The daily news round up from Faith in Public Life delivered an interesting piece today, a call for a culture war truce issued by an evangelical and a progressive Christian.
David Gushee, the evangelical, and Rachel Laser, the progressive, offer a footing on common ground on that issue that's divided too many for too long, abortion.
Check it out here.
sorry, but the GAP Fire above Santa Barbara has this preacher evacuated from home for the time being. Keep good thoughts for all the folks working on this fire--as well as all the wildfires raging these days-- and all of us hoping to see our homes again. Anne
Genesis 22:1-18
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:34-42/ or RCL 10:40-42
choosing to change
losing life and finding it
offering the cup of cold water
(Unavoidable Contexts for the Text)
--Breaking Levees, Changing Weather
--Drill More or Drive Less?
--Supreme Court Eases Burden for Exxon; Alaska Grieves and Rages
--Supreme Court Rules for Guns
“We must want to be the transcendence that we are; we never come to the end…we are those who are open to the infinity of God." ~ Karl Rahner
"I cannot become a good host until I am at home in my own house..." ~ Esther De Waal
Twenty years ago this morning I put on a white starched backwards collar for the first time. I struggled to attach the thing to my new clergy shirt, and I was intent on getting it right. I figured that new collar had something to do with my new authority as an ordained person. I quickly learned it didn’t.
Authority, of course, isn’t bestowed by a degree or a title, or even the bible handed me that day by the bishop with the words “receive this Bible as a sign of your authority to proclaim God’s word.”
Authority comes with truth-telling, consistent truth-telling. Authority means, as the Latin roots show, not power, but trustworthiness. We grant authority to the one who tells us the truth, whether it’s about our car’s engine, our medical lab report, or the reasons to wage war or drill for oil. We grant authority to the one who listens for the many facets of truth and interprets them in the light of reason. That’s the job of the preacher. That’s the job, I pray, of the politician worthy of our vote and the high calling of their honorable profession. That’s the job of any one of us engaged in public life and public service.
Genesis 21:8-21
Romans 6:1-11
Matthew 10:24-39
Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, the wisdom of serpents , walking in "newness of life."
"The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth."~~Peter Abelard
excerpt from a sermon
by The Rev. Dr. David J. Schlafer
"...God has promised them a life giving story, they have twisted into a dance macabre.
Or, to appropriate the language of St. Paul, a ghastly life in which “death has dominion”.
We've been back for over a week now. My strained muscles are easing, my bruises have changed from black and blue to new rainbow hues. That spells a little physical relief. But such relief is nowhere in sight for the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Three years later, they still struggle with the aftermath of Katrina. With a group of Beatitudes Society seminarians we traveled again to the Gulf Coast for our annual Service Learning Trip. The learning occurs not by reading any book or listening to any lecture, but simply by opening our ears and our ears to the sights and stories of the people of this region, and using our hands to carry some lumber, pound some nails, and add a little sweat to the re-buiding efforts that will last a decade.
Acts 2:1-21
John 20:19-23
the Spirit ignites the church
"Pentecost is ... about the reversal of Babel. For the author of Luke-Acts, the coming of Jesus and the continuation of his presence in the power of the Spirit inaugurated a new age in which the fragmentation of humanity was overcome." ~ Marcus Borg
excerpt from a Pentecost sermon
"... But something did happen when the Spirit sparked the beginning of the church. Luke tells us “they were all together in one place, and suddenly, from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house …divided tongues, as of fire, like fire, appeared among them and rested on each of them. And they began speaking in foreign languages.”
Acts 1:6-14
Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36
1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
John 17:1-11
mystical glory, sharing in suffering
"All social movements and organization were born of pain." ~ Matthew Fox
"Ascension means a
God-like view of things,
Rising about our usual
Limitations.
Rise, then, and know
The glory of a life
Set free from fear." ~ Ann Lewin
a portion of a sermon preached for Ascension Sunday
"...In Luke’s words in the Book of Acts, which is the second half of Luke’s gospel, the disciples left behind must wait, wait for a sign of what to do, wait for power, God’s power, God’s presence. How do they wait? What do they need for this work? They wait in prayer, together.
At one point, Jeremiah Wright, thrust onto the national stage by the viral spread of video clips, offered all Americans an opportunity to engage in a serious national conversation about racism. A few took the opportunity to engage in such conversations, including his former parishioner.
But that opportunity's been squandered by both the preacher and the press.
Looking at the preacher, I see a man relishing his sudden capture of the spotlights and headlines. He's so good at what he does. But what he does is not good. It's clever and cynical and self-serving.
Looking at the press, well, once again, I just see laziness: It's deadline time and thank God we don't have to worry about what the voters might be thinking. We don't have to make notes about the complexities of high gasoline prices, gas taxes, mortgage foreclosures or any other aspect of the economic realities that face American voters. War? what war? It's much easier to quote Jeremiah Wright and run a few more video clips. Cheap news.
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:7-18
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21
God doesn't give up on the world
"'God made every nation from one ancestor.' In our time of fundamentalism, perhaps this is the most important message to preach." ~ Barbara Rossing
from a sermon on living in a time of empire
"A few weeks back, I started preparing for this Sunday, reading these scriptures from John and Luke and I Peter. I had the beginnings of a sermon that I thought would be a zinger. But I’ve changed my mind, or rather, my heart. I threw out that sermon that I started. Let me tell you why.
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