peace

Matthew 14:22-33-“The Weight of Fear”

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Synopsis:

After feeding the multitude, Jesus sends the disciples off to set sail while he finally gets away to pray. During the night, a great storm rises and the disciples are battered to and fro. Early in the morning, Jesus defies gravity and transverses the waters to meet the disciples exactly where they are. They think he is a ghost, but Peter asks to be invited onto the water. He begins to walk on the water. Not until he looks around he sees the storms and rising tide and begins to sink with fear. Jesus catches him, but still asks him, why didn’t he trust God with what was first firm beneath his feet. FDR said to our nation in a time when we were facing a Great Depression and an impending World War, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” and in this Gospel story we see how Peter’s fears cause to sink, rather than being still and trusting God is the God of the wind and the waves.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52-"Eighth Sunday after Pentecost"

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Synopsis:

Jesus offers two of his shortest parables about how God grows greatness from small beginnings. Much like St. Patrick of Ireland and Father Greg Boyle of Los Angeles who let God planted them in small places, great growth came to change the world around them. Although, we have a hard time seeing what God is growing in us and around us. Part of our call as people of faith is to bear witness by holding up a mirror and telling others, “Look was God has grown!”

Acts 1:6-11- "Ascension Sunday"

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Synopsis:

On Ascension Sunday, Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit arrives. Waiting is a place where we find ourselves so often, but especially during this time of quarantine. When we find ourselves in seasons of waiting, what dreams will God stir in your heart? What unimagined futures is God germinating in your for whatever comes when the fog clears and the road opens up?

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

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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 11:1-6- "Clearing the Way for Christ: Seeing Life with Fresh Eyes"

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Synopsis:

Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus dies, and he delays his arrive in Bethany. To return to Judea means the threat of execution for Jesus, so the disciples (all except Thomas, who gets the unfair reputation as Doubting Thomas) urge Jesus to not go, while Thomas is ready to die with his Rabbi. Mary and Martha are deep in grief and blame Jesus for Lazarus’ death because he did not come sooner. Jesus shows them that he is “the resurrection and the life,” and calls Lazarus forth from the cold tomb smelling of rotting flesh. Death is an inevitability we must all face, but the the Gospel bears witness to our hope that God of Love and Life leaves no child behind and collects us all into the loving arms of our Savior. Believing in the life beyond this life changes our posture and orientation as we recognize that success does not have to mean the accumulation of belongings or the assurance of longevity, but in the continual sacrifice and decluttering of all that charms us most–titles and treasure are all trash and trinkets before the Immortal, Invisible God only Wise. In a consumerist culture, we are taught our possessions are what give us purpose and value, but in an instant death can arrive at our doorstep. What matters truly to us? Who will call us forth from the depths of our own white-washed tombs filled with the stuff we hoard? Jesus invites us to see our life with fresh eyes in the light of resurrection.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20- "The Light Has Changed: Who Lives, Who Dies, and a Story Worth Telling"

Synopsis:

Moses stands on a mountainside for a second time for the second retelling of the law, and the summation of the law should sound familiar to Christian ears reading backwards who know Jesus’ synopsis of all ethics: love God and love neighbor like you love yourself. Moses offers an every consequence: If you choose life, you will live long, but if you choose death you will surely die. But, the surprising twist is religion is not about rule-following, purity culture, or clean living. Religion is about our relationship with God, our fellow humans, and the earth we inhabit. Living with an ethic of love is a matter of life and death. In the alternate texts for today, Matthew speaks about the importance of reconciliation, and Paul writes about division in the church and the importances of moving beyond “teams” to the unity of the Gospel. In light of Moses’ words, it is our relationships with each other that are a matter of life and death, so let us choose lives which bring the light of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace in all of our spaces.

Luke 1:46-55 - "Joy Sunday"

Synopsis:
On Joy Sunday at Broadway, the Gospel is preached in scripture and song as the Chancel Choir shares a musical masterpiece in worship. Born in Venice, Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) served as an ordained priest and Baroque Era violinist, composer, and musical educator for over thirty years at the orphanage for girls in Venice called the Ospedale Della Pieta (Hospital of Mercy). His Gloria was written in 1715 for the orphaned children of the Ospedale and performed in the Venetian opera house. Venice was the Las Vegas of 18th Century Italy and opera houses were raucous venues. With a protective consideration for the young girls in the choir, Vivaldi constructed screens to shield the choir from the intoxicated patrons of the opera. One might imagine the wild crowd turned into a weeping congregation at the angelic sounds of Vivaldi’s choir coming from mysterious silhouettes. The memory of Vivaldi’s choir of orphaned children harmonizes with Luke’s image of Mary–an afraid adolescent with child–who still sings her heart out in the liberating lyrics of the Magnificat. Her song prophesies of a world where God’s goodness, justice, and promise are fulfilled and every human flourishes with God-given worth. Mary makes a truly joyful noise worthy of any audience.

Keywords: Advent, Joy Sunday, Mary, Magnificat, justice, peace, joy, love, hope

2 Timothy 1:1-14 - "World Communion: A Faith That Lived First"

Synopsis: Paul writes to Timothy encouraging him to keep the faith which was first passed on to him by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. The faith which grants us a spirit not of cowardice but of power, love, and self-discipline, is the same faith passed down from Jesus to the Apostles, to Timothy’s grandmother, all the way to all 2 billion Christians around the world today. In this faith, we are all the family of God gathered around one global table of fellowship and community. The faith which strengthens us is a gift that lived first in the countless faithful people who have loved and lived for good and for God since Christ rose from the dead.

Keywords: Jesus, unity, Kingdom of God, communion, global church, family of God, inclusion, peace, community

Luke 12:32-40 - “Stories Jesus Tells: Fight to Keep the Fire Burning”

Synopsis: Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and then tells a parable of servants waiting for the master to return from a wedding feast. Weddings were sometimes multiple days and in an era before cellphones, a watchman had to keep the fires burning to welcome the master home at any time day or night. This watchfulness is like a fire burning inside, too, where we keep focused on our heart’s deepest desire and duty. According to Jürgen Moltmann, at the core Christianity is a religion on promise. There is a hopefulness to our faith which challenges the despair or numbness of our culture. We are called to keep the fire of hope and love burning through the night time of our fears.

Watch Christian Picciolini’s story on TED.com

(The sermon title comes from the song, “Fight to Keep,” by the band Korean-American Indie Rock band Run River North)

Keywords: Parables, Jesus, Kingdom of God, hope, promise, despair, violence, evil, white supremacy, racism, justice, peace, peacemaking, relationship, transformation, salvation, longing, belonging

Luke 10:25-37 - "Counting on the Kindness of Strangers"

Synopsis: In one of the two most popular, beloved, and convicting stories Jesus tells (the Prodigal Son being the other), we hear Jesus’ response to a young lawyer wanting to clarify his question and justify himself: the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This scandalous story’s hero is a representative of one of the most hated people groups to Jesus’ Jewish audience. Samaritans are the ancestors of the remnants in the land of Israel after the Assyrian conquest. Their religion, blood, and cultural was a mix of surrounding people groups which was abhorrent to the national purification project in Judea during Roman occupation. The challenge Jesus offers is not only to be a good neighbor to those we might dislike, distrust, or even hate, but the real twist is wondering what happens to the human heart when you have to count on the kindness of a stranger? As Paul says about God, becomes true of our neighbors, “kindness leads us to repentance,” and human hearts are transformed by love.

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.

Acts 1:1-11 - "The Ascension: To Infinity and Beyond"

Jesus gathers his disciples before ascending back into full, spiritual communion with the Trinity and before sending the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit arrives, they will become his witnesses of salt and light in Jerusalem, all throughout the countryside in Judea and Samaria (two regions segregated by ethnic and cultural tension), and to the ends of the earth. Although, we are not told exactly when Jesus was culminate this work and exact where we are to go. The Infinite God is not bound by time or space. In God’s infinity of time, we are called to live and love each day like it’s our last and lean into the eternal present in each moment. In God’s infinity of space, we are called to bear witness to God’s love and Christ’s Resurrected Life in lands far away from our hometowns or even in our own backyard as God’s agents of peace and reconciliation. Wherever God sends us, we have an opportunity to lay roots and bloom where we are planted.

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.

Psalm 150 - “Psalms, Part 1: A Righteous Racket"

The first of a four part series on the Psalms. According to Walter Brueggemann, the Psalms come to us in three primary, genres (Psalms of Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation) which lay bare the emotional arc of the human heart and remind us that our emotions are, to quote Mr. Rogers, “mentionable and manageable.” Psalm 150 is a Psalm of Orientation, singing praises and giving thanks for God’s goodness and trustworthiness to fulfill promises. We are called to praise because we are created to praise. We express love, honor, joy, and devotion when we talk about the people and things we love. We become what we praise, and when we praise God we reprioritize our lives and point ourselves towards the life and love of the Crucified, Risen Jesus.

Keywords: Easter, Resurrection, Jesus, Christ, praise, joy, gratitude, emotions, music

Luke 24:1-12 - "Hope Springs Eternal"

The women, who go to grieve and tend the corpse of Jesus, become the first preachers in the Christian faith. Their news is too good to be true, so the disciples ignore and silence them, but Peter has to see for himself. When he gets to the tomb to see whether or not their news was too good to be true, he sees an empty tomb and old burial linens and his hope springs eternal. Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead inaugurates God’s Kingdom reality of all things becoming new. Even though we see crucifixion all around us, “Despite appearances, it is an Easter world.”

"Questions Worth Asking: Why Baptize?"

Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Synopsis: Like all symbols, baptism bears a surplus of meaning for followers of Jesus who follow him through the waters. Baptism is a past, present, and future act. Baptism gives us a tangible act to teach us the failures of our past do not define our belonging to Christ in the present, or our opportunity to walk into a new, hopeful future filled with possibilities.

Keywords: Epiphany, baptism, Baptist, ordinance, sacrament, Kingdom of God, citizenship, peace, justice, love, life abundant.

“Love Sunday: Carol through the Chaos" - Micah 5:2-5a

Text: Micah 2:2-5a

Synopsis: The sermon preached by the prophet Micah, which we hear in Handel’s Messiah and understand retroactively as a Messianic prophesy about Jesus, is a hopeful word to the Hebrew people in their darkest hour. As the armies of Assyria beat on the doors of Zion, Micah reminds the people of God’s past promises and future plans to bring restoration, peace, and justice to the whole human family through the little town of Bethlehem. Even in the most chaotic of times, the God of Promise invites us to continue to carol and sing songs of love and liberation as we work to build the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. So, don’t let anyone steal your song as you carol through the chaos of life.

Keywords: Advent, Christmas, love, chaos, stress, peace, prophetic, Messiah, songs, singing, hope, Kingdom of God