What kind of shopper are you? Some folks like to window-shop and enjoy just going to the malls to see what's new. Some folks consider the act of shopping the main event and the stuff they bring home is secondary to the experience. Still others go shopping when and only when they know they need something and they are in and out of the store as quickly as possible. I tend to fall in the last category--but while I'm there to get what I need--I also like to browse "just in case!"
Just as they are different approaches to shopping--there are different approaches to the journey of faith. Some folks skim along the surface never really making any deep commitment. They're "just looking." Some folks get really engaged in the programs and the community but find it hard to hear the gospel call on their lives. They're content with being part of "their church." Still others work hard at living out their faith in real and engaged ways in the world outside the walls of their church building and beyond their own community of faith. They are those whom the author of the Book of James would call "Doers of the Word"--people who hear and heed the gospel call to faithful living.
I'd be interested in hearing of the ways you are engaged in the world around you. What makes that possible for you? What gets in your way? What questions do you bring to the conversation?
Monday, August 28, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
The Call to Steadfastness
I'm finishing up the sermon series on the letter to the church at Ephesus with the passages from the sixth chapter verses 10-20 (Eph 6:10-20) and I am mindful that the military images are troubling especially when they are combined with images of Christian warfare that are prevalent in some popular literature and movements today. I intentionally chose to use them as the basis of my sermon because they illustrate two things for me: the use of the common language and images of the time in order to preach a radical message and the need to grapple with those parts of Scripture that are troubling to us.
When this letter was written to the church in Ephesus--the author chose to use military imagery because the region was occupied by the Roman army and people would understand both the images and the call to "replace" that armour with the gifts of God that can be used for the making of a lasting peace. It is noteworthy that all the images used, other than the sword, are used for protection rather than weapons used in attack. It is possible, then, that this passage is a call to non-violent resistance and that, as children of God, we should heed the call to be makers of peace--in our personal lives and in the world around us.
The call to steadfastness is a call to create a world that allows all persons to live full and productive lives. Will our world be perfect? Probably not. Will all conflict cease? Of course not. We will, however, look first to dialogue and compromise as we seek win-win solutions to age-old issues. We can do this--and each time we choose to "replace" our old models of aggression with new models of cooperation--we will find ourselves one step closer to God's beloved community.
When this letter was written to the church in Ephesus--the author chose to use military imagery because the region was occupied by the Roman army and people would understand both the images and the call to "replace" that armour with the gifts of God that can be used for the making of a lasting peace. It is noteworthy that all the images used, other than the sword, are used for protection rather than weapons used in attack. It is possible, then, that this passage is a call to non-violent resistance and that, as children of God, we should heed the call to be makers of peace--in our personal lives and in the world around us.
The call to steadfastness is a call to create a world that allows all persons to live full and productive lives. Will our world be perfect? Probably not. Will all conflict cease? Of course not. We will, however, look first to dialogue and compromise as we seek win-win solutions to age-old issues. We can do this--and each time we choose to "replace" our old models of aggression with new models of cooperation--we will find ourselves one step closer to God's beloved community.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Walking the Talk
Four centuries ago, the English Nonconformist minister Richard Baxter observed the gulf between practice and preaching in his profession: “All the week long is little enough to study how to speak for two hours; and yet one hour seems too much time to study how to live all week.”
This coming Sunday, August 20, I'll be giving the third sermon on a series based on the pastoral letter to the church at Ephesus. The topic of the day will be matching our actions with our beliefs--what is known in church-speak as "walking the talk."
While the quote from Reverend Baxter might suggest that it is only clergy who have difficulty practicing what we preach, the challenge to live as we say we believe is faced by all of us. Truth be told-- I think the challenge is the most difficult in the every-day interactions of life. We say that we belive all people are created equal in God's eyes--yet in little subtle ways--a ethnic-based joke or a momentary thought when we read or hear a story about a particular behavior--and we realize that we are still battling the sin of racism. We say we believe that all persons should be given fair pay for their labors--but we also insist that we need to have lower prices offered in order to make ends meet--and we realize that our own well-being is more important to us that the well-being of others. We say we belive in a lasting peace yet we find ways not to forgive those closest to us for relatively minor grievances--and we realize that we still think peace is only a dream that can never be achieved.
I invite you to think about the ways in your own life where your talk and your walk have parted paths. What can you do to bring them closer together? What would our world be like if everyone was committed to "walking the talk?"
This coming Sunday, August 20, I'll be giving the third sermon on a series based on the pastoral letter to the church at Ephesus. The topic of the day will be matching our actions with our beliefs--what is known in church-speak as "walking the talk."
While the quote from Reverend Baxter might suggest that it is only clergy who have difficulty practicing what we preach, the challenge to live as we say we believe is faced by all of us. Truth be told-- I think the challenge is the most difficult in the every-day interactions of life. We say that we belive all people are created equal in God's eyes--yet in little subtle ways--a ethnic-based joke or a momentary thought when we read or hear a story about a particular behavior--and we realize that we are still battling the sin of racism. We say we believe that all persons should be given fair pay for their labors--but we also insist that we need to have lower prices offered in order to make ends meet--and we realize that our own well-being is more important to us that the well-being of others. We say we belive in a lasting peace yet we find ways not to forgive those closest to us for relatively minor grievances--and we realize that we still think peace is only a dream that can never be achieved.
I invite you to think about the ways in your own life where your talk and your walk have parted paths. What can you do to bring them closer together? What would our world be like if everyone was committed to "walking the talk?"
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Living Gently in a Violent World
This coming Sunday, August 13, I'm doing the second of a four-part sermon series reflecting on passages from the Book of Ephesians dealing with the challenge of living in a world that often calls us away from our core identities as children of God. This week's message will focus on living gently in a violent world.
I grew up in a relatively violent free environment. My dad could yell louder than anyone I ever knew but I also knew that was the extent of the threat. That wasn't the case for friends who did live in abusive homes and who always feared what might happen when their parents lost their tempers. I recall having conversations where they vowed they would never subject their children to similar ordeals. I left home shortly after high school and lost touch with most of my friends so I don't know if they were able to keep that vow. I sure hope they did.
I was a teenager in the late sixties. You might think given my current political and theological leanings that I was involved in protests against the Vietnam War and active in the civil rights movement. That would have been true if I had grown up in a different family and under different circumstances. Military service was the norm for the young men in my family and for my male friends. As for civil rights--that was so far off the radar in my all-white, flag-waving world--I didn't even know it was happening and it sure wasn't being talked about in my school or at my church.
My naive eyes were opened wide in the early seventies by two events. The first was becoming a survivor of domestic abuse; the second was meeting Dennis Banks who was a co-founder of the American Indian Movement. My safe and secure world was shattered by the first event--my passion for making sure all people would be treated with respect was ignited by the second.
The author of this pastoral letter sent to the church at Ephesus (as well as other churches in the region) is believed to have been a disciple of the Apostle Paul who gathered together most of Paul's writings and thoughts and compiled a letter that would cover the general theme of living in a new way as a Christian in a predominately pagan world. At the time of their writing, pagans were those persons who belived in a pantheon of gods rather than in one god as did the Jews and now this newly forming religion called Christianity. That is still a good definition of what it means to be a pagan today even though the word has taken on some derogratory connontations (pagans are not devil worshippers--they don't even believe in the devil). The passage I'm preaching on this Sunday comes from Ephesians 4:45--5:2 and it is dealing primarily with interpersonal relationships--how is it that we ought to get along with one another.
Being gentle and peaceful--especially when you see violence all around you or if you are the victim of a violent act--is never easy. When I think of gentleness in the face of violence, I see the faces of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.--steadfastly moving toward their goals--refusing to return violence for violence--choosing instead to love rather than hate. When I was ordained, the preacher that day said "when you can remember that people are doing the best they can given the circumstances they are in--you will find them easier to love." Good advice!
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject. What helps you remember to love your enemies? Do you have a story to share that might help a fellow traveler along the way.
Pastor Rita
I grew up in a relatively violent free environment. My dad could yell louder than anyone I ever knew but I also knew that was the extent of the threat. That wasn't the case for friends who did live in abusive homes and who always feared what might happen when their parents lost their tempers. I recall having conversations where they vowed they would never subject their children to similar ordeals. I left home shortly after high school and lost touch with most of my friends so I don't know if they were able to keep that vow. I sure hope they did.
I was a teenager in the late sixties. You might think given my current political and theological leanings that I was involved in protests against the Vietnam War and active in the civil rights movement. That would have been true if I had grown up in a different family and under different circumstances. Military service was the norm for the young men in my family and for my male friends. As for civil rights--that was so far off the radar in my all-white, flag-waving world--I didn't even know it was happening and it sure wasn't being talked about in my school or at my church.
My naive eyes were opened wide in the early seventies by two events. The first was becoming a survivor of domestic abuse; the second was meeting Dennis Banks who was a co-founder of the American Indian Movement. My safe and secure world was shattered by the first event--my passion for making sure all people would be treated with respect was ignited by the second.
The author of this pastoral letter sent to the church at Ephesus (as well as other churches in the region) is believed to have been a disciple of the Apostle Paul who gathered together most of Paul's writings and thoughts and compiled a letter that would cover the general theme of living in a new way as a Christian in a predominately pagan world. At the time of their writing, pagans were those persons who belived in a pantheon of gods rather than in one god as did the Jews and now this newly forming religion called Christianity. That is still a good definition of what it means to be a pagan today even though the word has taken on some derogratory connontations (pagans are not devil worshippers--they don't even believe in the devil). The passage I'm preaching on this Sunday comes from Ephesians 4:45--5:2 and it is dealing primarily with interpersonal relationships--how is it that we ought to get along with one another.
Being gentle and peaceful--especially when you see violence all around you or if you are the victim of a violent act--is never easy. When I think of gentleness in the face of violence, I see the faces of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.--steadfastly moving toward their goals--refusing to return violence for violence--choosing instead to love rather than hate. When I was ordained, the preacher that day said "when you can remember that people are doing the best they can given the circumstances they are in--you will find them easier to love." Good advice!
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this subject. What helps you remember to love your enemies? Do you have a story to share that might help a fellow traveler along the way.
Pastor Rita
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