Let’s Dance!

Trinity B: Let’s Dance!

May 31, 2015

I don’t know if they still do analogies on the SAT’s…

but for me they were the most difficult part of that test.

You may recall that the analogy section went something like this…

Kitten is to cat

as puppy is to _____

…right: dog.

Analogies aren’t meant to test whether you know the meaning of the words,

but whether or not you understand the relationship between words.

The relationship between a cat and a kitten

is that a cat is a grown kitten,

so the answer would be dog –  a grown puppy.

Trinity too isn’t about meaning – it’s about relationship….

It’s about the relationship of one God

in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A Special Prayer Book

A Special Prayer Book

On the eve of Memorial Day, my brother and I were among the thousands sitting on the west lawn of the Capitol, listening to the music and stories at the National Memorial Day concert.

There was a special emphasis this year on disabled American veterans. A number of disabled vets were in the audience as we watched videos of some of their stories and saw the new memorial with its eternal flame not far from the Capitol.

It was a powerful experience.

Sometimes I find it difficult to know how best to support members of the armed services and their families. (If you have ideas, please let me know!)

One resource I’ve been looking at recently is the “Prayer Book for the Armed Services.” An ELCA Lutheran resource, it was developed with the review and contributions of military chaplains and other service members.

It includes prayers for unique situations: absence from a partner during deployment; issues related to critical incidents, promotions, and discipline; and prayers for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing and strength.

Not only a book of prayers, the pocket-sized paperback book has psalms, as well as familiar hymns and songs.

I have ordered 20 of these (to start) to give away. If you or someone you know could use such a prayer book, please let me know. They are meant to be shared.

Thank you for your service.

In Christ,

Pastor Jen

Living As Dreamers

Divine sunset

Pentecost – Living As Dreamers

May 24, 2015

Romans 8:22-27

Acts 2:1-21

One of the phrases that my father (a realist)

used to say all the time to my siblings and I was:

“You’re living in a dream world!”

“You’re living in a dream world!”

Well my friends,

it’s Pentecost Sunday…and it’s a day in which all of us

become dreamers.

Here’s how Acts tells it…

Jesus’ followers have been told to stay in Jerusalem

until they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

I suppose at some point they must have wondered…

What does it feel like to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Will we even know when it happens?

A Sermon For The Thoughtful Christian

Ascension Day: A Sermon For The Thoughtful Christian

Acts 1:1-11

May 17, 2015

Every week that we gather here in this place,

some of you almost didn’t come.

The lawn needs mowing;

you could use more sleep;

the Sugar Shack has donuts with bacon calling your name;

and increasingly in our world,

after all, you’re not so sure what you believe anymore.

I’m glad that you’re here.

And truly, I believe and hope your being here will  make a difference in your week.

If the new Pew Research study on religious life in America is correct,

in just 7 years,

there has been a dramatic drop in the number of people in the United States

who say they are Christian –

7 percentage points.

And there is an even more dramatic rise

in the number of people who say they are agnostic or atheist,

or simply not religious at all.

The Courage Wall

Last week Del Ray resident Nancy Belmont erected a large blackboard on Mt. Vernon Avenue, kitty-corner from St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub. In large block letters, the top of the blackboard says, “I Wish I Had the Courage To…” and there’s a bucket of chalk for passersby to finish the sentence.

This morning I spent some time reading the sentiments of strangers. Some were humorous; others were poignant and intimate. I could imagine myself writing many of them.

They said things like, “I wish I had the courage to”:

• start my own business
• tell my son he’s adopted
• be myself
• speak up
• hike the Appalachian Trail
• retire
• ask a girl out
• decorate in color
• learn Spanish
• take the time I need to heal
• move to Paris

I read with some wondering.  I wondered why we have such fears… and what the list would look like if the wall was erected elsewhere – on the streets of Baltimore or Detroit, for example.

I read with a sense of discovery: my own fears are not all that unique. As human beings, we share similar anxieties.

And I read with hope. My hope is that we find communities of trust in which to share our fears. The church can be one such place – if we have the courage to open ourselves to others.

In Christ,

Pastor Jen

4 Things About Saul

Easter 6 – 4 Things About Saul

Acts 9:1-20

May 10, 2015

Saul is a young man – probably only in his 20’s

that day when he heads to Damascus.

He is what we might call a “rising star” among the Jewish leadership.

Not content to just go after the followers of Jesus who are around Jerusalem,

Saul asks for special permission

to go beyond Jerusalem and travel north to Damascus

and arrest those who have fled there.

Damascus is about 135 miles away.

Saul doesn’t have to go to Damascus.

No one orders him to go to Damascus.

Saul volunteers for the job.

Saul is so driven to “succeed” that he takes off for Damascus

just for the opportunity to arrest more followers of Jesus.

Saul has a plan; he has vision…

he sees himself as a future leader in the synagogue.

If he plays his cards right, he could be even a member of the Sanhedrin!

Drive isn’t necessarily a bad thing of course.

When someone is driven toward a goal,

we often say that they’re highly- motivated or a go-getter – good things!

Yet we also know people who are so driven, so singularly-focused, so competitive

that somehow they lose their integrity.

Waiting For Monday

Monday Calendar Clipart

Waiting For Monday

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend. Hopefully lots of mothers will be showered with thank you cards and breakfast in bed and homemade gifts! It is a day of celebration!

And yet for many, it is also a day of pain.

What do you write in a card to the mother who hurt you? How do you celebrate when your beloved mother has died or can’t remember who you are? What do you say when a store clerk wishes you a “Happy Mother’s Day” and you’ve never given birth? When a restaurant worker offers flowers to mothers on Sunday, do you take one anyway – or do you point out to that stranger that you’d love to be a mother but you have been dealing with infertility or had a miscarriage or a stillbirth?

This Mother’s Day I give thanks for mothers, including my own. But there is also a very special place in my heart for those who are looking forward to Monday. You are not alone.

In Christ,

Pastor Jen

Reading Together

Easter 5B: Reading Together

Acts 8:26-40

May 3, 2015

As we continue our walk through the book of Acts

during these weeks of Easter,

you may remember that the story of the stoning of  Stephen

ends with the members of the church fleeing Jerusalem –

running for their lives in fact.

I’m guessing this was not in the strategic plan.

This was not what the disciples had in mind for growing the church.

When the disciples got together for their leadership retreat

and came up with priorities for the coming year,

I’m guessing that not one of them wrote

on their little yellow Post-It note:

I have an idea…

We’ll grow the church by getting people so angry

that they run us out of town…

and we’ll just have to start new churches elsewhere.

I’m guessing that wasn’t their plan.

But it ended up being a pretty good plan after all.

Jesus said you will be my witnesses …

in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth…

Philip takes off from Jerusalem and runs to Samaria.

Samaria is about 30 miles north of Jerusalem

(maybe it was just coincidence that it was also on the way back to his home in Galilee).

In Samaria, he preaches and baptizes and begins a church…

but then an angel, a messenger from God, speaks to Philip

and tells him turn around and go south again about another 50 miles,

this time to the road to Gaza.

Maybe you’ve heard one of those angels sometimes…

those messengers that tell you to call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while…

and when you do, you realize it’s a good thing you did…

Well Philip listens to the message

and heads down to the road toward Gaza

and sure enough, there he meets the person he’s supposed to meet –

an Ethiopian court official who’s returning home

from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

This court official is a man of power and of wealth.

He works for none other than the Queen of Ethiopia herself

and is in charge of entire treasury.

Not only that but we know he can read

and he even has his own scroll.

Once again the Spirit gives Philip a message.

He’s told that he’s to go up to the chariot.

Now Philip has never ridden in a chariot in his life.

He doesn’t even know anyone who’s ridden in a chariot.

In his mind, nothing good can come from people in chariots.

Nevertheless he follows the prompting of the Spirit,

and chases after it.

He hears the man inside the chariot reading from the scroll of Isaiah.

Breathless from running, he shouts up to the official,

“Hey! Hey!

Do you know what you’re reading?”

The court official stops what he’s doing,

and looks down at this ragtag looking guy

who’s been running all over the Judean countryside

and probably looks like it.

The official looks at this guy Philip,

(and here’s something that’s really amazing about the story)

he decides that Philip is worth listening to.

He says, “No, I don’t understand – please tell me.”

And he invites Philip up into his carriage,

and Philip tells him about Jesus.

Two men –

one black and one brown;

one rich and one poor;

one educated and one not.

Two men sitting next to each other,

on one bench thinking that maybe they don’t know everything;

thinking that maybe they can learn something from someone who is different from them;

thinking that maybe God’s truth can come from a voice different from their own.

———–

Martin Luther King once said that,

“A riot is the language of the unheard.”

The events in Baltimore this week

remind us that we need more people sitting on the bench together:

rich and poor

men and women

black and white

We need to ask each other,

“What are you reading?”

“Can you tell me what’s really happening here?”

“Where do you see Jesus in this story, in the events of this week?”

I read an article last week about a woman who decided that for one year,

she would read only books written by non-white authors.

She decided that for a year,

she would sit on the bench with people different from her

and listen to their voices.

She learned that it was harder than she thought.

She looked for books to read through her usual sources:

book reviews, best seller lists.

It turns out that 90% of the books which are reviewed

have been written by white authors.

I never realized that before.

I never noticed that before.

 

A riot is the language of the unheard.

Lord, this day,

help us to seek out those who can be like Philip for us.

Help us to listen to their voices.

They may be the ones whom the Spirit has called to show us Jesus.

Amen.

Step Out For Baltimore

This Sunday at 10:45am we will be stepping outside for a brief time to pray for Baltimore. Please join us.

It’s been hard to know how to respond to the news in Baltimore this week. We’ve been bombarded by violent images of rioting and destruction.  A short time ago we heard that six police officers will be charged in the death of Freddie Gray, whose funeral was the event which instigated the unrest.

If we are not diligent, once calm has been restored, the re-building begun, and the news trucks have gone home, real issues underlying the unrest in Baltimore and other cities across the United States will be forgotten or ignored.

Poverty. Unemployment. Racism. These are just three of the issues that require our attention.

They certainly attracted Jesus’ attention. When he arrived in his hometown of Nazareth to speak in the synagogue for the first time, he read from the sacred scroll of Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

After reading, he closed the scroll and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled.” Jesus understood that his purpose was to bring good news to those who were poor, incarcerated, blind, and oppressed.

Since we claim we are followers of Jesus, we share in that same mission. Our message cannot simply be, “Jesus loves you,” but also “We as followers of Jesus love you too – and we love you too much to allow you to be poor, without work, or to be treated differently because of the color of your skin.”

Let us step out in prayer for Baltimore this Sunday. Step out to pray for the Baltimore community. And also let us step out in prayer for ourselves that we have the courage and commitment to work toward meaningful, long-term solutions.

Step out for Baltimore.

In Christ,

Pastor Jen