Aug 26, 2021 |
God of Transformation
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
God of Transformation
"This prayer shook me on Sunday. Not only am I being transformed, but God is in that transformation. Together we uttered the words, “O God, in renaming your servants Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Peter, and Paul, you gave them new lives and new tasks, new love and new hope.” New lives, new tasks, new love, and new hope. This is where God is right now."
Aug 13, 2021 |
A New Sunday
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
A New Sunday
"A very wise member of my previous church once taught me that all change – even good change – brings loss. Loss of what was. And this is painful even when it is right. And also, you may be right: Some of these things may not work. The leadership of this church believes this will all work beautifully, but we could be wrong. We will find out together. We will listen to each other, and we will listen to the Holy Spirit."
Aug 04, 2021 |
Meant for These Times
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Meant for These Times
You and I were baptized into a life of care for one another and service to our neighbor. Paul says this loving care is how we imitate God. With Christ at our center, with love as our guide, with unity in faith and justice our goal, we grow into the realization of our purpose for being here at all.
We were made for these times; you and I. God has chosen us to love this world here and now.
Jul 28, 2021 |
Summer Throwback: No Such Thing As Secular
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Summer Throwback: No Such Thing As Secular
Note: As part of our When Love Shows Up Summer Throwback Series we are re-posting this podcast which was originally posted on August 5, 2020.
But in the end, my reason for preaching and teaching the social and political implications of the Gospel is simple: If you are a Christian, Jesus is Lord of every part of your life. No part of you is exempt from belonging to God. No aspect of your existence is separate from your experience of Jesus. If God has incorporated you into the very Body of Christ and you are a member of that Body, you don’t get to tell God to look the other direction while you vote, and you don’t get to pretend that Jesus was going to save your soul without actually effecting the way you think and move and participate in society.
But in the end, my reason for preaching and teaching the social and political implications of the Gospel is simple: If you are a Christian, Jesus is Lord of every part of your life. No part of you is exempt from belonging to God. No aspect of your existence is separate from your experience of Jesus. If God has incorporated you into the very Body of Christ and you are a member of that Body, you don’t get to tell God to look the other direction while you vote, and you don’t get to pretend that Jesus was going to save your soul without actually effecting the way you think and move and participate in society.
Jul 21, 2021 |
Summer Throwback: I am Thankful for You
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Summer Throwback: I am Thankful for You
Note: As part of our When Love Shows Up Summer Throwback Series we are re-posting this podcast which was originally posted on November 25, 2020.
Naming gratitude is important because you are actively naming things that have nothing to do with what you have earned or achieved. Think about it. You don’t thank people for giving you things you earned. You thank people when they do things that make you forget about earning. You give thanks for beauty and generosity and forgiveness and kindness and friendship and honesty and faithfulness. That right there is a list of things that you cannot earn or achieve. They are living embodiments of Grace: Gifts of God for the people of God. Gratitude is the antidote to the culture of earning. Gratitude is a recognition of just how much of your daily life is a gift. Gratitude is an acknowledgment of your belonging to God.
Jul 14, 2021 |
Summer Throwback: Why Christians Must Say Black Lives Matter
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Summer Throwback: Why Christians Must Say Black Lives Matter
Note: As part of our When Love Shows Up Summer Throwback Series we are re-posting this podcast which was originally posted on September 30, 2020.
"We know that there is a need in the aftermath of trauma to assert our blessedness, there is a need in the midst of our pain and suffering to proclaim that we are not forgotten by God, right? Well, we have not gotten over the trauma of slavery and the racism that was baked into the founding of this country we love so much. It's still with us. It still haunts us. We are not free of it - not yet. It’s not just something some people need to get over. It’s something we need to address with honesty and love."
"We know that there is a need in the aftermath of trauma to assert our blessedness, there is a need in the midst of our pain and suffering to proclaim that we are not forgotten by God, right? Well, we have not gotten over the trauma of slavery and the racism that was baked into the founding of this country we love so much. It's still with us. It still haunts us. We are not free of it - not yet. It’s not just something some people need to get over. It’s something we need to address with honesty and love."
Jul 07, 2021 |
Summer Throwback: Real Unity
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Summer Throwback: Real Unity
Note: As part of our When Love Shows Up Summer Throwback Series we are re-posting this podcast which was originally posted on January 27, 2021.
"The Christian striving for unity is, in fact, not a striving for something abstract, strange, and unusual: it is a striving to live into what is already true, to live into reality. The Christian life is a life learning how to accept our mutual belonging. We are not trying to create a future unity, but to recognize and accept our current unity – we are already members of the same body. Now we have to act like it."
"The Christian striving for unity is, in fact, not a striving for something abstract, strange, and unusual: it is a striving to live into what is already true, to live into reality. The Christian life is a life learning how to accept our mutual belonging. We are not trying to create a future unity, but to recognize and accept our current unity – we are already members of the same body. Now we have to act like it."
Jun 30, 2021 |
Standing in Awe of Pride
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Standing in Awe of Pride
"Pride, in this context, is a stunning, glorious refusal to believe the lies the world tells about you. Pride is the claiming of your belonging in this world as you are, not as I tell you you should be. This Pride, this celebration of who God made you to be, is a rejection of shame, and an embracing of joy; a rejection of hatred and an embracing of love. This Pride is an act of grace. It’s a Christian virtue."
Jun 23, 2021 |
What about the Bible?
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
What about the Bible?
"The first time someone I loved ever came out to me, it was the Jesus I encountered in Scriptures that taught me how to see them for who they really were, and to love them just as they were. In the years since that day, I keep coming back to the Jesus I find in the Bible. Every time I do, I’m reintroduced to the God who gives me new eyes to see Love in ways and places and people I could not previously have imagined."
Jun 16, 2021 |
Witness!
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Witness!
"How can the Church fail time and again to recognize the prophetic nature of the LGBTQ+ witness? LGBTQ+ persons live their truth in the face of great societal pressures. Their experience of love is profound, and yet they often find themselves at odds with the normative culture. They see the truth of themselves, and they understand the magnificence of love in unique and powerful ways. And in this time and place they are standing up and speaking out at great personal expense. Will the Church listen? Will the Church acknowledge the powerful presence of God here?"
Jun 09, 2021 |
You Are a Blessing
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
You Are a Blessing
"We believe that the God that created you made you as you are on purpose. You are not a mistake. Your sexuality is not a mistake, a sin, or something to be cured, fixed, or healed. You are a blessing. Your journey to self-understanding is essential to the healing of this world. You matter tremendously to God and to the people around you. Your expression of love is even now teaching this world a deeper understanding of what love really is. When you are part of the Church community, the church is more of who God means it to be. When you are empowered, the Spirit is revealed. When you lead, we see Jesus."
Jun 03, 2021 |
It's Your Church
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
It's Your Church
"So, it’s necessary to step back from time to time and say to God, “It’s your church, Lord. I’m going to bed.” Honestly, I should be doing it every night. And you, what would your life look like if, before going to bed each night you took note of the truth that your church, your work, your life, your love, all of it belongs utterly to God? Would you sleep better?"
May 27, 2021 |
Emergence
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Emergence
And now you are emerging. Bursting forth 14 months later, rather than 17 years, you are emerging. You are in such a tender place. As ready as you are for the next chapter to begin, there is uncertainty. Your grip can feel tenuous. But the powerful inevitability of the new life God has brought forth is palpable. Joyce asks “What changes have we adopted during this past year that have been truly beneficial, life enriching? What do we want to keep?” And I know you are asking yourself these questions too. You are not saying, “Should I change? Should I make things new?” You are asking, “What changes should I cherish? What do I do with my new reality?”
May 20, 2021 |
Make You Odd
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Make You Odd
You know what we do is odd, right? We who worship God in the church. One of the things we’ve missed the most these last months is one of the things that makes us odd: the weekly gathering for the purpose of honoring an invisible God and asking that God to care for us, to heal and reconcile us, to give us all that we need. It’s not really comparable to anything else
May 13, 2021 |
Not a Podcast
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Not a Podcast
This Sunday at 9am we will participate in Holy Eucharist inside our sanctuary for the first time since March of 2020. Registration is necessary. Seating will be limited. Distancing and masking will be required. Childcare will be available as will assistance for those with mobility issues. This 9am service will continue to be livestreamed for those who are not able to attend in person. We will continue to offer Pop-Up Church in Ault Park at 11:15, weather permitting, through the end of May.
May 06, 2021 |
Regathering Ready
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Regathering Ready
I am pleased to be able to tell you that the Church of the Redeemer will resume worship indoors on May 16th. I want to devote the rest of this episode, and likely next week’s as well, describing to you how we came to that decision and what it will look like for us to be able to do this. But before we do that, I just want to pause and sit in the realization that, after 14 months of worship that has been either remote or outdoors, we will once again have the opportunity to gather in our sanctuary and worship God together in person.
This is an overwhelming and joyous reality.
This is an overwhelming and joyous reality.
Apr 28, 2021 |
This Podcast is Not About You
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
This Podcast is Not About You
The Gospel is that Jesus Christ has made us One. Not that we should try to become One, or that, with enough hard work, we could maybe become One someday: No – we are One. That has happened. This fundamental unity, this holy interdependence is foundational to understanding Christianity. When we shift our understanding away from thinking Christianity is about what happens to my soul when I die, and towards an understanding of Christianity about our shared eternal life that is already happening here and now – we are turned outside of ourselves and we are made to recognize that participating in our own salvation is a group project.
Apr 21, 2021 |
With Ma'Kiyah Bryant
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
With Ma'Kiyah Bryant
"Because of Jesus, God experiences our death. And also because of Jesus, we experience God’s life – which is eternal, unending, and abounding in steadfast love. This means that suffering and death are not the final story of us. Humanity is drawn up into a life that lives beyond death. Those who have died are not simply memories or ideas: They are alive with God. The author goes on to list a litany of people who preceded us in life and death. Many of them died violent, untimely deaths. All of them, the author says, are alive now with God. They are witnesses. They have witnessed the worst and best of humanity. And they have witnessed the powerful truth of God’s Love. They are witnesses of what God is doing in this world right now. And they are witnesses of how you and I are responding to God. They see us like God sees us. They see our beauty and frailty. They see our fear and belonging. They see it all."
Apr 15, 2021 |
CARE Team Love
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
CARE Team Love
"The CARE Team is a great example of this. As a ministry that emerged from our parishioner’s desire to make a difference in the midst of this pandemic, and as one that draws on the expertise of the amazing people in our church, the CARE Team embodies the essence of how we live into being Church. And as a ministry that calls for the expertise of nurses, physicians, and public health experts it transforms our understanding of what being Church even means for us."
Apr 07, 2021 |
Sent Ones
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Sent Ones
It is the Christian belief that when we go into the world in Jesus’ name, the world will be transformed by our presence. Of course, sometimes we get this terribly, horribly wrong. Sometimes we think it’s our job to force “belief in Jesus” on others, to convince, cajole, or – even worse – enforce “Christianity” upon those we meet. This is no gift, but a gross misunderstanding of the Love of God that is manifest in Christ Jesus. So, I get why some Christians ignore Jesus’ command to Go – but Jesus does indeed command it.
