Jul 05, 2020 |
Truly Biblical Times
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Truly Biblical Times
"As I think about the kinds of times in which we live I keep holding on to this quote from Oscar Wilde’s De Prefundis “I see also that to Christ imagination was simply a form of love and that to him love was Lord in the fullest meaning of the phrase. “ This idea that part of living the lives of love for which we are called is using our imaginations. Is looking at the world imaginatively."
Jun 21, 2020 |
A Story to Break Your Heart
| The Rev. Mitchell Bojarski
A Story to Break Your Heart
"Our country has, through its whole history, chosen some people to value less than a sparrow. And so, our gospel for today has not been true for them. While they are valued by God more than the sparrows, our country has not valued them more than the sparrows. And so huge numbers of people in our country and around the world have taken their anger and their frustration and their mourning to the streets, because their hearts have broken. For many of them, their hearts have broken again. And so, their mourning and their anger has poured out into the streets. They are telling us what it’s like to be valued less than the animals.
We have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do as Christians, as Americans, to make sure that this gospel for today is true for all people. That everyone, when asked, “Aren’t you worth more than many sparrows?”, can know that the answer is unequivocally, “yes”."
Jun 14, 2020 |
Difficult Freedom
| The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal
Difficult Freedom
"To obey God is to find true freedom. [Emmanuel] Lévinas calls this “difficult freedom”, in as much as it is freedom from having to have our own way. Even as we are thus freed to be who God created us to be. Individuals subordinated to and formed for the disciplines of mercy and justice. Can we make this difficult freedom our own? Surely we must try to do so. {…} What does difficult freedom mean for us?"
Jun 08, 2020 |
No Space to Breathe
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
No Space to Breathe
"'I can't breathe' is surely uttered futilely in our overcrowded prisons, where African Americans make up such an overwhelming share of the population. How can we have any semblance of justice when a large percentage of our population is treated unjustly? Has no space to breathe, within or outside of prison walls. No space to build a future. No space to hope for what is good. Our prison tragedy has deepened immeasurably with the arrival of COVID-19. Now what was lack of breath due to overcrowding and oppression is literally living in a soup of respiratory virus that takes breath away, takes life away."
May 31, 2020 |
The Breath of God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
The Breath of God
God shows up in Jesus Christ and offers the people the deliverance they seek: the transformative life, the reconciliation of the world, drawn into God’s heart, a life centered on love, conquering death, built for eternity; but it requires them to look at themselves honestly, to change aspects of the way they choose to live, and to partner with God in a transformed way of being in the world. And that transformation of the status quo is too terrifying for the powers that be that surround Jesus. He is killed. He is killed according to the rules of their country. His breath is taken away.
May 25, 2020 |
In The Meantime
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
In The Meantime
Ascension reminds us that there are times in our lives when Jesus is just beyond our reach. When we are left waiting expectantly for what’s going to happen next. The time between Ascension and Pentecost, the time between when Jesus left us and the Holy Spirit came to us, is not just ten days on our liturgical calendar. But rather a microcosm of our daily lives. This in-between time is our daily in the meantime.
May 17, 2020 |
Christians Like That
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Christians Like That
"Imagine a world where when people wanted to be heard and seen for who they were; be understood; they’d go to a Christian because Christians had reputations for listening and seeking commonality and understanding. Why not, Christians? Why can we not take a page out of Paul’s book here and seek to understand and care for others? To meet them where they are, not by way of condescending or pretending that everything’s the same. Not by way of minimizing differences, either. Or living in some sort of relativistic world where nothing is good or bad. None of that stuff, Paul doesn’t do that. But by in the midst of our difference, seeking to talk about that difference from a place of what we do share. And what we care about and desire. What we yearn for and need. What if we were Christians like that?"
May 10, 2020 |
Except Through Me
| The Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal
Except Through Me
"Jesus is saying, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, focus your hearts and your minds on my teaching, on my integrity, on my power, and on my risen-ness. If you stick with me, you will be alright.
If no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, it means that he is person who can bring everybody to the Father. And if Jesus is the Word of the Father, then he is the expression of the Father’s eternal desire that everyone should come to him."
If no one can come to the Father except through Jesus, it means that he is person who can bring everybody to the Father. And if Jesus is the Word of the Father, then he is the expression of the Father’s eternal desire that everyone should come to him."
May 03, 2020 |
God Loves Us And Is Expectant
| The Rev. Gary Lubin
God Loves Us And Is Expectant
"In a nutshell, great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them. Jesus summed it up with his command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And it was not a request. God loves us and is expectant.
On a positive note our church is doing its darnedest walking The Way of Love to become Beloved Community. To love our neighbors so that there is not one needy person among us. One of the practices of The Way of Love is Go: to live like Jesus, crossing boundaries. This means moving outside our circles of comfort. Going to other places, places we are not familiar with; geographically, culturally, economically, spiritually. But how can we do these things at this time of lock-down and self-imposed isolation?"
On a positive note our church is doing its darnedest walking The Way of Love to become Beloved Community. To love our neighbors so that there is not one needy person among us. One of the practices of The Way of Love is Go: to live like Jesus, crossing boundaries. This means moving outside our circles of comfort. Going to other places, places we are not familiar with; geographically, culturally, economically, spiritually. But how can we do these things at this time of lock-down and self-imposed isolation?"
Apr 26, 2020 |
How Is Your Heart?
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
How Is Your Heart?
"You see that’s what Jesus does for people, he takes their cold, sad, confused, scared, troubled hearts and sets them on fire. I know that many of you have felt this fire inside. I have seen it. And I also know that times like these can make us question the state of our hearts, especially as they are breaking. Breaking for those who are sick or alone, and for the many who have died. Troubled by so many unanswered questions."
Apr 19, 2020 |
Can God Save Us?
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Can God Save Us?
"If our goal is to come out of this thing as better people than when we went in, then I think we are missing the reality of how God is present in our lives right now. [...] We ask this question, 'God, will you save us?' This is the right question for our time. 'God, will you make me a better person during this?' is not the question. 'God, will you save us?' and not just one of us, and not just some of us. Will you save us, our people? Will you redeem us? Will you make things right?"
Apr 05, 2020 |
How Salvation Looks
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
How Salvation Looks
"How we are saved in the midst of this is going to look different for different people. For some people they are staying home and they needed this time to rest in a way they’ve never had before; being forced to slow down, being forced to not make their work or their busyness their god and that is important. But for other people, they’re being deprived of work, they’re being deprived of an income and some people don’t even have a home to go to. So how salvation looks for each one of us is going to be different."
Mar 29, 2020 |
Let Us Begin with Prayer
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Let Us Begin with Prayer
"Prayers are not a substitute for action or cover for a lack thereof. They are transformative. They are transformative for the one who prays and the ones for whom prayers are said. They bring us more consciously into experiencing the presence and the love of God. Prayer helps us clarify, center our thoughts, our fears, our longings. Prayer allows us to offer comfort and support to those feeling in great need. Prayer is when we turn our attention to God, and we acknowledge and are most open to that exchange of love. Love between God and ourselves and those we love."
Mar 22, 2020 |
Rest and Nourishment for the Journey
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
Rest and Nourishment for the Journey
"Psalm 23 is exactly what we need to hear in the most difficult times. Jesus the Good Shepherd will lead us. He will lead us like he led the blind man to healing and restoration. And he will come and find us, just like he went and found that blind man. He will come and find us, even when we can’t find him. When we don’t know where he’s gone and when we don’t know how to thank him for all the good things that he’s done in our lives."
Mar 15, 2020 |
What Strange Times
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
What Strange Times
"The Israelites want to believe in God’s presence. They want to believe that they are being cared for. But when they look around, they’re filled with fear.
What will deliverance look like for us during this pandemic? I’m not the kind of Christian who believes if you just pray hard enough, a vaccine will just appear. Or that people will all of a sudden be safe. [...] What’s fascinating right now is our job as people of faith is to interrupt our own lives, to make real sacrifices in the way that we are living, so that we can participate with our government workers, our healthcare workers, and with our community so that as many people can be cared for as possible in way that’s practical. Our job is to reach out to each other in ways we haven’t before. We are literally loving each other by staying away from each other."
What will deliverance look like for us during this pandemic? I’m not the kind of Christian who believes if you just pray hard enough, a vaccine will just appear. Or that people will all of a sudden be safe. [...] What’s fascinating right now is our job as people of faith is to interrupt our own lives, to make real sacrifices in the way that we are living, so that we can participate with our government workers, our healthcare workers, and with our community so that as many people can be cared for as possible in way that’s practical. Our job is to reach out to each other in ways we haven’t before. We are literally loving each other by staying away from each other."
Mar 08, 2020 |
When You Recognize God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
When You Recognize God
Jesus’ response to this [question from Nicodemus] is that this isn’t just a tweak. This is new life, new birth, a new perspective. You do not earn the presence of God. You do not achieve the reconciliation of the world. You cannot get your act together enough to be saved. God shows up. God is in this world, present and active, moving and loving, bringing justice. Will you see it?
Mar 08, 2020 |
Called To Be Receivers
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Called To Be Receivers
To receive we need to be willing to be vulnerable. We need to be willing to be open to what somebody else might bring us. To be open to that aspect of understanding of God’s love that maybe we can’t quite see for ourselves, but maybe we can begin to see through somebody else’s eyes. Through somebody else’s worlds, through somebody else’s experience. We are called not only to go forth, but we are called to be receivers. We are called to be receivers of God’s love.
Mar 01, 2020 |
Led Into The Wilderness
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin
Led Into The Wilderness
Wilderness can sound kind of scary, like maybe a place we don’t want to go. Maybe a place that’s terrifying. And yet, wilderness is not inherently that. Wilderness is a place apart. Apart from our normal day to day. Apart from our comfort zone. Apart from where we find our regular busyness, where our mind usually goes, where we are most at ease. Wilderness takes out of all of that and takes us into a place separate, a place that’s unfamiliar. A place that perhaps, we are more open to hearing God.
