tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6208783661807331592024-03-05T08:51:00.595-08:00Incarnate Word Table TalkPastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-70862789882998630352018-02-15T16:25:00.001-08:002018-02-15T16:25:39.980-08:00How Long O Lord?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmAFzIFnAIdNoIsr5kNp-qPIzbD23wchcrfCivTwflS_3Eg6mKTVHo0jIH0qzH-Z-ZVkUDrc6ueICNgeZYcm_BQ1JMJ2d9p4AbfMR3rAmfvXM2JjJ43BsZK_t7apytqSnCJzgBgZENHfy/s1600/parkland-florida-school-shooting-03-ap-jc-180214_4x3_992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="992" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmAFzIFnAIdNoIsr5kNp-qPIzbD23wchcrfCivTwflS_3Eg6mKTVHo0jIH0qzH-Z-ZVkUDrc6ueICNgeZYcm_BQ1JMJ2d9p4AbfMR3rAmfvXM2JjJ43BsZK_t7apytqSnCJzgBgZENHfy/s320/parkland-florida-school-shooting-03-ap-jc-180214_4x3_992.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The
ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its
children.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> </span>~Dietrich
Bonhoeffer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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In the wake of yet another mass shooting, I’ve heard many
folks of good faith saying that we need to have a “national conversation”
concerning the proliferation of guns – specifically the easy availability of assault
rifles in our country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conversations are
all well and good, but we need to know with whom to have these
conversations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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With the help of the Center for Responsive Politics and
figures provided by the Federal Election Commission as of May 16, 2017, I’ve
put together a list of elected leaders on both sides of the political aisle who
received campaign contributions indirectly from the National Rifle Association
through PACs, their individual members, or employees or owners, and those
individuals’ immediate families.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps our conversations should start here with phone calls
and handwritten letters to those elected to represent us saying we’ve had
enough; saying that what we do to the least of these, we do to Christ;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can have all the conversations we want,
but until elected officials hear from us, our conversations are in vain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many more children have to die by assault
rifles before we take our “thoughts and prayers” and put them into actions and
policies?<o:p></o:p></div>
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By the way, the monies listed below do not include the
millions of dollars spent by the NRA to defeat those who advocate for
background checks and the outlawing of military grade assault weapons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the Center for Responsive
Politics, since 1990 Political Action Committees associated with the National
Rifle Association have given over $20 million to political campaigns of both
parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is madness; and it has to
stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As people of faith we must take a
stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can we do anything less?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blunt, Roy (R-MO) Senate$11,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Comstock, Barbara (R-VA) House$10,400<o:p></o:p></div>
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Burr, Richard (R-NC) Senate$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Coffman, Mike (R-CO) House$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) Senate$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Guinta, Frank (R-NH) House$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hardy, Cresent (R-NV) House$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hurd, Will (R-TX) House $9,900<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Katko,
John (R-NY) House $9,900</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mills, Stewart (R-MN) House $9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul, Rand (R-KY) Senate $9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Poliquin, Bruce (R-ME) House $9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Portman, Rob (R-OH) Senate$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rubio, Marco (R-FL) Senate$9,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Zeldin,
Lee (R-NY) House$9,900</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Heck, Joe (R-NV) House$8,900<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hoeven, John (R-ND) Senate$8,450<o:p></o:p></div>
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Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) Senate$8,450<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blum, Rod (R-IA) House$7,450<o:p></o:p></div>
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Goodlatte, Bob (R-VA) House$7,450<o:p></o:p></div>
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Johnson, Ron (R-WI) Senate$7,450<o:p></o:p></div>
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Young, Don (R-AK) House$6,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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McSally, Martha (R-AZ) House$6,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ayotte, Kelly (R-NH) Senate$5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Boozman, John (R-AR) Senate$5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Culberson, John (R-TX) House$5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Faso,
John (R-NY) House$5,950</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Garrett, Scott (R-NJ) House$5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ryan, Paul (R-WI) House$5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shuster, Bill (R-PA) House $5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smucker, Lloyd (R-PA) House $5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Tenney,
Claudia (R-NY) House $5,950</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Young, Todd (R-IN) House $5,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cole, Tom (R-OK) House $5,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lankford, James (R-OK) Senate$5,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thune, John (R-SD) Senate$5,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bacon, Donald John (R-NE) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bergman, John (R-MI) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Boehner, John (R-OH) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Boustany, Charles Jr (R-LA) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Comer, James (R-KY) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Crapo, Mike (R-ID) Senate$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gallagher, Mike (R-WI) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hudson, Richard (R-NC) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kennedy, John (R-LA) Senate$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mast, Brian (R-FL) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mullin, Markwayne (R-OK) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Scalise, Steve (R-LA) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) Senate$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smith, Lamar (R-TX) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tarkanian, Danny (R-NV )House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Vitter, David (R-LA) Senate$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Young, David (R-IA) House$4,950<o:p></o:p></div>
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Calvert, Ken (R-CA) House$4,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) Senate$4,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Scott, Tim (R-SC) Senate$4,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bishop, Rob (R-UT) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dent, Charlie (R-PA) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Loudermilk, Barry (R-GA) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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McHenry, Patrick (R-NC) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mica, John L (R-FL) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Walberg, Tim (R-MI) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yoder, Kevin (R-KS) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Zinke, Ryan K (R-MT) House$4,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Aderholt, Robert B (R-AL) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bishop, Sanford (D-GA) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chabot, Paul (R-CA) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joyce, David P (R-OH) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lewis, Jason (R-MN) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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McCaul, Michael (R-TX) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nunes, Devin (R-CA) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Olson, Pete (R-TX) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Taylor, Scott W (R-VA) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tipton, Scott (R-CO) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Valadao, David (R-CA) House$3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bishop, Sanford (D-Ga) House $3,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Budd, Ted (R-NC) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cook, Paul (R-CA) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cuellar, Henry (D-TX) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Duncan, Jeff (R-SC) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ferguson, Drew (R-GA) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Graves, Tom (R-GA) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hunter, Duncan D (R-CA) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Jenkins, Evan (R-WV) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Knight, Steve (R-CA) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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LaHood, Darin (R-IL) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Latta, Robert E (R-OH) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Love, Mia (R-UT) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Newhouse, Dan (R-WA)House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paulsen, Erik (R-MN)House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Reed,
Tom (R-NY) House$3,000</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Stewart, Chris (R-UT) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tiberi, Pat (R-OH) House$3,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Black, Diane (R-TN) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blackburn, Marsha (R-TN) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Carter, John (R-TX) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Collins, Doug (R-GA) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Curbelo, Carlos (R-FL) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Davis, Rodney (R-IL) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fareed, Justin (R-CA) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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Granger, Kay (R-TX) House$2,500<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Collins,
Chris (R-NY) House $2,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Hanna,
Richard (R-NY) House $2,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Peterson, Collin (D-Mn) House $2,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Stefanik,
Elise (R-NY) House $2,000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Walz, Tim (D-MN) House$2,000<o:p></o:p></div>
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Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL) House$50<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peace in Christ,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-60024215792518432072018-02-14T18:15:00.003-08:002018-02-14T18:15:32.419-08:00Pastor Doug's Ash Wednesday Sermon 2018<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ztQ4ZVQtuc_FArPcgkkcqqE3mgCg1uEfSIDOUwAeHugg2l2_N-awDQDidflcOpcYWmH2ePci6tq-x2emT7FRcSRJ5eSiJrorBEDU-oiGwCUkOQ7u4-8XEGrHLK-Ex4tKOfCZtN6SiBe-/s1600/ash-cross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ztQ4ZVQtuc_FArPcgkkcqqE3mgCg1uEfSIDOUwAeHugg2l2_N-awDQDidflcOpcYWmH2ePci6tq-x2emT7FRcSRJ5eSiJrorBEDU-oiGwCUkOQ7u4-8XEGrHLK-Ex4tKOfCZtN6SiBe-/s320/ash-cross.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Isaiah 58:1-12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One of my
“beefs” about the season of Lent, is how often we get it wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without fail I hear the same Lenten
conversations year after year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe
you’ve heard them too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this year for Lent, I’m giving up…</i>” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this year for Lent, I’m taking on…</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For years,
we have gotten Lent wrong because of this emphasis on “me”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly, each of us are personally invited
to enter into the season of Lent and into its disciplines: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Self-Examination, repentance, prayer,
fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is all good and that is how it
should be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Truly each
of us in this season of Lent are exhorted to enter more deeply into the promise
of Christ’s embrace as he passes over from death to life with each of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But all too
often, “self-examination” ends there in the personal space called “me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All too often, our Lenten story becomes an
autobiography about Jesus and me neglecting the public reality of Jesus and community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now don’t
get me wrong:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admire each and every
one of you for being here this evening when clearly you could be home reading a
good book, watching the Olympics, or binge watching on Netflix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here you are in this place beginning yet
again on a journey, marked not by ease and self-fulfillment, but by a cross and
selfless servanthood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here you are
tonight standing face to face with the harsh reality that each of us is broken
– publicly confessing our sin – confessing that we have not loved God with our
whole heart or our neighbor as ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here you are
tonight standing face to face with the harsh reality that each of us “are dust
and to dust we shall return” as dirty, dusty ashes anoint our foreheads;
acknowledging the fragility of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
we don’t believe we are dust, just look at the latest mass shooting that
claimed at least 17 victims in a South Florida high school today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And yet, for
all that we do here tonight, this evening’s Ash Wednesday liturgy is not simply
about us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not simply about Jesus
with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is more than that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much, much more than that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the prophet Isaiah has anything to say
about our service this evening, he would tell us that unless love and care for
the poor and vulnerable emerges from tonight’s service, then our time together
this night has simply been a waste of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Tonight, we
catch Isaiah at his prophetic best, as he confronts a society that is content
with not only neglecting the poor and needy, but literally oppressing them,
living by the mantra of “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">make Jerusalem
great again</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Who after
all has time to loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free, or
to share their bread with the hungry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not us, we’re too busy building walls to protect us from change and to
preserve the way things used to be in the good old days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But if
scripture is clear on nothing else:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is that God’s very heart is with the widow and the orphan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s very heart is poured out in love for
all on the hardwood of a cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this
season of Lent as we journey from this night to the cross of Good Friday and
the empty tomb of Easter morning, may we do so not alone isolated from the
world around us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But with Christ – God’s
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on this life changing journey
may we walk with God’s heart; may we be God’s heart in this place and in all
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-75910855121813134082018-02-08T07:04:00.000-08:002018-02-08T07:07:12.059-08:00<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1ObFInihinXOPBz_v620vRbYUK6WezEHX_VVW3IeIJJd3sN0ShK56-YjG8C9zeIfB6Dz88GE1Y31cLMI27_fdZtFRZZrUaJnJ-VC_4hJqU8_YAn3DuI7-D4Fh0kHaxeupnQ5Cx4pTw-6/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1ObFInihinXOPBz_v620vRbYUK6WezEHX_VVW3IeIJJd3sN0ShK56-YjG8C9zeIfB6Dz88GE1Y31cLMI27_fdZtFRZZrUaJnJ-VC_4hJqU8_YAn3DuI7-D4Fh0kHaxeupnQ5Cx4pTw-6/s320/FullSizeRender+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mark 9:2-9 (Transfiguration of Our Lord)<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Daily I find myself wandering through our beautiful
sanctuary, marveling at the stained-glass windows that depict God’s handiwork
in the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite window is
the one I call the “NASA window” in which a Gemini spacecraft is depicted
alongside orbiting electrons, protons, and neutrons bearing witness to the
reality of God’s presence not only in the heavens, but specifically in
science.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether it be God the scientist
or God the Word made flesh, each window reveals a bit of God’s identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet as beautiful and as inspiring as each
of these windows are, they do not tell the whole story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to imagine, but God’s amazing love
story with humanity and all of creation goes far beyond the images contained in
these windows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As these windows cannot begin to tell the entirety of God’s
story, neither does the transformative event in the gospel reading for this
coming Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only imagine how
beautiful it must have felt atop that mountain where in God’s presence, Jesus
was bathed in glorious light, hanging out with the greats: Moses and Elijah,
being affirmed as God’s beloved son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had
I been there with Peter, James, and John, I too would have wanted to capture
the glorious moment; I too would have wanted to build the biggest damn booth
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who wouldn’t want to remain
in such a holy place commemorating such a holy event?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not everyday that Moses, Elijah, and
Jesus show up to the party.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Jesus doesn’t stay there in that glorious place. Instead
he goes back down the mountain; back down into the darkest of valleys; into the
broken lives of those below – healing, teaching, and feeding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– calling us to follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so we follow; not remaining in our
glorious sanctuary, but down we come and out we go into the streets of our
city; into the lives of those who feel hopeless, broken and disconnected;
proclaiming in word and deed that God’s love story with all creation is alive
and well.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The windows in our sanctuary cannot tell the whole story of
God because they do not contain an image of you reaching out in love to family,
friends, or maybe even strangers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s no window showing the homeless being fed at Mustard Seed
Kitchen, or being housed four weeks out of the year in our Sunday School space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no window depicting you feeding the
hungry at REACH House or speaking out on behalf of the most vulnerable among us
at City Hall or at the County Legislature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s no window of you helping the chronically homeless find permanent
housing through the Homeless Initiative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is only when the windows of our sanctuary combine with the windows of
your life in Christ that we begin to catch a glimpse of God’s entire love story
for humanity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Fed and nourished each week at the foot of the cross, you
and I are God’s windows in the world, revealing and proclaiming a God whose
love knows no boundaries; revealing and proclaiming a God who will not be
limited by the walls of this world and the hatred that builds them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have a different story to tell than the power brokers of
our world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For our story is God’s story;
a story of love that is limitless, reckless, and above all, abundant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Join us on Sunday as we are once again fed on
the mountaintop - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to feed the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-46296147500868550902018-01-16T10:03:00.001-08:002018-01-16T17:31:05.550-08:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphen5kZ8DBDHcgzvhXYcBOJrTqxN0TpL-kFhWRoF-I1yzPXkWv566C0TbZV3W7Or2n0ezDBcLgzamnJ-QL4Cx_N-zvmz4zxZGvV8oGWJT_Vrbo6kBXybqrFWnVl97-XtB1qluNeMM3r_mqB/s1600/jesuscallsfishermen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="500" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphen5kZ8DBDHcgzvhXYcBOJrTqxN0TpL-kFhWRoF-I1yzPXkWv566C0TbZV3W7Or2n0ezDBcLgzamnJ-QL4Cx_N-zvmz4zxZGvV8oGWJT_Vrbo6kBXybqrFWnVl97-XtB1qluNeMM3r_mqB/s320/jesuscallsfishermen.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Follow me, and I will
make you fish for people (</i>Mark 1:17).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i>Follow me</i>.” One of the very first directives uttered by Jesus
in Mark’s gospel. Though I love a good
Christmas birth story, adorned with angels, shepherds, and a babe wrapped in
swaddling cloths, Mark doesn’t give us that.
For Mark, there’s no time for those details. The babe wrapped in swaddling cloths has a
job to do. To proclaim the arrival of
God’s Kingdom, and to duke it out with the powers-that-be; the institutions
that would stand in God’s way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What strikes me in this Sunday’s gospel reading is the
urgency of Jesus’ message. Without even
taking a breath, Jesus’ call to repentance is followed by the call to follow. In the six verses found in this Sunday’s
gospel, Jesus has seditiously announced the presence of God’s Kingdom over and
against that of Caesar, and called four lowly, off-the-radar, fishermen to
follow him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jesus’ message and actions are urgent; there’s no time to
create lists; no time for committees to be formed; no time for mission
statements to be drafted; no time to give 2 weeks’ notice to the boss. The Kingdom
of God train has pulled into the station and it’s time to climb aboard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now more than ever we need to hear this sense of God’s
urgency and be challenged by its implications. It is this Kingdom of God urgency
that challenges us to take on Caesar; to speak out in the face of injustice; to
not be moderate or neutral on issues of inequity or the dehumanization of those
less powerful; to not be silent when families are torn apart by cruel and unjust
immigration policies; to not turn the other way when women are routinely harassed
by powerful men who are nothing more than disgusting sexual predators; to not
turn a blind eye when the President of the most powerful nation on the planet
blatantly reveals his racist bias by degrading with vulgar language black and
brown people and their countries of origin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In all of this, where is the church’s Kingdom of God voice? Where is our Kingdom of God urgency to right
what is clearly wrong? Now more than
ever, Martin Luther King’s <u>Letter from a Birmingham Jail</u> is calling out
to us. These urgent words penned 54 years
ago to an inactive church are as applicable to us now as they were then. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With prophetic courage and urgency, Dr. King wrote,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i>So often the contemporary
church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from
being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the
average community is consoled by the church’s silent – and often even vocal –
sanction of things as they are</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He goes on to write, <i>“If
today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church,
it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be
dismissed as an irrelevant social club…”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As your pastor, I can assure you of this: I will not be an activities director of a social
club. I am a pastor; I am your pastor
and as such I will continue to seek ways in which we as a community of faith –
a Kingdom of God community – can discern God’s will, witness God’s love, while
following his Son to a Jerusalem Cross and beyond. If that means calling out powerful abusers
then so be it. If it means protecting
the powerless, Harriet Tubman style, then so be it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We follow Christ, and no one else, therefore
we cannot keep silent. Following Christ,
with voices raised and hands outstretched we will change the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-11157350098223296152018-01-03T16:14:00.002-08:002018-01-03T16:14:36.583-08:00A Different Christmas Story<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just a few days ago we gathered in worship around the
glorious story of shepherds and angels; <i>“a
poor lowly stable ”;</i> and a young couple with their newborn baby “<i>wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a
manger.”</i> Our joy could hardly be
contained as we loudly sang “O Come All Ye Faithful” or in hushed tones with
candles in hand sang of a “Silent night”, where all is “calm” and “bright.” As the days of Christmas have progressed, the
three magi figurines have been making their way across our sanctuary chancel to
take their place at the Nativity scene on Epiphany. As they do, we will hear a very different
Christmas story. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0FfTTEOgB_pTpwVa1NeDhz0yGvgeUDp8MBYL4mzMO63yQIEyJtdohGmVmHpwRmFsjrlBpdCnYkVsS8o4elOcDHsID_WAQRpp97SjdOf0OjYYLynq38rM0NwrFMzZLqO_D_fZjXs1JOj_/s1600/ff34a7cbff633d6745b1d491357353bc--christmas-greeting-cards-christmas-greetings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0FfTTEOgB_pTpwVa1NeDhz0yGvgeUDp8MBYL4mzMO63yQIEyJtdohGmVmHpwRmFsjrlBpdCnYkVsS8o4elOcDHsID_WAQRpp97SjdOf0OjYYLynq38rM0NwrFMzZLqO_D_fZjXs1JOj_/s320/ff34a7cbff633d6745b1d491357353bc--christmas-greeting-cards-christmas-greetings.jpg" width="320" /></a>This coming Sunday we will hear that God’s good news of
great joy is not good news to everyone; especially by those in positions of
power. We will hear of an earthly king
who in his narcissistic paranoia is so threatened by the birth announcement of
another king, that he desperately seeks out this newborn in order to kill
him. This is certainly not a story told
in any Christmas pageants I’ve ever seen.
And yet it is a critical part of our story. We know that for his whole life, this newborn
king will be a marked man, one day being tortured and killed on a cross for
bearing witness to God’s Kingdom over and against those of Herod and Caesar;
what the biblical scholar Raymond Brown refers to as “An Adult Christ at
Christmas.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not completely sure where my sermon is going on
Sunday. I’m intrigued by the
juxtaposition of outsider magi, who get what God is doing, to insider religious
folk who do not. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also can’t help but wonder who the Herods and Caesars of
this world are and what the church’s voice could and should be in the midst of
it all. Am I a religious insider who
thinks I’ve got God all figured out and am therefore closed to God’s new
revelations? Am I one who craves my own
power, desiring that my will be done over and against that of God? It’s way too easy for me to point to powerful
world leaders and assign Herod’s name to them; though there may be some wisdom
in that. But am I just as capable of
seeking to eliminate anything or anyone that I perceive is a threat to my White,
male power?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Toward the end of Matthew’s gospel, the adult Jesus tells us
that what we do to the least among us, we do to him. What are the implications of that when put in
the light of this Sunday’s gospel reading?
Are tax laws that remove 13 million people from health care coverage akin
to Herod seeking to kill the infant Jesus? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are all valid questions with which people of faith
must wrestle and I invite you into this holy struggle of which I don’t pretend
to have easy answers. There is nothing
simple about this Christmas story. For
it is far more than just an account of a birth, It is the story of God dwelling
with us and our response to that new reality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the journey with you,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-87967835627040752062017-11-27T09:18:00.001-08:002017-11-27T09:18:41.992-08:00Slaughter of the Innocents...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzlXo81REntfc8jSBT-t9Pf__SN8T41NtCa-b9wgAIvAx5zvDSKcBGk9XekXGxJuEJfWZcAh3G9LeuOIS-oEA4ePxsLOtM5oEFXwvIoj4_YfcD9DTn0xGoB8rn7WNe9Os9eKuBxitYmh6/s1600/BEE08C46-2DF5-41C6-A044-39A5296E9ABF_cx0_cy5_cw0_w1023_r1_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzlXo81REntfc8jSBT-t9Pf__SN8T41NtCa-b9wgAIvAx5zvDSKcBGk9XekXGxJuEJfWZcAh3G9LeuOIS-oEA4ePxsLOtM5oEFXwvIoj4_YfcD9DTn0xGoB8rn7WNe9Os9eKuBxitYmh6/s320/BEE08C46-2DF5-41C6-A044-39A5296E9ABF_cx0_cy5_cw0_w1023_r1_s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I honestly don't know what to say anymore. All I have in response to the mass slaughter of innocents at the Sufi Mosque in Egypt is the following prayer I offered in worship yesterday. I wish I had more. Maybe in the end, prayer is all we have.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Heavenly Father,</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">You are the source of life and light. You are our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Amid the turmoil and strife in our world, your love is steadfast and your strength never fails. Be with all victims of violence and bloodshed, especially this day with the victims and families of the horrific attack on the Sufi Mosque in Egypt. Make us quick to reach out in love and healing to these our sisters and brothers, that there may be woven the fabric of a common good too strong to be torn by the evil hands of war. Amen.</span></i>Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-22563860197419465942017-11-07T09:39:00.000-08:002017-11-07T09:39:05.593-08:00Another Mass Shooting...<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgkNIf8ZeuQ0mFZ-rRWIsMFiYpMRBaP0zZ8ji5qDCk6HmWgnvmvCP1WplAqHe0qDAbd8TWYXTz1gKrxgeeX8p-MTQvwFvSVNL2Z-RiEJmXoezwz5uRP0eMEozVpgW6OGF1OjPdjTewwjR/s1600/29983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="628" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgkNIf8ZeuQ0mFZ-rRWIsMFiYpMRBaP0zZ8ji5qDCk6HmWgnvmvCP1WplAqHe0qDAbd8TWYXTz1gKrxgeeX8p-MTQvwFvSVNL2Z-RiEJmXoezwz5uRP0eMEozVpgW6OGF1OjPdjTewwjR/s320/29983.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span id="goog_1982237321"></span><span id="goog_1982237322"></span>Another mass shooting has occurred; this time in a church
during worship. 26 people are dead,
ranging in age from 18 months to 77 years.
Oh sure, you and I probably don’t know any of the victims and more than
likely would never have met them. They
lived in a different region of the country and belonged to a denomination much
different from ours. But I can imagine that many of them came to church like
you and me, wondering how long the service would be; hoping the sermon wouldn’t
be too much of a “snoozer”; looking forward to connecting with friends; hoping
they would get home in time to see the opening kickoff of a Sunday afternoon
football game. But that didn’t
happen. This past Sunday morning the
hallowed ground of a church became a killing field and still there can be no
meaningful conversations on guns and those who must not have them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m tired of politicians and their hollow rhetoric of
“thoughts and prayers”. Sorry but that
no longer cuts it. Leave the prayers to
those who lead worship in our churches, synagogues, and mosques. Leave the prayers to those who gather in
those communities or at prayer vigils or who pray as Jesus puts it, “in
secret”. The term “thoughts and
prayers” has become a cliché. “Thoughts
and prayers” are code for: “I lack the courage and conviction to stand up to
special interests who fund my election campaigns.” “Thoughts and prayers” are the priest and the
Levite crossing to the other side of the road when faced with the reality of a
man lying in a ditch, robbed and beaten. (Luke 10:30-32). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Polls show that a vast majority of Americans support the
idea of background checks before guns can be purchased and yet lawmakers
continue to blow smoke by claiming that this is no time to talk about such
things; that to speak of gun control in the face of mass shootings is to
politicize tragedy. The only ones
politicizing tragedy are those whose jobs depend upon funding from special
interest groups intent on selling more guns.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My outrage and tears have little to do with the gun industry
and those who support it. My heart
breaks because each and every victim was fashioned in the image of God and
Jesus told us that what we do to each other, we do to God. My heart breaks because this past Sunday
families were forever scarred and irreparably torn apart. My heart breaks because mass shootings like
this don’t have to happen and yet they do with chilling regularity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Gun deaths are at epidemic levels, and yet those whom we’ve
entrusted with the responsibility of governing and protecting us are not doing
their jobs, instead they feed us nutrition-less platitudes of “thoughts and
prayers”. They claim to be protecting
our 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment Rights to bear arms, all the while neglecting that
uniquely American creed; “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness;” A creed that no longer applies to Sunday’s
victims, as well as those in Las Vegas, Orlando, Washington, Charleston, Newtown
and countless other places where military-grade weapons are readily available
and easily attainable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Where do we go from here?
Perhaps our Episcopal sisters and brothers can shed some light for us. In response to the epidemic of gun violence,
a group of more than 70 Episcopal Bishops offers the following statement
calling for prayer and action:<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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<i>In prayer, Christians
commend the souls of the faithful departed to the mercy and love of God. We beseech our Creator to comfort the
grieving and shield the vulnerable.
Prayer is not an offering of vague good wishes…in prayer we examine our
own hearts and our own deeds to determine whether we are complicit in the evils
we deplore. And if we are, we resolve to
take action; we resolve to amend our lives...<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>As a nation, we must
acknowledge that we idolize gun violence, and we must make amends. Violence of all kinds denigrates humankind;
it stands against the will of God and the way of Jesus the Christ… Each of us
has a role to play in our repentance.
Elected representatives bear the responsibility of passing legislation
that protects our citizenry. If our
representatives are not up to this responsibility, we must replace them… one
does not offer prayers in lieu of demonstrating political courage but rather in
preparation. </i>(Bishops United
Against Gun Violence).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
Peace,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-41404296191341099662017-08-15T12:50:00.003-07:002017-08-15T12:54:57.076-07:00Charlottesville - A Pastoral Letter<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40A3hYExhRm00PPQsWQdOVI7O0k_i3WFRmv3U2qmvwebrzLCsFOVV1Tw76cE9CxWmgOMA0j4BL4Gbt9g8cqkIU_bFrrpCRbT-8h59nswOV9MfnHaYW9xJWJiWLCcNEbDr9tZe8oadDovi/s1600/7e7d9f29bc631b91.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40A3hYExhRm00PPQsWQdOVI7O0k_i3WFRmv3U2qmvwebrzLCsFOVV1Tw76cE9CxWmgOMA0j4BL4Gbt9g8cqkIU_bFrrpCRbT-8h59nswOV9MfnHaYW9xJWJiWLCcNEbDr9tZe8oadDovi/s1600/7e7d9f29bc631b91.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">August 15,
2017<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The events
that took place in Charlottesville last weekend are a haunting reminder to us
that the world in which we live is not only broken, but infected with the worse
kind of disease there is: Hatred. The following prayer excerpt was offered by
the ELCA Council of Bishops prior to last Saturday’s event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Just and merciful God, we give you
thanks for our sisters and brothers – bishops, pastors, deacons, people of God
– who this Saturday walk the way of the cross in Charlottesville, Va. On this
day and in that place, they join other courageous and faithful people across
time and space to stand against bigotry, hatred and violence; to stand with
those who are intended victims; and to stand for justice and mercy, peace and
equality for all people…By your might, break the bondage that bigotry, hatred
and violence impose on their victims and their perpetrators. May your Kingdom
come on earth as in heaven. And, we pray,
empower us in our own communities to follow their lead as fellow servants to
your dream of a community in which all people and their gifts are welcomed and
honored, cherished and celebrated as beloved children of a just, merciful and
loving God; through Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the life of the
world.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No one,
including myself, imagined that innocent lives would be lost that day. Hundreds of torch bearing, white privileged
“nationalists” many of whom bearing Nazi Swastikas and dressed in riot gear,
beat and intimidated anyone who dared oppose their protest message of hate and
destruction. Make no mistake about
it: This was not a protest for
equality. It was a protest for
supremacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We in the
Lutheran Church have a tragic legacy of quietism when it comes to hate-filled
crowds promoting themselves as a superior race and desiring the elimination of
“inferior” ones. With the exception of
the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany, who refused to be silent in the face of
human extermination, the Lutheran State Church of the 30s and 40s said and did
nothing; even when forced to display swastikas as altar paraments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It would be
easy for us to turn off the television and pretend that nothing is wrong; to
claim the media is making mountains out of mole hills; to turn and look the
other way when we hear stories of violence perpetrated against persons of
different ethnicities and immigrants. It
would be easy for us to look away saying, “that’s just the way the world is”
without asking what or who has unleashed and given voice to the hatred.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As followers
of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who reached across all boundaries and divides,
advocating love and justice for the least of these, we know what we have to do. We cannot and we must not remain silent. We, like the psalmist, have voices that “sing
to the Lord a new song”. A song that anticipates the lion and the lamb coexisting in peace; A song that proclaims
justice rolling down like an everflowing stream; A song that emboldens us to
love recklessly as Christ on the cross first recklessly loved us; A song that
declares love of God and love of neighbor are all that matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let us raise
our counter-cultural songs together as we engage in both conversation and action
in the weeks to come. Let us not be fearful in the face of hatred. Let us not remain silent in the face of
racial atrocities. For the world is now
too dangerous for anything but Truth, and too small for anything but love.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Walking with
you in Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-28105199980101916562017-08-03T12:31:00.002-07:002017-08-03T12:36:04.244-07:00Sermon Reflections for August 6th: Food for Thought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick...Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied</i> (Matthew 14).<br />
<br />
As I look ahead to the task of preaching on Sunday, I am struck at the scandalous, counter-cultural message of this story. I don't think this is a tame story that can or should be watered down. In fact, if we're doing diligence with this or any of the gospel stories, we cannot escape the cosmic transformational message of a God who has come to turn our world and our priorities upside down. <br />
<br />
This is not a harmless story where some sick folks are healed and some hungry folks are fed. This is nothing less than a story of radical hospitality devoid of counting costs. In the midst of collective brokenness, notice what Jesus does not do.<br />
<br />
For starters when sick people are brought to him, he doesn't ask for insurance cards. Nor does Jesus inquire as to any pre-existing medical conditions. All we are told is that he sees the brokenness, has compassion, and heals. By the way that word "compassion" in the Greek implies "gut wrenching". Jesus' gut is literally turned upside down to the point of nausea as he lovingly yearns for the crowd's healing.<br />
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It's one thing for Jesus to heal the sick, but feed the hungry too? Jesus' followers can't begin to imagine how five loaves of bread and two fish will feed thousands. They know what empty pews on Sunday morning look like. In their "numbers-crunching" ledger, it is clear to them that there are way too many people to feed for the amount of food they have. "Send them away" they tell Jesus. "Let someone else feed them. We can't be expected to feed everyone can we?" <br />
<br />
You and I know that they stand in the presence of Jesus; the embodiment of the God of abundance, so their talk of scarcity seems ludicrous. It's a no brainer for us to see that in Jesus' presence all will get fed. But I guess the question for me is this: Do we see that same Jesus in our presence today? And if so, do we trust that all will be fed and that God will use us to do the feeding? Do we trust the call to throw caution to the wind, feeding and healing at whatever the cost?<br />
<br />
Again, notice what Jesus does not do here. He doesn't force the hungry to sit down and have a Bible study before they can be fed. He doesn't check their communion cards to see if they are "in" or "out". He doesn't make them join the Jesus on the Hillside Church. He doesn't make them pass a theology litmus test. He simply commands his followers to feed everyone. Did you get that? He commands. Jesus doesn't make a polite suggestion of something nice to do. If you are going to follow this guy, you better get your feeding hands ready, because there's actually work to do.<br />
<br />
I'm not totally sure where my sermon will end up on Sunday, but these are at least a few thoughts that have been guiding me this week in my prayers and preparations.<br />
<br />
Oh and in case you need some reinforcement of the idea that where Jesus is, food will be there also, join us this Sunday morning for Breakfast Church at 9:30 in the downstairs auditorium where worship and breakfast will be combined.<br />
<br />
Let the journey begin,<br />
Pastor Doug<br />
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<br />Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-45006780937500836702016-03-22T08:18:00.000-07:002016-03-22T08:18:02.931-07:00Pastor Doug's Easter Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYg-dFK26AZltwFL9g5VLl530n2SCu5YbePNi6USvDicPjFQH_LI9V2fC31O85MSQGLKRpmHSqtr0b9U6g8y7Qhelh7GIeaw5TGkMZZj7hezCvltXkelAT5kw8niv6IzAN87HHctu_VNtk/s1600/detail-of-empty-tomb-anne-cutri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYg-dFK26AZltwFL9g5VLl530n2SCu5YbePNi6USvDicPjFQH_LI9V2fC31O85MSQGLKRpmHSqtr0b9U6g8y7Qhelh7GIeaw5TGkMZZj7hezCvltXkelAT5kw8niv6IzAN87HHctu_VNtk/s320/detail-of-empty-tomb-anne-cutri.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But on the first day of the week, at
early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had
prepared. They found the stone rolled
away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> (Luke 24:1-3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">God of
resurrection, we come to the tomb bearing spices we have prepared. We have seen death up close and personal and
we know what to do; our spices in hand are testament to that. We, along with the women who followed your
son from Galilee, have stood at a distance watching these things paralyzed by
grief and fear. We, along with them,
have seen the mocking and scoffing of a rigged justice system; a kangaroo court
by which unjust convictions lead to death. In the chilled hours of early dawn
we’ve walked among the tombs expecting nothing more than death. Journeying
among the stone cold cemetery markers of an unlit day we see death everywhere
and it scares us into euphemisms and denial;
And yet in our heart of hearts we know there can be no denial. We know that death lives in our families, in
our communities and in our world. We know that death will one day claim
us. It always does. We’ve seen it with
our own eyes as your son closed his eyes breathing his last on the hardwood of
a cross. Death is all too real. So like those early morning women, we sojourn
with broken hearts; carrying our spices among the tombs imagining only death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But you O
God won’t have any of that, for you are the One that no tomb on earth can
contain; not even the fancy new ones.
Indeed, you are doing a new thing.
Your voice shakes the mighty cedars of Lebanon. A word issues forth from
your lips and creation itself is birthed into being. Air from your lungs awakens life in our God-imaged
bodies. In your resurrection reality,
Jesus doesn’t stay dead. In your empty
tomb reality, stones are cast aside like pebbles skipping across the rippling
waters; grave clothes are left behind; tombs of death are transformed into
gateways of life; stunned silence turns into good news of great joy; grieving
friends on dusty roads are healed by the presence of a stranger breaking bread
in their midst and when all is said and done, the Word goes forth: Your Word goes forth riding atop our
alleluias and nothing can stop it; not even death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Palm Sunday
“Hosannas” inevitably turn to Good Friday shouts of “crucify”, but no longer do
we look for the living among the dead.
Life in the tomb is finished.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is
risen indeed! Alleluia!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-53904700167179755722016-01-07T17:26:00.000-08:002016-01-07T17:37:42.911-08:00I want to see Jesus<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now among those who went up to
worship at the festival were some Greeks.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him,
‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’”’ (John 12:20).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m not
exactly sure who these “Greeks” are, but I can definitely relate to them. Obviously they’ve heard of Jesus and now they
want to see him. Maybe they’ve heard of
his first miracle where water became wine and they want to see what this
blessing stuff is all about. Maybe,
like Nathaniel who openly wondered if anything good could possibly come out of
the ghetto of Nazareth, they want to see what this guy from the wrong side of
town looks like. Maybe they’ve heard of
his healing a lame man on the Sabbath, or his speaking with a Samaritan woman
and they want to see what this boundary-breaking radical is all about. Maybe they’ve heard how he fed 5,000 and they
want to know his trick or at the very least his business strategy. Maybe they’ve heard that he’s been teaching
in the Temple and they want to know by whose authority. I don’t know why they wanted to see Jesus or
even what they wanted to see. But I know
this: They wanted to see Jesus. And so do I.
There, I said it: I want to see
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We live in a
broken world, albeit a crappy one, where the rich get richer on the backs of
the poor; where an unarmed 12 year old black child is shot and killed by police
while armed white men are allowed to lay siege to a federal building with very
little consequence; We live in a world where the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment right
to bear arms supersedes one’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. We live in a world where we
are bombarded by media images designed to scare us into unreasonable fits of
ethnic paranoia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Honestly,
I’ve had enough. I want to see Jesus. And I have. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It all started
on that Friday before Christmas when dozens of folks from around the city and
county gathered together to remember the 14 homeless who died in our community
this past year. On that day, the names
of those whom the world has long forgotten were remembered. I saw Jesus that day, and his name was Luis,
John, Alonzo, Brian, Jessica, Elmyra, Jeffrey, Mark, Jose, Thomas, Ernest,
Shawn, Kevin, and Pierro.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I saw Jesus
the following Tuesday evening, when a small group of folks with St. Mary’s Homeless
Initiative journeyed under railroad bridges, down alleyways, and in the subway
tunnels searching for the chronically homeless; bringing food, warmth, and hope
to the invisible among us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I saw Jesus
in the faces of those whom we fed this evening at REACH Home as well as in
the volunteers and staff who have
dedicated their lives to lifting up the lowly and binding up those who are
broken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">In the darkness
of this cold winter night; In the darkness of this world, I have seen
Jesus.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">He is the light that shines in
the darkness.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">He is the light no
darkness can overcome.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">He is the light
no fear, no poverty, no amount of brokenness can overcome.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">He is the light that not even my darkness can
overcome.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">He is God incarnate, made
flesh and dwelling among us: And I’ve seen him in the most surprising places. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Blessed Epiphany everyone.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-56006544843749043942015-09-19T14:23:00.001-07:002015-09-19T14:23:19.478-07:00Funeral Sermon for The Rev. Robert J. Wennerstrom<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">Funeral Sermon for The Rev. Robert J.
Wennerstrom<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Lutheran Church of the Incarnate
Word<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rochester, NY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">September 19, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">John 10:11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Rev. Douglas L. Stewart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“</span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Care for God’s people, bear their
burdens…Witness faithfully in word and deed to all people. Be of good courage, for God has called you,
and your labor in the Lord is not in vain”.
<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Words spoken to the newly ordained as they rise from their
knees to their feet for the very first time with this newly placed stole draped
around the shoulders…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Words spoken to those who have answered the call to care for
God’s people; To Shepherd God’s flock…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Words spoken on that “hot and steamy” night at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Orleans – July
11<sup>th</sup>, 1954…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That night when the Church of Jesus Christ became abundantly
richer and immensely blessed with the ordination to Word and Sacrament of
Robert Joseph Wennerstrom…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Care for God’s people, bear their burdens… Witness
faithfully in word and deed to all people.”
<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not simply words for Bob, but a way of life. One need not look far to see that. Japan, the Philippines, New Orleans, Rome
(NY), Pittsburgh, and Rochester: All
places where this faithful pastor, patient teacher, and wise counselor <b>with the heart of a shepherd, embodied the
Truth he proclaimed</b>: That God’s Word
has become flesh and dwells among us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After 18 years of parish ministry…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">18 years of preaching, teaching, baptizing, marrying,
burying, visiting the sick, praying for God’s people, nourishing them with the
Word and Holy Sacraments, and leading by his own example in faithful service
and holy living, I suppose Bob could have begun to coast his way toward an
easier, more prestigious position in the church – But not Bob.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After 18 years of parish ministry, Bob felt the call to
expand the role of parish pastor to encompass life beyond the boundaries of a
building or a single congregation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After just 5 years at St. Matthew’s Church in Rochester,
Bob’s proclamation of the gospel extended into the surrounding city
neighborhood – a neighborhood still bearing the wounds of poverty, racism, and
violence inflicted by race riots just a few years earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Whether it be the formation of Group 14621, a grassroots
community association dedicated to revitalizing one of the poorest
neighborhoods in Rochester, or<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His helping organize volunteers to go door to door in the
community to speak with the elderly about medical issues, landlord problems,
lack of funds for heat, electricity, or food or <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His initiating JET Enterprises to help the poorest of the
poor to develop basic job skills necessary to succeed in the workplace, <b>with the heart of a shepherd, Bob</b> <b>embodied the Truth he proclaimed</b>, That
God’s Word has become flesh and dwells among us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As if that were not enough, Bob found an abandoned bakery on
Joseph Avenue where he started Community Lutheran Ministry: A Christ-centered community offering
after-school programs, tutoring, summer day camps, breakfast and lunch
programs, emergency food, clothing and furniture for those in need, as well as
offering programs of job preparation for neighborhood teens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There he stayed for another 18 years <b>with the heart of a shepherd</b>, <b>embodying
the truth he proclaimed</b>, that God’s Word has become flesh and dwells among
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Surely after 36 years of ordained ministry, one might imagine
counting down the days until retirement.
But not Bob. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not only did Bob take on the role of Visitation Pastor here
at Incarnate Word, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">but he fostered a relationship between this congregation and
Joanne Peterson, in which we became partners in providing much needed health
care workers to the most impoverished communities in the Dominican Republic… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A relationship that thrives to this day as evidenced by our
youth group who travelled there just a couple of years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Surely this would be enough to do, but not for Bob.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recognizing the pastoral care needs of an aging congregation, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bob helped train and support a cadre of Christian Caregivers here
at Incarnate Word while at the same time providing weekly pastoral care to the
seniors of our Wellness Center.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And in
all of this, </span><b style="color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">with the heart of a
shepherd, Bob</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><b style="color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">embodied the truth he
proclaimed</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">That God’s Word has
become flesh and dwells among us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My first encounter with Bob took place just over a decade
ago, not long after Pastor Joanne and I began our ministry here. When I first met Bob he was getting together
every week with a couple who wanted to learn more about Jesus. And so week after week, Bob took the time to
read and study the gospel of Mark with them, fashioning good and faithful
disciples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are folks in our pews today who are actively involved
in the outreach missions of our congregation because Bob invited them to join
him on an incredible journey of faith and discipleship. <b>With
the heart of a shepherd, Bob embodied the truth he proclaimed:</b> That God’s Word has become flesh and dwells
among us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Pastor Bob was not just ‘pastor’. Pastor Bob was also “devoted husband”, “loving
father”, “doting grandfather”, and “faithful friend” impacting lives in
profound ways. We already heard a bit of
that this morning from two of his grandchildren, Catherine and Matthew, as well
as from his long-time friend, Joanne Peterson, as they shared with us the depth
of his inspiration in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Right about now, having reflected upon so many of Bob’s
accomplishments, it would be easy to wrap up this sermon with the words “well
done, good and faithful servant”; Words
that I am certain God has spoken and continues to speak to Bob now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But we all know that if Bob was sitting in a pew right here,
right now, he would be waiting with bated breath to hear something more from
this pulpit: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He would be anxiously waiting to hear about the Cross of
Christ: That place where Christ took on
our death in exchange for His life: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That grace event, described by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the
time in which <i>“God did not reckon his Son
too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Or as Jesus himself once put it, “<i>I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Care for God’s people, bear their burdens… Witness
faithfully in word and deed to all people.”
<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bob did not need a bishop’s admonition to do this. This was Bob’s life. A life lived in response to an event that
happened to him on April 13<sup>th</sup>, 1930 at Faith Lutheran Church in Los
Angeles, California. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On that day the God of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Word
made flesh, named and claimed Bob as His own in the waters of Baptism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There in the splashing wetness of that day, promises came
cascading down upon a 3 year old boy that he would always live in the light of
God’s forgiveness equipped with the promise of eternal life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There in those swirling waters of baptismal grace came God’s
first directive for Bob: <i>“Because I have delivered you through the
cross and empty tomb of my son,</i> <i>Let
your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father who is in heaven”. </i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And Bob did.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He let
that baptismal light shine.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From Japan
to the Dominican Republic and all points in-between.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the past couple of years, we have seen Bob’s health steadily
decline: Slowly at first, and more rapidly toward the end. In that time we experienced great sadness as
his recognition of us continued to diminish.
But at his bedside right up until the very last moment of his life, hung
that beautiful banner reminding all who would see it of God’s great news: Of God’s final sentence in the book of Bob’s
life and ours: <i>“I have called you by name – you are mine”.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These were not simply words on a banner to Bob. They were his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In these words, Bob knew a God whose love for him was poured
out on a cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In these words, Bob knew a God, who in the best and the worst
of times, would always be with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I guess I should not be terribly surprised that at the
conclusion of our playing a recording for Bob in which a dear organist friend
of his was playing the hymn, “Abide With Me”; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.4px;">Bob breathed his last</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">as the final chord of the hymn
was played, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the final moments of Bob’s life on earth here are the
words he heard: The words that, given the timing of things, clearly became his
prayer. His prayer to the God who loved
him – His prayer to the God he loved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <i>“Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes, shine through the gloom
and point me to the skies; heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows
flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I close this morning with one more prayer: Not just any prayer, but a prayer, a gift
offered by Bob for his family, (Always the pastor). A prayer he shared with Joel 6 years ago in
an e-mail:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“God,
I thank you for Doris, for her faith, her love, her wisdom. I pray for Ann, Catherine, Matthew,
Elizabeth, Carol, Curt, Sarah, Adam, Joel.
Ground them in faith that they are redeemed, not with silver or gold,
but with your holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death, that they
may be your own, live under you in your kingdom and serve you in righteousness
and blessedness and resurrection certainty.
Sustain their health, guide them in their work, and bless their
friendships.<br />
<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With
many, many prayers and much love, Dad”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Robert Joseph Wennerstrom, child of God – I have called you
by name – you are mine: well done good and faithful servant</span><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-60395804229970748642015-09-10T09:46:00.003-07:002015-09-10T09:52:50.201-07:00Even the Crumbs of Faith...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SnX24Kk3NTQco3HT0jM35fj7yqgvoN5x_mmj2iiIBUsVNc5BqWKF85prn3aPwfmpfXw2goUHQJ7Q1bsK2Z0cYlqQODYEmaCr2V-HgHCJ_06Qt5GR1haonepOchMF_irlQ0YR051meTIs/s1600/crumbs-from-your-table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SnX24Kk3NTQco3HT0jM35fj7yqgvoN5x_mmj2iiIBUsVNc5BqWKF85prn3aPwfmpfXw2goUHQJ7Q1bsK2Z0cYlqQODYEmaCr2V-HgHCJ_06Qt5GR1haonepOchMF_irlQ0YR051meTIs/s320/crumbs-from-your-table.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Sir, even the dogs
under the table eat the children’s crumbs”</i> (Mark 7:28).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Words spoken by a mom whose daughter is sick and who has
just been told by Jesus to go away. Yeah
that’s right, to go away. No sugar
coating here. In fact, Jesus calls both
she and her daughter “dogs”; a cultural slur on a par with the “n-word” today. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you were in church this past Sunday you may recall that
in my sermon I made mention of Jesus’ racial slur, but I also spoke of Jesus’
mind being changed by a mom who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer; by a mom whose
tenacious love for her daughter would stop at nothing for healing. Like the prodigal dad who sells the farm to
throw a feast for his wayward son’s homecoming, this mom refuses to give up on
grace. And so Jesus’ mind is changed.
God’s mind has been changed before; just look at Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and
Jonah to see that. In fact, Jesus’ mind
is SO changed by this woman that from that point on in Mark’s gospel, Jesus
goes to the most “gentil-ist” places ever:
To Sidon and the Decapolis – you know, those mini Roman cities. It doesn’t get any more outsider than
that. Clearly this story is illustrative
of our call to radical inclusivity. But
as I reflect further on this story, it seems I missed a point on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not only is this a narrative about breaking down barriers
that divide, but it is also a story of abundance and this outsider’s
recognition of it. It appears that this
desperate mom who is at the end of her rope recognizes a certain abundance in
the things that Jesus is up to. It’s
almost as if she’s saying to the “insiders” who get to eat at the table, <i>“Go ahead eat all you want. But what if your table cannot contain all the
food that Jesus brings? What if there
are leftovers like the time he fed 5,000?
What if there are so many leftovers that the excess food just starts
spilling to the floor? If so, I’ll be there
on my hands and knees gathering up the crumbs because even the crumbs will do
the job”.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes it takes an outsider, someone with “fresh” eyes to
see the most obvious things we miss.
Here, a desperate mom not only recognizes, but bears witness to the
abundance of Jesus. No proper doctrine
articulated just a mom, her tenacious love for her daughter, and some crazy-ass
trust that Jesus is all about healing and abundance. Is there a lesson here for us? Sitting in a sanctuary which is emptier today
than 20 years ago, is it possible that all we see are crumbs of scarcity when
in reality there is abundance in our midst? Maybe we need this desperate mom to show us
what it means to cling to Jesus trusting that he will do what he says he came
to do. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to look for her this
Sunday, in fact I’m going to look for her every Sunday. I’m sure she’s been here before and I know
she’ll be here again clinging to each and every crumb of good news that she
hears; fiercely convinced that even a crumb will heal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-71625422853040828152015-08-27T10:45:00.002-07:002015-08-27T10:45:57.622-07:00Pharisees and Green Monsters, Oh My...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9oN_OuKwMAEkGsDuhK7_a5m5ovPg4ob5dSmRuGO-UmW1GlwYAkZz4t8OwY4YpQjANCv0L1DC3lKUAAHIHLkoHtjR5iNnB7G9EWodnr_uUv96-BX5NADYiJ-5txWBG3iGb56pW75lEREX/s1600/Fenway_Park_1996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9oN_OuKwMAEkGsDuhK7_a5m5ovPg4ob5dSmRuGO-UmW1GlwYAkZz4t8OwY4YpQjANCv0L1DC3lKUAAHIHLkoHtjR5iNnB7G9EWodnr_uUv96-BX5NADYiJ-5txWBG3iGb56pW75lEREX/s320/Fenway_Park_1996.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me begin
with this disclaimer; I’m a huge Boston Red Sox fan and have been my entire
life, even following their Triple A farm team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, since I
was seven. <i>(Sorry Rochester friends, when the PawSox come to town, they’re still
my team).</i> My being a fan may have
something to do with my New England origins.
Or it may be due in part to the fact that when my dad’s brother was
dying from Leukemia in the 1950s, the great Ted Williams made regular trips to
Mass General just to visit him. Then
again there’s the iconic Citgo sign parked out beyond left centerfield which
has been a Boston landmark longer than I’ve been alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But as I
think about it, my love for the Sox is probably due more than anything else to
the great Fenway Park with its 37’ 2” high left field wall, affectionately
known as the “Green Monster”; the highest wall of any major league baseball
stadium; towering over left fielders since 1912. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So imagine
my surprise and subsequent outrage when in the 2002-03 off-season, the Green
Monster was renovated with the installation of 274 seats, with even more added
in 2005. I realize Fenway Park has one
of the smallest seating capacities and with players’ salaries skyrocketing, it
takes more fans to generate more revenue, but really guys, the Green
Monster? You had to desecrate the
holiest ground at Fenway Park by installing seats on her? Have you no decency? Is nothing sacred?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wonder if
these were the questions on the minds and hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees in
Sunday morning’s gospel reading from Mark. Is nothing sacred? Jesus’ followers have not only been associating
with all kinds of unclean people, but they don’t even wash their hands before
eating as the religious tradition dictates.
How can they call themselves followers of God and not abide by God’s traditions? From the Pharisees’ perspective, Jesus’
followers are not simply neglecting God’s statutes, they are spitting on the
holiness of God. They are threatening
the very fabric of Israelite existence with their cavalier ways. So yeah, the good religious folks are a bit
upset. They’ve drawn their line in the
sand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Before we
launch off on some tirade against the Pharisees and their apparent
close-mindedness, maybe we should look at the lines we draw in the sand. Make no mistake about it, when it comes to
life in the church, we all have them; we all have those lines you better not
cross.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What if we cut
the Congregation Council in half while at the same time eliminating Core Groups
and their subcommittees in favor of a more agile congregation? What if we were to move the altar table
around the sanctuary on a seasonal basis?
What if we removed all the pews in order to make our worship space more
flexible on Sunday, while creating a daily dining space for the homeless? Do you see where I’m going here? We all have buttons to be pushed. We all have traditions we are unable or
unwilling to forsake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s taken
all these years for me to finally accept what the Red Sox owners did to my
beloved “Green Monster”. I see now that
their motives were not malevolent. As much as I may hate to admit it, they may
have had the well-being of both the team and the park in mind. And if I’m honest with myself, I have to
acknowledge that my precious Green Monster wasn’t always green.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once again
this week, I’m not entirely sure where my sermon will end up on Sunday. But my guess is that it’s going to have
something to do with being open to the Spirit; being open to God working in new
ways; trusting that God’s not going to lead us into bad places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Join me on
Sunday and let’s see where God takes us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-24905421228804130122015-08-20T10:40:00.000-07:002015-08-20T17:55:07.912-07:00Another Shooting in Rochester<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsqFq7tuLVk9GvqyYgjyXA3O910fyXYnKJ4RswK96YxowWM0V4H9-hTXStRH5GhOcItVm7IBkT9xyL92r9IrrXWSYyJa2oyH91xRCImWRE4F-GvjU1jRhiZwx3q6vNY6jZidzbyQNZ4dR/s1600/ct-national-guard-gun-violence-perspec-0702-20150701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsqFq7tuLVk9GvqyYgjyXA3O910fyXYnKJ4RswK96YxowWM0V4H9-hTXStRH5GhOcItVm7IBkT9xyL92r9IrrXWSYyJa2oyH91xRCImWRE4F-GvjU1jRhiZwx3q6vNY6jZidzbyQNZ4dR/s320/ct-national-guard-gun-violence-perspec-0702-20150701.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s been another shooting in Rochester. Though every shooting and every death is
tragic and there have been way too many of them this year, this particular
event last night seemed even more cruel than usual. In front of the Boys and Girls Club on Genesee Street, a place of refuge and empowerment, seven people were shot resulting in three
deaths. At this point two of the three
have been identified; Raekwon, 19 years old and Jonah 17. I know neither their stories, nor the
circumstances that led to the violence perpetrated against them, but I do know
that they were too young to die.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I cannot begin to imagine the devastating heart break
overwhelming Raekwon’s and Jonah’s parents right now. As a parent who has children of similar ages,
my heart aches for their families. Children aren’t supposed to die before their
parents; especially children so young. Sure, our kids get older and with every
passing day they seem more and more adult-like, but they never stop being our
kids. We never stop worrying about them. We never forget the days of diapers and
bottles; cut knees, scraped elbows and the occasional bruised feelings. We
never forget the super-hero promises we made of keeping them out of harm's way.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The streets of our city have become a killing field. The cemeteries of our city are swallowing up our children. Rochester’s reality reflects the reality of
the larger culture in which we live: A culture addicted to gun violence. Add to that the systemic cycle of poverty and
a powder keg emerges. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At every homicide location, we’ve been gathering in prayer
and sadly our prayer vigils have been occurring almost weekly. At these vigils we pray for peace,
understanding, and healing. We pray that
God will hallow the ground desecrated by the spilling of blood. And yet the violence continues. Shootings remain at epidemic levels. As people of faith we can’t help but ask the
questions, “Where is God in all of this?”
“Does God hear our prayers and laments?”
“Does God even care?” These
questions are not only fair, but they are faithful. I ask these questions myself. Come on God,
can’t you stop this insanity? You could
part the Red Sea, can’t you part the violence?
If only we had magic wands to make the violence disappear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We don’t have wands, but here’s who we do have. We have Jesus. I’m not talking about Jesus walking and
talking with me alone in some remote garden.
<i>(Sorry, that old hymn gets it
wrong.)</i> No, the Jesus we have is the
one who knows about systemic poverty, because he was born and lived his entire
life in it. The Jesus we have is the one
who himself was an innocent victim of violence as his tortured body hung dying
on a cross. The Jesus we have is the one
who cried out in anguish on the cross to a God whom he thought had abandoned
him. The Jesus we have is the one who didn’t stay dead; who was raised by God
thereby putting death itself to death.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And yet our children still die. With blood stains fresh on our streets, Good
Friday death still casts its ominous shadow.
Oh sure, we know that Sunday’s coming; that an empty Easter tomb awaits
us; that God promises a future of healing, reconciliation, and life, but we
can’t entirely dismiss the fear and discouragement of the present. That Holy Saturday tomb looks so huge. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s the deal: In the midst of my doubts and fears; in the
midst of tears that come way too easily; I will continue to keep Easter vigils
on street corners and I invite you to join me.
Who knows? Maybe our presence on
street corners is the presence of God for which we’ve been praying. Maybe our tears of Good Friday anguish are
God’s tears. Maybe our vigils, in which
prayers for shattered tombs are offered, will give Easter hope to one sibling,
one parent, one child.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-16589453525369492252015-08-15T21:23:00.002-07:002015-08-15T21:33:46.918-07:00God's Scandalous Church<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidY0jZ7yL0yJ1ZRXCXHgZuTpBpzKu-YqlTpJhgzxQGouvDGSY9_3HARjg4SOjM4U7rk9nBvGqW70TunrkfOYcqMNGFqPiDGXaEd7eHV7_vwKZGWlwxZkXDcP1kmgmKhTEciA1Yrov1ReGB/s1600/Bread-of-Life-by-Kennedy-A-Paizs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidY0jZ7yL0yJ1ZRXCXHgZuTpBpzKu-YqlTpJhgzxQGouvDGSY9_3HARjg4SOjM4U7rk9nBvGqW70TunrkfOYcqMNGFqPiDGXaEd7eHV7_vwKZGWlwxZkXDcP1kmgmKhTEciA1Yrov1ReGB/s320/Bread-of-Life-by-Kennedy-A-Paizs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“’I am the living bread that came
down from heaven. Whoever eats of this
bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the
world is my flesh’” </span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(John
6:51).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Though I’m
not preaching on Sunday, this verse from the gospel reading has been haunting
me all week. On the surface Jesus’ words
seem fairly harmless. <i>“I am the bread of life”</i>. I can preach that and maybe even do a fairly
adequate job of it. I mean how hard is
it to talk about getting nourishment from Jesus? I could stand up in the pulpit and point out
the differences between God’s nourishment and the hollow nourishment of the
world. I could point to the times in
Scripture when God has miraculously fed God’s people on their long and arduous
journeys of faith. Or I could use this
text as an opportunity to talk about the importance of being fed weekly at the
altar table of God’s love with a piece of bread and a sip of wine. I could go to all these places and probably
offend no one; At least no one who has made the “journey” to church on Sunday
morning. But I can’t go there. Not this week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For some
reason the radicalness of Jesus’ words won’t let me go. They won’t let me tame Jesus and his
scandalous call to follow. These words
won’t even let me preach a sermon on the “whys” of Eucharist. Sure I could preach a barn burner of a sermon
about our need to be fed daily with the body and blood of Christ. But I can’t go there. Not this week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The bread that I will give for the
life of the world is my flesh”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. How in the world can
the religious folks of Jesus’ day even stomach such a shock jock phrase? A good religious person of Jesus’ day knows
that any talk of flesh is unclean. It is
not kosher. So, who does this Jesus think
he is claiming that it is his flesh and blood that truly nourishes? Jesus’ declaration turns everything upside
down. Every faith truth ever told; every
faith assumption ever held is undone by this one sentence. In Jesus’ day, flesh and blood are ritually
unclean. If contact is made with either,
folks are cast out of community. Without
community survival is almost impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Can we even
begin to grasp the radical nature of Jesus’ words? Surely these ancient kosher laws don’t apply
to our lives, but in what scandalous ways does Jesus call us to follow? In what scandalous ways does Jesus call us
out of our safety zones? In what scandalous ways does Jesus call us to abandon our theological certitudes? In this post-modern world in which the church
no longer finds itself at the center of society’s norms and mores, what is
Jesus calling us to do and to be? How
open are we to God acting in new and creative ways? How
open are we to God’s reforming word re-defining all that we have taken for
granted in the last 500 years? How open
are we to God changing the very definition of church? The scriptural canon is certainly closed, but
is it possible that God is still speaking?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus’ words
are radical both for his day and for ours.
But they are also filled with good news.
In keeping with the Hebrew notion of flesh and blood containing one’s
total being, when Jesus talks about giving his flesh and blood, he is promising
nothing less than the giving of his entire self. I don’t know about you, but I can’t begin to
get my head around that kind of love; that kind of love that holds nothing
back. And yet it is precisely that
abiding love which not only nourishes and sustains us, but sends us back out
into the world to feed God’s sheep. How will we feed God’s sheep in the weeks,
months, and years to come holding nothing back? Join me in
worship; in that place where the crucified and risen Christ has promised to
be. And let us discern together where
God is calling us to travel and who God is calling us to be; no matter how
radical and scandalous the call.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-89400520935537837242015-08-06T12:19:00.001-07:002015-08-06T12:23:01.578-07:00Incarnate Word - Come Out!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFyxihdKmywNpvd1suDVmXd_NbEynDKYRcN9HyAXUkleh6CrYRzEj_OeE3SzCRRe16ooT8bezd8GBOj5YCWk4MbT9qQrYh1_hWx8UErkp9DL9I6ZkDpJCsEPyYDKon9LLsWuKiyyIxuW3/s1600/c47d2-raisingoflazarus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFyxihdKmywNpvd1suDVmXd_NbEynDKYRcN9HyAXUkleh6CrYRzEj_OeE3SzCRRe16ooT8bezd8GBOj5YCWk4MbT9qQrYh1_hWx8UErkp9DL9I6ZkDpJCsEPyYDKon9LLsWuKiyyIxuW3/s320/c47d2-raisingoflazarus2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“They were saying, ‘Is not this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from
heaven’?”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> (John
6:42).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Surely by
now, you grumbling religious leaders know who Jesus is. He’s the Son of God. Haven’t you been listening? Haven’t you seen what he’s done? Surely that wedding at Cana where he turned
180 gallons of water into the finest wine must have convinced someone. Missed the Cana gig? Well, certainly you
religious experts saw how Jesus healed the paralytic on the steps of the Temple
in Jerusalem. You groused enough about
it; Something about it being unlawful to heal on the Sabbath. Really guys? What about the stilling of the
storm? Or the feeding of the 5,000? Haven’t you figured out who Jesus is
yet? Maybe you should have been with me
back in second grade when the most incredible Sunday School teacher ever, Mrs.
Barnes, told us what it meant that God put on our flesh in Jesus; That God took
his love for us to a whole new level in becoming one of us. You quote chapter and verse of scripture
looking for God and can’t see that God is already here and has found you. Jesus is God’s Word spoken at Creation made
flesh; God’s Word of prophetic faithfulness made flesh; God’s Word of healing
made flesh. And still you can’t see
beyond appearances? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Truth be
told, I too have a hard time seeing beyond appearances. I’m ordained. I’ve been to seminary, studied Greek, learned
how to dissect Scripture and put it back together again, all the while learning
how to teach and preach this stuff. But when
push comes to shove I have doubts. I
have times when my holy imagination has run dry. We clergy stake our entire lives on gospel
proclamation and still we see churches dying before our very eyes; haunted hulks
of once vibrant church buildings, now shabby specters of bygone glory. We see dwindling numbers of people in church
and the fear that evokes, experiencing that fear first hand in personal attacks
and in some instances firings. We see what the church could be and still feel
the shackles of congregational anxiety holding us back from adapting to the
culture’s needs around us. We see
budgets shrink and programs go unfunded and still have to explain why folks
aren’t beating down the doors of our churches on a Sunday morning. By all
appearances, God at times seems absent.
Little wonder that so many clergy are lonesome, weary, depressed, and
end up leaving the ministry after just a few short years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But here’s
the deal, God has never been stopped by appearances. Our white mainline Protestant churches may,
like Lazarus, have the stench of death in their garments, appearing to be dead,
but when the Word made flesh utters the words “come out”, death’s defeat has
begun. Old ways of being the church may
be dead or dying and our congregations may seem lifeless, but when Jesus issues
that same “Lazarus call” to us, new life has begun and the church is literally
pregnant with possibility.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Come
out!” Jesus’ words to Lazarus and to
us. Come out! In the face of decline, come out! Unwrap the grave clothes. Breathe deep and step into the light. Come out and be the church – be the Beloved
Community God has called you to be; doing justice and loving mercy; not
ecclesiastical entrepreneurs but God’s holy fools proclaiming life and hope in
the midst of death and despair. Be the Beloved Community God has called you to
be in the waters of Baptism; no longer fearing appearances of scarcity but
trusting the promises of God’s abundance; trusting that God is not yet done
with us and won’t be for a very long time.
Come out. Dear friends in Christ,
come out!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-85727771967127929662015-07-29T14:33:00.001-07:002015-07-29T14:35:41.094-07:00Church of Action: Do we dare be that church?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMFrZuQxMyMp3RJHFkA4Qah0E0TCBbSwktJhKC_0XlFyMA5K9rEh-14HDKZOJA4tLoZBK7Sf95hgwJYvFvXxyBREOXJ9dTbapfGpvFp97imqV_2bPSEdliQksBZQ1xsxolVOpYMiRmcub/s1600/feeding-of-the-5000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMFrZuQxMyMp3RJHFkA4Qah0E0TCBbSwktJhKC_0XlFyMA5K9rEh-14HDKZOJA4tLoZBK7Sf95hgwJYvFvXxyBREOXJ9dTbapfGpvFp97imqV_2bPSEdliQksBZQ1xsxolVOpYMiRmcub/s1600/feeding-of-the-5000.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What must we do to perform the works
of God?”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> (John
6:28).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seems like a
completely reasonable question given all that’s just happened. Word of Jesus’ healings and feedings have
gone viral. The recently fed crowd of
5,000 wants more. So they begin looking furiously for Jesus and his
disciples. Much to everyone’s surprise
Jesus is found hanging out on “the other side of the sea”; the other side of
the tracks; the unclean side of the world; the neighborhood to which nice
respectable church folk would never venture. These folks are desperately hungry. I mean come on, they’ve actually ventured
into the 14621 zip code of their world. Obviously
they’ve been given a taste of something great and they want more. And so comes the question, “How do we get
more?” Or put another way, “What must we
do to perform the works of God?” We’ve glimpsed
what it means to be filled and we want more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hungering
crowds are not just the stuff of bible stories.
The world in which we live is a perishable parched wilderness offering
hollow nourishment. Its inhabitants
hunger and thirst for meaning; for value; for connectedness; for lives that are
nourished and whole. Instead they find brokenness, poverty, and injustice. They find profound loneliness in a world of
social media that is anything but social. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In our
world, in our city, and in our lives storms rage. So, where is the church in all of this? Where are the followers of the Prince of
Peace? Where are those whose Lord sends
them out to feed God’s sheep? Do we, the
church, have a voice in any of these storms and if so, where do we find that
voice? It is one thing to talk about
feeding sheep, it is quite another to actually do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t get me
wrong, there is value in talking about feeding and healing. We call that theology. Theology is absolutely essential in informing
us as to the “why” of mission. Theology
is how we talk about and live with God. It
grounds us in all that we do. But if our
theology is all talk and no action, then we are not the church sent out by the
dancing flames of Pentecost. And if we
are not that church, then we are not the church at all; merely a dwindling
social club of irrelevancy. And why
would we expect God to empower that? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What must we do to perform the works
of God?”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Kind of a scary question if you ask a good
Lutheran. We abhor the word,
“works”. We despise it. We run away from it. Haven’t we been taught that “works” don’t get
us into heaven? Of course “works” don’t
buy salvation, but they are absolutely essential to our relationship with God
and each other. Talk doesn’t feed my
hungry neighbor. Works of love do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m not
quite sure where my sermon on this text will end up on Sunday morning, but of
this I am certain. God has fed us that
we might feed others; and not just talk about it. God doesn’t need another mouth house; another
place where we’re all talk and no action. In Sunday’s gospel story, Jesus is found on
the other side of the sea; Feeding and healing in unclean, unsafe, scandalous
places. Where will we be found?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-27881719949538836382015-07-22T16:37:00.002-07:002015-07-22T16:42:35.601-07:00Where Heaven Touched Earth...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIzPYFcg2DWszado8U652Erh45FB3y_9UXPC-icQ1lC7NPreq8WE19IzBSXh_PgdzBE2CkkOnCBZcQNMdzfMyAU6pOs5gYdDeXV6_zfq7Jz9rQvMj9efVjZLnNqpfmOd3-TS2r7oPnphi/s1600/iStock_000007901306Small-thumb-380x251-6343-thumb-380x251-6344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIzPYFcg2DWszado8U652Erh45FB3y_9UXPC-icQ1lC7NPreq8WE19IzBSXh_PgdzBE2CkkOnCBZcQNMdzfMyAU6pOs5gYdDeXV6_zfq7Jz9rQvMj9efVjZLnNqpfmOd3-TS2r7oPnphi/s320/iStock_000007901306Small-thumb-380x251-6343-thumb-380x251-6344.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve always suspected The Lord’s Prayer was real and
probably even relevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to be
honest with you the words of that prayer have spilled off my lips so many
times, in so many contexts, over so many years that they have become rote to
me. The words of the Lord’s Prayer have become so commonplace,
oftentimes I don’t even hear them as I speak them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then comes the fear:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think I may have been daydreaming, what did I just pray?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just waiting for the time when one
of our dear homebound members, for whom this prayer is powerful, stops me dead
in my tracks to ask me what I just prayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here’s the scoop:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I haven’t always given much thought about the Lord’s Prayer and the
communal relationship it embodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That was until today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At noontime,
seven of us gathered in prayer, holding hands, lifting up the latest victim of
a Rochester homicide. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jit Mongar,
a 38 year old Nepalese refugee and sole bread winner for his seven children was
robbed at gunpoint and murdered in the parking lot of Lake Food Market on
Sunday night. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Our Father in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Holy be your name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This prayer of holiness offered on the very ground that had
been desecrated by the spilling of blood just three days ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done –
especially here O Lord at 785 Lake Avenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please God, bring healing to these precious children whose
dad will never be coming home again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please God, murder can’t be your will, especially on the day of Resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need your holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We need your peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need
for heaven to touch the earth.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Heaven bent down to touch the earth today in the words of a little girl
who walked by our ecumenical prayer circle with her mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Look Mommy, those people are
praying”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all she
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all she needed to
say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In years to come, she may or
may not remember that a father of seven was murdered on that spot, but she will
remember that in her neighborhood, victimized by poverty and violence, some
people stood around in a circle, holding hands in prayer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank you God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
Kingdom came near today, but not as I imagined it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It may have come </span>near in the prayers we offered, maybe not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I know for sure heaven touched the
earth today in the curiosity of a little girl who proclaimed words of hope on that Rochester killing field, “Look Mommy, those people are praying…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I may have seen
that today not only in prayers spoken but in prayer proclaimed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Amen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come Lord
Jesus…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-28890906681986554322015-07-21T09:42:00.001-07:002015-07-21T12:25:10.038-07:00Gut Wrenching Jesus...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituM3lxiCWNoBce5r7X7IvpluqRJu3ZzB655sLqGuGPoh0yAHUDGMz5kWsYpq4ZLl923v7BQEJtWHrVUJ7up8A_Vuvtne_Ih3el3V-Y3Sm2Jr6iDWqBwoDvpodtKnnU1aO5RvlQSPg6m3m/s1600/johnreillythefeedingofthefivethousand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituM3lxiCWNoBce5r7X7IvpluqRJu3ZzB655sLqGuGPoh0yAHUDGMz5kWsYpq4ZLl923v7BQEJtWHrVUJ7up8A_Vuvtne_Ih3el3V-Y3Sm2Jr6iDWqBwoDvpodtKnnU1aO5RvlQSPg6m3m/s320/johnreillythefeedingofthefivethousand.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“As he went ashore, he saw a great
crowd; and he had compassion for them…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is one of my favorite verses taken from this past Sunday’s
gospel reading. Up to this point in
Mark’s story, Jesus and his apostles have been healing and teaching like crazy
– they’ve been swamped by crowds of folks hungering and thirsting for healing
and wholeness – folks who have seen a glimpse of the Kingdom and want more. They have been ravenous for new life. In fact the crowds have been so overwhelming,
there’s been no time to eat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally, seeing the need for rest, Jesus invites the Twelve to
come away with him to a “deserted place”.
So, they get into a boat by
themselves and not even a single verse passes before they are recognized again
by more crowds in what can only be described as pandemonium. Jesus and the Twelve have definitely attained
“rock star” status.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So what does Jesus do in the face of more crowds? If it were me, my introverted side would take
over and I would probably turn the boat around looking for an even more
deserted place; staying out on the water all night if that’s what it took to
catch a break from the throngs of people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But that’s not what Jesus does. Rather than seeing mindless crowds of people
looking for a free hand-out, Jesus’ eyes see something different. Jesus sees beloved people fashioned in the
divine image of their creator and he has compassion for them. Having compassion; now that sounds safe. We all like to think that when push comes to
shove we play well with others; that our hearts are full of compassion. Except what Mark is referring to here is not
compassion of the heart. The greek word
for compassion literally translates as “gut-wrenching”. Upon seeing the broken and hurting people,
Jesus’ stomach turns somersaults. In
other words, not only does Jesus’ heart feel for the people, but so too does
his stomach. For Jesus, hunger and brokenness
is not academic. It’s enough to make him
feel sick to his stomach. Jesus’ breath
is wrenched away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If that kind of compassion is good enough for Jesus, maybe
it’s good enough for us as well. I
wonder if we in the church are even capable of that kind of compassion. In the face of numeric decline both in pews
and in bank accounts, are we really able to feel gut wrenching compassion for
the broken, hurting, and dispossessed around us? I tend to think not. Oh sure, we’re nice people. We have our “cute” little table prayers that
affirm “God is great, God is good...”; we
can agree that the “golden rule” is a noble way to live our lives; sometimes, we might even find ourselves talking
about poverty, violence and racism. But when push comes to shove, are these the
concerns that cause us to be ill? Does
another murder in our city keep us awake at night wondering where Jesus is in
the midst of it and how we might be God’s instruments of peace? Do we even give a thought to the single mom
in the RAIHN program, working two jobs and unable to make ends meet? Do our stomachs churn restlessly as we
continue to remember and mourn what happened in Charleston a few weeks ago? Or have we taken the media's lead and stopped making ourselves aware of the racism around us and in us? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sadly, this is often where Jesus and the church part
ways. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus and his
followers go on to feed thousands on a hillside, while the church continues to
seek its own survival; looking to its financial bottom line as an indicator of
health. Yes, we are those folks
hungering and thirsting for wholeness.
But we are also the church, named and claimed by God in the waters of
Baptism to bear God’s creative and redeeming word to all the world. We are tired and broken and yet we are fed
each week that we may feed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are the church and the church is not called to
survive. We are called to be poured out
in love for the world. Because love
first found its way to us on the Cross of Christ, we are compelled to the gut
wrenching compassion that stops at nothing to love the loveless, feed the
hungry, and heal the broken. As far as I
can tell, Jesus never counted the cost of such compassion; so why in the world
would we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Peace and Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-43123749878284563702015-07-13T09:51:00.002-07:002015-07-13T10:08:03.079-07:00Blockbuster Church? Shift Happens...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-_5lKU2PMjSRoJfp8GzUpQqK6CR-5WrH1IcoTwTMu828Bus2Ni-7ePCdvUwGtcJzVHEMInsgjG-Rh_zS7IREmfg1s-TTBDSlkoJIauQ_ciRGkMOVTkjx7uZ2hMaQx63O85e4zSWwL1km/s1600/13763731323_42cf430679_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-_5lKU2PMjSRoJfp8GzUpQqK6CR-5WrH1IcoTwTMu828Bus2Ni-7ePCdvUwGtcJzVHEMInsgjG-Rh_zS7IREmfg1s-TTBDSlkoJIauQ_ciRGkMOVTkjx7uZ2hMaQx63O85e4zSWwL1km/s320/13763731323_42cf430679_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a
building just down the street from Incarnate Word that haunts me to no end. It is not some boarded up old mansion where “ghoulies
and ghosties” slink around on creeky floorboards sending shivers down the spines
of those who might live there. Nor is it
a creepy old mansion where neighborhood children are too fearful to
trick-or-treat on Halloween. The
building in question sits on the corner of Monroe and South Goodman. Once
occupied by Blockbuster Video, it stands now as an abandoned reminder of a
company gone extinct. Though the letters
of the sign are no longer affixed to the front of the building, their imprints
have been left behind on the building’s façade.
Not only that, but just inside the large windows stand the once bright
yellow and blue counters; now dulled by years of vacancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was a
time when Blockbuster Video owned the market in movie rentals. They perfected the concept of renting
movies. If you happened to miss a great
movie in the theatres, no worries, in just a couple of months you could travel
to your neighborhood Blockbuster Video and be sure to find it on the
shelf. No more having to deal with the
inconvenience of movie theatre crowds. No
more standing in line for tickets and refreshments. No more having to hear the annoyingly
incessant whispers of those around you distracting and giving away the endings
of movies. Blockbuster Video promised
all the enjoyment of “blockbuster” movies in the convenience of your own home,
on your own time. What a great
concept! What could possibly go wrong? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well as with
anything else in life, when it comes to paradigms, shift happens. Enter Netflix with a new and crazy idea for
movie rentals. Imagine if instead of
having to get in the car and drive to your neighborhood video store, you could
instead subscribe to a video service which for a monthly fee delivers thousands
of movies and television programs directly to your family room both by mail and
over the internet. Crazy right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At its peak
in 2004, there were 9,000 iconic blue and yellow Blockbuster stores, employing
over 60,000. Apparently when this
upstart company called Netflix first emerged on the video rental market a few
years earlier, Blockbuster was given the opportunity to purchase it for $50
million, thus adopting its radical ideas and technologies. Unable to imagine how such a concept could
fly, Blockbuster politely declined the offer, and well, the rest is history. By
2010 Blockbuster declared bankruptcy and its final 300 stores were closed in
2013. Meanwhile, Netflix grew to become
a multi-billion dollar corporation with over 50 million subscribers in more
than 40 countries around the globe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Back to my
haunting. Clearly Blockbuster lacked the
ability to envision new ways of doing things.
I can just imagine some yuckity-yuck on Blockbuster’s board of directors
exclaiming, “Videos by mail?
Downstreaming directly to televisions and computers? We’ve never done it that way before. If it ain’t broke…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sound
familiar? Well, if you’ve ever spent any
time around a church, it certainly does.
How often have we either spouted these words ourselves or heard others
around the table do so? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Has the
church become like Blockbuster, refusing to change to connect with new
generations of Americans who have different needs and expectations than their
parents and grandparents? Put another way:
Are we a Blockbuster church living in a Netflix world? Have we failed to
imagine new paradigms for doing and being church? Have we failed to dream? Have we failed to take risks?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A long time
ago, in his first Pentecost sermon, where his life was endangered, Peter
proclaimed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“In the last days it will be, God declares,</span></i><i><span style="color: #010000; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="text-align: start;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="text-align: start;">that I
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,</span></span><br style="text-align: start;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="text-align: start;"> and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,</span></span><br style="text-align: start;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="text-align: start;">and your
young men shall see visions,</span></span><br style="text-align: start;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="text-align: start;"> and
your old men shall dream </span></span></span></i><span class="search"><i><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="text-align: start;">dreams”</span></span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Acts 2:17).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background: white; color: #010000; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lack of
vision and fear of risk are not simply Incarnate Word phenomena. They are cancers that have extended their
tentacles around every congregation at some point or another. They are
cancerous and they are deadly. They lead to fear, stress, uncertainty, and
anxiety. They paralyze us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like it or
not, we live in a Netflix world; a world that no longer assumes the church is
legitimate. We live in a world where many
have either been hurt by the church or been discouraged by what they perceive
to be hypocrisy and salesmanship fueled by an instinct for institutional survival. We live in a world that sees us as
irrelevant; talking of love but not acting upon it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m sorry to
say but 1959 is gone. So too is
1985. Heck, for that matter so too is
2004. We can no longer assume that if we just open our doors on a Sunday
morning, folks will flock to join us because we are nice or if we just put the
right program or person in place, young families will fill our pews and Sunday
School classrooms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Though I
continue to be haunted by the old vacant Blockbuster store down the street, I
deliberately drive by it every day. In so
doing, I remind myself that as your pastor, I will not simply let Incarnate
Word go the way of Blockbuster. Not when
we’re feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and holding weekly prayer
vigils for homicide victims in our city. (<i>just
to name a few things).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Folks in our
neighborhood are looking for an authentic community of faith where they can
connect with others, making a difference in the world around them. They are looking for meaningful relationships
in communities grounded in justice and guided by unconditional love. Who better to offer that than the ones who
follow the God who declares,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“See the home of God is
among mortals…God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their
eyes. Death will be no more…See, I am
making all things new” (Revelation 21:3-5).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">God does
make all things new. Together in Christ,
let's dream dreams. Let's not be a Blockbuster church. Let's adapt to the brave new Netflix world out there. Yes, it is that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-11252008268646800802015-07-07T13:01:00.000-07:002015-07-07T18:43:30.738-07:00"God's Work Our Hands..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpHWpc6HZ85U5VSJJVybv8PRBe3tm0wk8MVhMrKLK5G4jS6K-5f5ZSluojIT4aAl0M59ehqswVNr8VX8oNUcyV6gVV0NJZmx9mj6bN57mVbX2Bg3lZdKShQK6pP2Bop_36gxoizyR7Vj8/s1600/IMG_2116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpHWpc6HZ85U5VSJJVybv8PRBe3tm0wk8MVhMrKLK5G4jS6K-5f5ZSluojIT4aAl0M59ehqswVNr8VX8oNUcyV6gVV0NJZmx9mj6bN57mVbX2Bg3lZdKShQK6pP2Bop_36gxoizyR7Vj8/s320/IMG_2116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you weren't in church on Sunday, you missed a great sermon by Pastor Joanne, in which she
brilliantly spoke to the radical call of community to which Jesus calls
us. Using Mark’s narrative of Jesus
sending out the twelve with <i>“nothing for
their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts…” </i> PJ spoke passionately and eloquently about the
blessing that is community. The twelve
are sent out with all “authority” and yet they are to depend not on themselves
but upon the generosity of those they meet.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you ask
me, that’s the hardest thing about being a follower of Jesus; giving up self-reliance. As a recovering control freak, that is not
easy for me to do. My entire life I’ve
subscribed to the cliché, that if you want something done right, you must do it
yourself. I’m good with that. No compromise is needed. No conversations are entailed. It’s not that I don’t play well with others,
it’s just I’ve found that being on a committee of one is much easier than
having to work with others. Scheduling
is a breeze when it’s just my calendar on the table. Consensus is even easier. But apparently that’s not how Jesus works,
nor is that the lifestyle to which Jesus calls us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the
twelve being sent out by Jesus, there is no survival without community. Maybe that’s the point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Earlier this
spring, each congregation of our synod was challenged to raise $400 for ELCA World
Hunger. I challenged the saints here at
Incarnate Word that if we raised $1,000, I would cycle from Rochester to
Brockport delivering food to the Brockport Food Pantry in memory of Monika
Andrews. In typical Incarnate Word
fashion, this community rose to the challenge; raising over $2,300! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, this past Sunday five of us dawned our
bright yellow <i>“God’s Work Our Hands”</i>
t-shirts trekking 21 miles to Brockport.
There we were in our matching yellow God shirts, cycling along the Erie
Canal Trail. At one point a young girl even
shouted out to us, “nice shirts!” Had it
just been me riding the trail, <i>“God’s
Work Our Hands”</i> would have gone unnoticed.
But with five of us riding in tandem, folks we encountered knew that God
was up to something; something involving community.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are each
called to follow Jesus in lives of discipleship; thankful lives shaped by
sacrificial love and service. But we are
not called to do that alone. We are called
to live those lives in community. To
work alongside others; to depend upon others; even those with whom we don’t normally
associate; even those we don’t especially like.
I guess that’s what makes us a church and not a club. We are not like-minded. We come from different backgrounds with very
different points of view. And yet we come
together in community, enlivened by God and fashioned in God’s image, holding each
other up, sharing our gifts with the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By the way, during
our trek one of our cyclists was taken out by a low hanging tree branch along
the trail, suffering cuts and scrapes. Though
he would have certainly made it to our final destination, because he was in
community infection was averted. Neosporin was administered and cuts were
bandaged. Who better to do that, than
the ones whose lives are shaped by the confession plastered across the front of
our yellow shirts? <i>“God’s Work Our Hands”</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and Love,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-36294875301337296622015-06-29T14:22:00.001-07:002015-06-29T15:21:30.179-07:00Marriage Equality...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU4q5AneZTSdr8VC6nVEdk99xltD0X0cEAfetwmxrMle40fNNZM2gC8JMmXhH-uxnXZ4JjIzhygx_lIRxvXZy_0Rai5ZB3bDMxq2dgglx-n6C6sRXC2eVK8eszGmojzEqXXxHRLqp8Lgf/s1600/stock-photo-equality-word-cloud-on-rainbow-textured-background-217623619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU4q5AneZTSdr8VC6nVEdk99xltD0X0cEAfetwmxrMle40fNNZM2gC8JMmXhH-uxnXZ4JjIzhygx_lIRxvXZy_0Rai5ZB3bDMxq2dgglx-n6C6sRXC2eVK8eszGmojzEqXXxHRLqp8Lgf/s320/stock-photo-equality-word-cloud-on-rainbow-textured-background-217623619.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No union is more
profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity,
devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become
something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases
demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would
misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage.
Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to
find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live
in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They
ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that
right” </span></i><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> ~ Justice Anthony Kennedy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 3.5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With
these words, Justice Kennedy voiced his support of the Supreme Court’s decision
to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States. Before some of us go off on a rant of
opposition, it would be wise to be reminded that similar words were penned
almost 50 years ago by another Supreme Court Justice; Chief Justice Earl
Warren. In <u>Loving v. Virginia</u>, in
which the Supreme Court threw out a Virginia law banning interracial
marriage, Chief Justice Warren wrote, <i>“Marriage
is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence
and survival”</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Without
a doubt, some will quote scripture in voicing their opposition to gay
marriage. Why not? Folks did it 50 years ago in expressing
similar opposition to interracial marriage and the ordination of women. They did it as well 150 years ago around the
issue of slavery. But as was the case
then, so it is now, literal interpretation of scripture from centuries ago, does
not speak to the issues of today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Traditional
marriage” is almost impossible to find in scripture. Don’t look to Abraham for that, who fathered
sons from two different women, one of whom was a slave woman who had no choice
in the matter. His son Jacob had two
wives and two concubines having children with all four and apparently with
God’s approval. The ancient Torah took
for granted that a man may have two wives.
Many of the kings of Israel were known to have large harems. Oh and lest we somehow believe that Biblical
marriage involved two consenting adults, an unmarried woman living in her
father’s house, was transferred into her husband’s possession by his payment of
the “bride price”. Marriages in the Old
Testament were arranged. They were
property transactions. Does that sound
familiar to us today? Of course not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
about Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality? Well, Genesis 19 specifically speaks to the
issue of gang rape, not love between two consenting adults. Likewise Deuteronomy 23:17-18 likely speaks to
the issue of heterosexual prostitutes of other religions infiltrating Jewish
worship; whether “gay” or “straight”, a committed same-sex relationship of love
is not what’s being described here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Certainly
in the New Testament Paul must have something to say about gay marriage. Don’t go looking at Romans 1 for any help
here. Throughout the first chapter of
Romans, Paul gives us a lengthy litany of all those who stand condemned by God;
In addition to those who are “consumed” with de-humanizing passions toward
others, the condemned also include those who gossip, slander, covet, envy, are
boastful, as well as those who are rebellious against parents. Has Paul missed anybody? Certainly not me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But
just in case any one of us believes that we don’t fall into any of these
condemned categories, Paul nails the coffin shut in Romans 2:1<i>. “Therefore
you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing
judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the
very same things.”</i> Paul goes on to
say “<i>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”. </i>In
other words all of us have seats in the sin boat. But so too are we all recipients of God’s
saving grace through the Jesus life raft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Speaking
of Jesus, surely he must have something to say about gay marriage. Nothing.
Not a thing. What we do know of
Jesus is that in addition to being poured out on the cross in love for the
world, he is always siding with those who are oppressed. He eats with prostitutes and tax
collectors; he blesses children who, by
the way, are the most marginalized in Jesus’ world; he speaks blessings to the
poor; he challenges dehumanizing institutions, and when pressed by the
religious know-it-alls, obsessed with determining who’s in and who’s out, he
says that loving God and loving neighbor are the only two things that matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Whether
Scripture informs your worldview or not, let’s take a step back. Gays and lesbians who choose to marry, like
their heterosexual counterparts, are affirming the goodness of marriage. They are affirming the desire to enter into
relationships of covenantal faithfulness.
They are willingly binding themselves to one another in lifelong
commitments of fidelity and love. Love
and faithfulness: Two words that abound
in God’s vocabulary. If they’re good
enough for God, maybe they’re good enough for all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace
and Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor
Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-55919150107114529942015-06-22T11:00:00.000-07:002015-06-22T11:00:42.211-07:00"Talitha Cum"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWzHpQ6d3lPuBGgkiX9J4UiKrDZge59i3htK1uPi9orvbUTA1Eax3WQrF4gkgfGHyMPYgcEl0H-uFalbDl_IwGgPNNS1CNIiH4g_5prC-9oP2BIXtZL2ihxkHtY83DUfIFof1PsidPxq0/s1600/TalithaKum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWzHpQ6d3lPuBGgkiX9J4UiKrDZge59i3htK1uPi9orvbUTA1Eax3WQrF4gkgfGHyMPYgcEl0H-uFalbDl_IwGgPNNS1CNIiH4g_5prC-9oP2BIXtZL2ihxkHtY83DUfIFof1PsidPxq0/s320/TalithaKum.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me just start by saying, I’m in a funk and I’ve been here
for about a week now. The world is without a doubt beginning to move on from
last week’s horrific murders in a Charleston, S.C. church. So why can’t I? Why can’t I seem to move on as well? Families of the murdered have begun to
publicly forgive the killer, inviting him to discover the healing that comes
from Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I know in my heart of hearts that what they are doing is
right. They are clearly looking at this
killer through the eyes of Jesus.
Perhaps they are seeing what Jesus saw when he encountered a man
possessed by an entire legion of spirits as told in Mark’s gospel. Perhaps they are seeing a man possessed by
the spirits of violence, hatred, and racism amplified only by a love of guns in
a culture addicted to violence. Perhaps
they are seeing beneath these spirits to a young man who is someone’s child; a
man, who along with the rest of us, bears the image of our creator. Perhaps they are seeing yet one more broken
person to whom Jesus came into this world to love with arms opened wide on a
cross. Clearly these families embody the
words of Dr. King when he said, <i>“hate
cannot drive out hate. Only love can do
that.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I want to be in this place with these wonderfully loving and
faith-filled families. I want to be able
to see beneath the heinous act, to a child in need of love, mercy, and
forgiveness. But I am not yet there. I cannot even bring myself to mention the
killer’s name. I want to be able to, but
I’m just not there yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe I’m the hemorrhaging woman from Mark’s gospel as my
ability to forgive bleeds away; as the grace entrusted to me by God soils the
ground on which I walk instead of gracing the lives of those around me in need
of mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps I’m Jairus’ daughter as my faith teeters near the
point of death still haunted by the question of how one human being can callously
extinguish the lives of nine others – even after they have embodied Jesus by
welcoming him in their midst with loving and open arms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, here I am in my faith funk. Here I am in my shock at such a brutal act; in my sadness at the loss of so many innocent lives;
in my anger that we live in a culture
perpetuating violence and racism; in my frustration that in another news cycle
or two, we will soon forget Charleston, convincing ourselves that things aren’t
so bad. Here I am still unable to let
the killer’s name issue forth from my lips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Regardless of who I relate to in next Sunday’s gospel story,
one reality is abundantly clear. I am in
need of healing. Like the little girl’s
father, Jairus, who begs repeatedly that Jesus come and heal his daughter, I’m
beginning to see that his pleas are my pleas.
Like the hemorrhaging woman who is exhausted and has spent all she has
on cures and now will stop at nothing to touch Jesus’ cloak, I know that a
touch is all I need to be refreshed and made whole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And here’s the good news.
Jesus is here crossing in his boat to my “other side”; breaking down my barriers: Even the ones to which I’m rather partial; Jesus is here walking in our midst, cloak
brushing up against our soiled brokenness; violating the holiness codes of our
self- righteous anger and fear-filled confusion. Jesus is here with hands extended to my nearly
dead faith with these transforming words: “Talitha cum”: “Little child, get up.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Maybe there is healing after all. For the victims of last week’s murders, for
my nearly shattered faith, and maybe even for… <i>(do I dare say?)</i>.. Dylann Roof.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peace and
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pastor Doug<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-620878366180733159.post-23374689005483897282015-06-19T12:52:00.001-07:002015-06-19T12:52:36.356-07:00Reflections on Charleston...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLNWAi17O2w95jfGaOe_wPCeRXnL9dPQp6tP-wNMaKzvIjC8XeXkqtVCifh1LD9Gmax8_LdDvohyphenhyphenQi788hCIZHdmUjVukrD-I3QxpbslW4e8jAMzVlsakpvq1VIyY_nLeAXXbxTUpzZjU/s1600/Racial-Justice-Sunday-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLNWAi17O2w95jfGaOe_wPCeRXnL9dPQp6tP-wNMaKzvIjC8XeXkqtVCifh1LD9Gmax8_LdDvohyphenhyphenQi788hCIZHdmUjVukrD-I3QxpbslW4e8jAMzVlsakpvq1VIyY_nLeAXXbxTUpzZjU/s320/Racial-Justice-Sunday-02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I just returned from a prayer vigil
at Baber AME Church on Meigs St. where a couple hundred of us gathered together,
Black and White, to mourn the loss of nine sisters and brothers in Christ at
Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were told by their pastor that no liturgy was planned; that we just
needed to come together in prayer and let the Spirit lead us; and lead us she
did. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
We heard the call of the prophet to
let justice roll down like a mighty stream; we heard the words of Paul
reminding us that Christ breaks down all barriers; and that if we don’t have
love, we have nothing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We heard a
story of Jesus calming storms with a word; and we joined our voices in prayer
and in song proclaiming God’s unstoppable and mighty acts of love. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say that it was a powerful experience
to worship with my Black sisters and brothers in Christ is an understatement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
And yet in the midst of that kairos-time,
the “elephant” of racism was still in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the feeling of being in solidarity with my Black
sisters and brothers by hugs shared and hands held, the fact remains that I am
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not in solidarity
because I am a White, Anglo-Saxon male with all the racist privileges that come
with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the young Black
man helping lead us in worship, I can go into any department store assured that
I will not be followed by security for fear that I might steal something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can walk down Main St. in Rochester
and will probably never see women clutching their pocketbooks or crossing to the
other side of the street fearing for their safety when they see me coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can be assured that a routine traffic
stop by police will not result in my being shot to death by those whose job it
is to protect me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Unlike Pastor Simmons at Baber AME
Church, I don’t have to worry about copycat killers coming into my church to
kill because of my skin color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t have to wonder if I’ll come home alive tonight because of a Bible Study
I’m leading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And unlike my Black
siblings in Christ who live in South Carolina, I don’t have to drive down
streets named after Confederate generals who fought a war to keep me
enslaved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have to wonder
why a Confederate flag , a symbol of racial oppression, flies over the very
building in which lawmakers are entrusted with every citizen’s well-being; and
even then why that flag continues to fly at full mast in the midst of the
Charleston massacre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have
to listen to the viral hatred spewed by those who claim to be “losing their
country” to people like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
So, though I may stand with my
Black brothers and sisters in the struggle against racism, I must also
acknowledge that I will never be able to know what it’s like to walk in their
oppressed shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must come to
grips with and confess my own comfort with White privilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must confess my own tendencies to
stereotype and categorize those who seem different from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must confess my default mode of doing
nothing to curb racism by convincing myself that everything is okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only when I have repented of these
sins can I come clean and truly stand beside my sisters and brothers who are
oppressed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I will continue to pray ceaselessly
for the friends and family of those who were brutally slaughtered just because
they showed up for prayer and Bible Study, offering hospitality to the stranger.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll pray for peace and justice in
our land; I’ll pray for healing and reconciliation among races; I’ll keep God’s
prophetic mandate of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking with God
before me as I strive for systemic justice and equality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will repent of my own racist
tendencies as I continue to follow the One who himself died an innocent victim
of brutal violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will
give thanks to God that because violence didn’t ultimately have the last word
in Jesus’ life it won’t have the final word in ours. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
And may we all be reminded of the
gospel proclamation found in the very name of the church in which this
unimaginable violence took place:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Emanuel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“God with us”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peace and Love,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pastor Doug </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Pastor Doughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04367959410688617765noreply@blogger.com0