John 14:15-21- "The Orphans of God"

Synopsis:

On the Sixth Sunday of Eastertide, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, the Paraklete or the Advocate, who will come beside them and walk with them after Jesus has left. Yet, Jesus leaves them in the body but his promise of the Holy Spirit is to not leave them orphaned. In the story of the Exonerated Five (formerly called the Central Park Five), we see the resilience of love and what it means to be not left orphaned but advocates for those our society forgets who God will not ever forget.

John 14:1-10- "All the Way Home"

Synopsis:

On the Fifth Sunday of Eastertide, Jesus shares his final meal and swansong words with his disciples before his crucifixion. The promise he makes to them is that they will not be abandoned, even though Thomas says they don’t know the way to follow him. Jesus replies, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and they already know him so they will know how to make it all the way home to God’s loving arms.

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4- All Saints: Semper Reformanda

Synopsis: This beloved text from Habakkuk helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, exhausted and exasperated from the ritual demands of Medieval Christianity, heard these words scream in his soul, “The just shall live by faith.” With each passing generation, we make our contribution to each chapter of God’s Story, and on All Saint’s we remember and honor the lives of those who have gone before us as we draw courage from their witness. The stories of our past inspire us into our future as we stand on the shoulders of giants who continued the great work of the Church which Karl Barth described as semper reformanda––always reforming. There is no Church of the old or the young. There is no Church that is not evolving, changing, or growing. Wherever the Church is and wherever the Holy Spirit is still breathing life through God’s Word made flesh, there will always be Reformation.

Keywords: Jesus, Holy Spirit, All Saints, Church Universal, history, saints, past, story, future, vision, hope, Reformation

Jeremiah 31:27-34 - "Into Exile: Written on the Heart"

Synopsis: God promises a new covenant to the Hebrew folk in the midst of Exile. This new covenant is not written on stone tablets or codified into law, but written on the hearts of God’s children. The law was necessary in the adolescence of faith, but after achieving maturity and the fullness of faith we discover the rules were always a precursor to the relationship with God and neighbor. As Christians reading this Hebrew Bible text, we cannot help but hear Paul’s teaching on the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit over and above the law. This freedom in Christ is the culmination of the promise to write God’s law on our hearts.

Keywords: Jeremiah, Exile, promise, law, grace, Holy Spirit, relationship, freedom, liberty, Christ, ethics, legalism, love

Galatians 3:23-29 - "Brother Paul and the Kin-dom of God"

In a biographical look at the life of Saul-turned-Paul, we see a life of violence, hate, and bigotry transformed on the road to Damascus in an encounter with the Living, Risen Christ. After this, Paul’s hatred of the Jesus-follower’s inclusion of Gentiles into their community becomes his life calling. In a world where we label, divide, and polarize, Brother Paul is still preaching today that we are all not just citizens in the Kingdom of God, but kinfolk and siblings in the family of God.

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 and John 16:12-15 - "Trinity Sunday: All in the Family"

Synopsis: On Trinity Sunday, we hear two distinct images from Proverbs and John bubbling up from the scriptures to spark our imaginations about the invisible, ineffable, eternal Trinitarian family. The image of the woman as the feminine “sophia” wisdom incarnate, begotten before Creation, and eternally dancing in communion with the Creator, sounds mysteriously like the masculine “logos” word in the Gospel of John. The biblical vocabulary describing the eternally mysterious Trinity is illuminated by these images of feminine wisdom and masculine word, to remind us that God is neither male nor female, but gender identity finds it’s genesis in God, who exists eternally in loving, familial-like relationships. The traditional Trinitarian formula of Father - Son - Holy Spirit is not about the gender of God (God is not male, and men are not more like God), but to the nature of the relationships which exist within the Trinity. We use the language of family to describe the Trinity because there is no more intimate, complex, and enmeshed relationship than the connect of the family system (for good or ill). As members of the “household of faith,” we are called to participant in the great family circle of the Holy Trinity by being church family to one another. The metaphors are not meant to hinder, but help us reframe family membership in God’s New Family where everyone is welcome regardless of status, identity, or lineage. This is why the biblical mandate is repeated so often to protect orphans (those without parents), widows (those without spouses or children), the poor (those without a support system), and immigrants (those without a homeland). We are call to be the new human family God is creating through Trinitarian love and Resurrection life.

Acts 2:1-39 - “Pentecost: Tongues on Fire”

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit arrives in tongues of fire to set hearts and lives ablaze. The real miracle of Pentecost is that thousands of people were able to understand the Good News Story without miscommunication or mistrust. Peter stands to address the crowd, who would have most likely been the very same mob who just six weeks or so earlier would have cried, “Crucify!” Peter tells them that death could not hold Jesus anymore than violence would not solve their problems. They cried out for blood, because they wanted to blame somebody for their situation. Despite their rage, death was swallowed up by life and the Resurrection of Jesus proves that love and life will always find a way. In that miraculous moment, they ask Peter what they are supposed to do. Peter invites them to repent (think different) and be baptized (walk into a newness of life) through the miraculous power of God’s universal language of love. While rage and bitterness seem cathartic, the path of peace offered by Jesus is the path of grace, love, and forgiveness.

To hear the moving story of a father’s forgiveness referenced at the end of the sermon, click here.

Psalm 23 - “Psalms, Part 3: An Old, Familiar Tune”

Psalm 23 is arguably the most familiar passage of scripture next to John 3:16. The pastoral, rural imagery of God as shepherd evokes emotions of comfort and safety, even though the life of a shepherd was hardly safe or comfortable. Traditionally attributed to David, the Psalm speaks of God’s parental care for God’s children (particularly poignant on Mother’s Day) which provides and protects us all the days of our life. Although, God does not promise to fix all of our problems, but promises to be present, responsive, and always pursing us with goodness and mercy. This promise is not made exclusively to the initiated, but the Good Shepherd even makes a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and through the power of Jesus’ resurrection, God continues make all things new and fulfill the old, familiar promise to Father Abraham and Mother Sarah to make one family out of all Creation. The promise of the Good Shepherd is we are not alone, and there is no far away with the God in whom we live and move and have our being.