Matthew 13:1-9- " Sixth Sunday after Pentecost"

Synopsis:

Jesus shares a beloved parable (an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, as the old preachers would say). This is one of the few parables where Jesus tells his disciples exactly what he means because specificity matters. Like saying “Black lives matter,” rather than “All lives matter,” it is important to speak with specificity, so Jesus warns his disciples about the different “soils” of the soul–hard, shallow, and thorny–but that there is good, soft soil in which God is growing good fruit. Within each human heart are all of these soils–no one is 100% evil or 100% good. We all have hard places to till up, but we also have good, soft soil where God is at work in our lives. In David Wilcox’s Carpenter Story, we hear a story about the power of creativity and compassion to help till two hard hearts and reconcile two neighbors, turned enemies, turned friends again by a traveling carpenter.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Synopsis:

Rev. Timothy Peoples of Emerywood Baptist Church in High Point, NC, preaching on Song of Songs 2:8-13.

Matthew 10:40-42- "Fourth Sunday after Pentecost"

Synopsis:

On the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, we continue with Jesus teaching to his disciples as he prepares them to be sent into a dangerous world. Finally, he tells them to look for those who will offer cups of cold water to them, those agents of hospitality and grace in unexpected places. We live in a world hungering and thirsting for justice, and each of us have a cup of cold water to share with God’s beloved, but the needs are so great feels like watering the desert. And yet, if we all share our cups of cold water, God will continue to quench every thirst.

Matthew 10:24-39-"Third Sunday after Pentecost"

Synopsis:

On the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Jesus calls his disciples to fearless discipleship in a dangerous world. What does fearless love look like in our world today? It doesn’t take long to see such grace. In Louisville, we saw images of protestors protecting a police officer who was separated from his partners in downtown underneath the Bearno’s Pizza sign. Love compels us to listen, to learn, and to do as the great, Black theologian Howard Thurman says we must follow Jesus and, “Jesus stands with those whose backs are against the wall.”

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.

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.