost quaint. But still it is eerie, to imagine the rest of the wall, sprouting along the trail, marking where it once was. I went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, witnessed story after harrowing story of how people from East Berlin would escape into West Berlin, how they would escape into freedom. And often into the arms of loved ones long separated by the unforgiving concrete. <br />
<br />
Of course, it isn't too hard to imagine the rest of the wall, imagine the watchtowers with guns pointing toward the wall, the barbed wire, the bare ground between living spaces and the wall. It isn't hard because I have seen the wall in between the USAmerican and Mexican border. Now this wall isn't as much concrete as metal, jutting out of the earth in between families and communities. Graffiti and art installations still decorate that wall, but only on the Mexican side. The other side, the side of the land of the free and the home of the brave, is all guns and barbed wire. Though nowadays, graffiti covers both sides of the wall in Berlin, the
museum speaks of the same, stark militarism that was once on the Soviet
side of the wall. The USAmerican side was full of art, tributes to those walled off. The reversal of roles in our country today is unsettling. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikugOcVyv4Us62GMU2Dqgv12gpvNBdVq6UrUQRp409vcT4GRwBXQbtYYP1hyphenhyphenKSlvyfg7eJZl7A3y1IRbi4frIMg5DmdRVWHR-2hzcVKs53IEYW2E6AW9mxCRrD1u-BoFK85HYCFroFbWrR/s1600/plainborderfence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikugOcVyv4Us62GMU2Dqgv12gpvNBdVq6UrUQRp409vcT4GRwBXQbtYYP1hyphenhyphenKSlvyfg7eJZl7A3y1IRbi4frIMg5DmdRVWHR-2hzcVKs53IEYW2E6AW9mxCRrD1u-BoFK85HYCFroFbWrR/s320/plainborderfence.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Today, 27 years after the joy of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we woke up to find the president-elect of the USA is the candidate who promised another wall. "Build the wall," became the chant at his rallies. One of his big campaign promises from the beginning has been to stop the flow of immigration from the south. But when I hear the chant, "Build the Wall," I think of Berlin, split down the middle between freedom and totalitarianism. I think of craning my neck to see the sky over the wire topping the fence of the existing wall in Mexico. I think of fear and loss. And I wish that instead of chanting, "Build the wall," we were echoing (Republican!) President Ronald Regan's words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" <br />
<br />
The work we have to do now, post-election, is this work of tearing down walls. Of putting this wall, and this whole campaign, in context with our shared history. Yes, there are some who feel disenfranchised, disenchanted, who wanted a big upset and change when they voted for the new president-elect. But now that the election is over, we need to step back and remember the reason we once fought against one wall. We need to spend some time tearing down instead of building up. Tearing down our walls, walls of hostility between white people and Muslims/Latinx/Black/queer/the-list-goes-on people, and the actual physical walls that divide families and communities. The actual physical walls that, even if they are built by the USA, fit seamlessly with a history of tyranny we once ascribed to Soviets.<br />
<br />
<span class="st">Because tonight is also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, when in 1938, people attacked synagogues and Jewish businesses in Germany, a pogrom announcing what would become the Holocaust. Glass shards splintered in the streets, inside buildings, marking the shattered ideal of community and safety. The shattered ideal of freedom. Could this be a possible outcome of this election? The rhetoric of this campaign season, 78 years after Kristallnacht, has been violent, pitting races against each other. While our president-elect has not called for a night of Broken Glass against Muslims or Latinx, in the fearful and violent world we live in it would not be far to journey to such a night. But we can still tear down walls of hatred before we shatter our ideals of freedom.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I was only two years old when the Berlin Wall fell, but I grew up listening to my parents talking about the power of the images of people with sledgehammers descending on the wall. You could buy pieces of the wall--- and I know many people who still have a piece. The crumbled wall was a symbol of freedom, of reuniting families. Of the Spirit of Democracy. Not like the shattered glass on Kristallnacht, symbols of division and hatred. </span><span class="_5yl5">But it is up to us what we will choose to build up and what we will tear down.</span>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-42027276681965811622016-10-24T17:40:00.001-04:002020-10-17T17:15:51.752-04:00Spontaneous Abortion, Shame, and Politics<p>This content has been moved to:</p><p>https://www.shannonesullivan.com/blog/spontaneousabortion<br /></p>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-15762123283216331702016-10-23T11:12:00.000-04:002016-10-23T16:44:59.973-04:00Prejudiced Prophets and Grace for All<i>
</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A sermon preached at <a href="http://presburyumc.org/">Presbury United Methodist Church</a>.</i></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Scripture:
</b><span style="color: black;">Jonah 3:1-10; 4:1,5-11</span></span></span>
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">The
word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I
tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the
word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three
days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s
walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown!” </span></span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and
everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached
the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a
proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his
nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste
anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human
beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall
cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the
violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change
his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not
perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their
evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said
he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">...Then
Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a
booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see
what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and
made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him
from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when
dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the
bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry
east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was
faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to
die than to live.” </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the
bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord
said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not
labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and
perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh,
that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty
thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left,
and also many animals?” </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sermon:</b></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
us pray:</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Patient
teacher, we give you thanks for your gentle lessons, and your
willingness to work with us even when we try to run away, like Jonah
did, and even when we get angry with your judgment, like Jonah did.
Help us to hear your wisdom in this story of grace and repentance.
And help us to respond as the Ninevites did, not as your prophet did,
so that we may always celebrate your mercy and steadfast love. Amen. </i></span></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
all know the story of Jonah in the belly of the fish or whale. But do
we really realize why Jonah ran away? It was not because Jonah just
didn't want to. It was because he was deeply prejudiced.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nineveh
is introduced to us in scripture as wicked. If we go back further in
scripture, we find that Nineveh is Israel’s enemy as the capitol of
Assyria. In the books of Isaiah and Nahum, Nineveh is continually
denounced by the prophets due to its wickedness. That is the whole
reason why God wants to send Jonah in the first place: to tell the
Ninevites they needed to repent. So maybe it isn't prejudice at first
glance, right? He just doesn't want to be around wickedness condemned
by God, right? </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
listen to verse three of chapter one: when Jonah went the opposite
direction of Nineveh, he went <i>away from the
presence of the Lord</i>. He wasn't going away
from wickedness. He was going away from God by avoiding the people
God called him to help. Do we ever do that? A colleague of mine here
in Harford County just told me a story about how he went down to pray
in Baltimore with other clergy after the uprising, and he shared the
experience with his congregation, since he had seen so much of God
there. They didn't hear him. Instead they argued with him, telling
him it was too dangerous to go, and besides why should they help
people who don't want to help themselves? His congregation had their
minds made up about Baltimore, like Jonah had his made up about
Nineveh. And so they set their faces away from the presence of the
Lord, away from the very real possibility of reconciliation and
justice.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's
what this story is about. It is not about getting stuck in the belly
of a fish and being spat back out when we are ready to do what God
has called us to do, though that part of the story makes for good
songs and cool imagery. This story is about possibility, about how
God can transform the wicked Ninevites--- but even more about how God
can transform a prejudiced prophet. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jonah
was not just prejudiced because he ran away from Nineveh. Look to the
end of the scripture, the part we don't pay much attention to usually
because we always talk about the fish part. The Ninevites hear the
pronouncement on their wickedness. They listen to Jonah! And they
repent. The whole city, humans and animals, fast and cover themselves
in sackcloth and cry out to God. God hears them and has mercy on
them. And that mercy made Jonah angry. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">“<i>Oh
Lord!</i>” Jonah whines to try and cover up the
cries of the Ninevites. “<i>Is not this what I
said when I was still in my own country. That is why I fled to
Tarshish from the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God
and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and
ready to relent from punishing.</i>”<i>
</i>(Jonah 4:2-3). Then Jonah asks for death
because, according to him, it is better to die than witness God's
steadfast love and mercy transform those he despises. This is how
small prejudice makes us--- how sick and warped and twisted it makes
us. Jonah did not just try to go as far away from the people he hated
as possible; he got angry when he saw that God loved them too. Jonah
got angry that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
God sighs. We read none of chapter two, but I encourage you to go
home to read it. It is a poetic psalm of thanksgiving given by Jonah
to God when Jonah was in the belly of the fish. Jonah laments, but he
also names God as the one who brings us up from the Pit, who delivers
us. Jonah has named God as deliverer, but yet he only wants God to
deliver people like him. So God sighs when God listens to Jonah's
whine. Rather than whacking Jonah upside the head, as I think Jonah
needed, God made a bush. Jonah was out sulking outside the city,
hoping God would change God’s mind and destroy the city anyway, and
God created a big beautiful bush to shade Jonah while he sulked. But
the next day God had the bush whither, leaving Jonah exposed to the
heat. Which set Jonah off again. After listening to Jonah's rant, God
pointed out Jonah's failing. Jonah had more love for a piece of
shrubbery that he only knew for a day than he did for a city full of
living creatures, living creatures created by God. We don't know what
happened after God corrected Jonah. We do not know if Jonah repented,
or if he went on sulking. But the story ends, leaving it open as a
question: how would we respond? If God pointed out our prejudice and
our failings to us, would we respond with repentance, or would we go
on doing what we always have?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Either
way, here's the thing: even filled with prejudice, God used Jonah to
bring about grace and mercy. Even we, with all of our failings, can
be used to bring about God's grace and mercy. If I were God, I would
not want to work with a whiney guy like Jonah. But then again, Aaron
could probably tell you that I can be a tad whiney myself sometimes.
Guess what? God's grace extends even to whiners. The grace in this
story is not just for the Ninevites, but also for Jonah. God did not
give up on Jonah: insisting Jonah go where God called Jonah to go,
and even coming up with a gentle lesson to help Jonah get <i>why</i>
the Ninevites were so important. God does the same for us. </span></span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
can just make God's job a lot easier by opening our hearts in the
first place.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
have been talking the last few weeks about church growth. I haven't
really said the words “church growth” often, but that is what we
have been talking about. I told you we would be completing a survey,
trying to figure out what our next steps are as a congregation. You
may be wondering what church growth has to do with Jonah. It is that
openness, opening our hearts to everyone God loves, is necessary to
growth.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now,
you may feel you are already a very open person. That you aren't
prejudiced like Jonah, so crippled by cultural ideas of who is worthy
of salvation and who is not that we would go in the opposite
direction of where God is calling you. I know you all, and I know you
have good hearts and mean well. I would hope you would say the same
about me. But. Have you been on Facebook lately? And I know not all
of you are on social media--- have you watched the news lately? You
might not feel very prejudiced at the moment, but what if I showed
you a bunch of pro-Trump memes and you are for Hillary? Or vice
versa? How long does it take for you to talk to someone on the other
end of the political spectrum from you before you write them off as
stupid?</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's
just one example. Even if we can escape overt sins of racism or
sexism or classism, our culture seems to have lost the ability to
have conversation and form relationships over partisan lines. If you
are pro-police, you cannot listen to Black Lives Matter activist
because they are wrong wrong wrong. If you are pro-choice, you cannot
listen to someone who is pro-life because they are wrong wrong wrong.
We do not believe that the group we are against can turn from their
evil ways. If they actually do turn out to be nice people, this can
be very displeasing to us, and we can become angry.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
remember what God tells us. Those people we disagree with are people
God has created, just as God created the Ninevites, and God has
offered them the gift of grace and redemption. Maybe, rather than
getting all frustrated about what our brother-in-law or cousin or
neighbor is posting on Facebook, we can talk to them about God's
grace, which is something we need just as much as they do. That's how
we can grow the church. By reaching out across our differences and
sharing in God's grace.</span></span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
who do you need to share grace with? Who are your Ninevites? And when
are you going to invite them to church?</span></span><br />
S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5071637409548350898.post-73383648273798383162016-09-21T04:53:00.001-04:002020-10-17T17:18:23.657-04:00After the flood you set in the clouds a rainbow: more reflections on miscarriage<p>This content has been moved to: </p><p><a href="https://www.shannonesullivan.com/blog/setintheclouds">https://www.shannonesullivan.com/blog/setintheclouds </a><br /></p>S. e. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13446316478749265026noreply@blogger.com0