Leader: Through our words:
People: Let your Love be known.
L: Through our actions:
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through how we treat others:
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through how we obey Your commandments.
P: Let your Love be known.
L: Through our worship today:
P: Let your Love be known.
All: Amen.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Call to Worship based on Revelation 21:1-6 & "All Shall Be Well"
Leader: The home of God will be among mortals.
People: All shall be well.
L: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and Death will be no more.
P: All shall be well.
L: God declares, “I am making all things new.”
P: And all manner of things shall be well.
L: May we place all our hope in our eternal, re-creating God.
All: Let us worship - Amen!
People: All shall be well.
L: God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and Death will be no more.
P: All shall be well.
L: God declares, “I am making all things new.”
P: And all manner of things shall be well.
L: May we place all our hope in our eternal, re-creating God.
All: Let us worship - Amen!
Call to Worship based on "Take My Life and Let It Be"
Leader: Lord, take my life -
People: And let it be consecrated to thee.
L: Take my moments and my days -
P: Let them flow in ceaseless praise!
L: Take my hands -
P: Let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
L: Take my feet
P: let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
L: Take all of us, Lord -
P: Let us be, ever only, all for Thee.
All: Amen.
People: And let it be consecrated to thee.
L: Take my moments and my days -
P: Let them flow in ceaseless praise!
L: Take my hands -
P: Let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
L: Take my feet
P: let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
L: Take all of us, Lord -
P: Let us be, ever only, all for Thee.
All: Amen.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Call to Worship on Prayer
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Here I am, Lord.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Not my will, but Yours.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: God, what do you want to do through me?
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: We will pray to, out of, and for Love.
Leader: Let us pray:
All: God, be with us in this time of worship. Amen.
People: Here I am, Lord.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: Not my will, but Yours.
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: God, what do you want to do through me?
Leader: Today we will pray:
People: We will pray to, out of, and for Love.
Leader: Let us pray:
All: God, be with us in this time of worship. Amen.
Monday, March 24, 2025
"Grounded in Gratitude" a sermon on Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17 & Luke 12:22-34
Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17
Luke 12:22-34
“Grounded in Gratitude”
Preached Sunday, March 23, 2025 at Boardman United Methodist Church
Today we are celebrating Gratitude Sunday.
This is a part of our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign as we express gratitude for the faith, church, and community we have received. AND, it is important to our faith to regularly talk about, express, and practice gratitude.
And so in order to talk about gratitude…I am first going to talk about worry and anxiety. You may have wondered at the Gospel lesson, talking about worry, on this day themed for gratitude. It is important that we talk about what keeps us from gratitude - for anxiety and worry are the antithesis of gratitude and thanksgiving. Anxiety is worrying over what could be; fearing what is not yet; fixating on what is not present, what is missing. Gratitude fosters a sense of appreciation of what is; cultivating thanksgiving for what’s here in the present; celebrating what is right in front of us.
(Disclaimer about sometimes anxiety is also in the chemical make-ups of our brain.)
When we’re worried about what the future holds or what today has in store for us, we are not grateful for what we currently have. When we’re worried that the future will not be like the past...we’re not giving gratitude to God for all that God has already done for us...and all that God can and will do for us. Worry and gratitude are opposites.
So now let’s look at some conflicting statistics.
In a 2015 PEW Research survey, it stated that 80 percent of Americans said they felt a deep sense of gratitude every day. A more recent study I found from 2023 conducted by OnePoll has a similar statistic: 83% of Americans experience gratitude daily.
Given this, our anxiety levels should be low. But that’s not the case.
“The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. Adults are particularly anxious about current events (70%) — especially the economy (77%), the 2024 U.S. election (73%), and gun violence (69%).”
This morning’s scripture actually says that worrying cannot add a single hour to your life - and we know it’s actually bad for your health! The stress and strain that anxiety puts on our body and can actually shorten our lifespans.
Actually, let's pause here. As I wrote this sermon and I wrote that last line I noticed a tightness in my chest. My shoulders were scrunched up to my ears. My jaw was clenched. Perhaps sitting in the pews now, you are noticing a similar sensation.
Put your feet on the ground. Let your weight settle into your seat. Take a deep breath in, and out. Do three breaths. Shrug your shoulders, roll your neck, release your jaw. Think of one thing you are grateful for.
Okay. With hopefully more looseness in your body and soul, let’s turn our attention back to gratitude.
Some researchers and people with opinions online say that the percent of Americans experiencing gratitude is too high. After all, it’s self-reported. I am not going to make that claim but I will make this claim:
We may THINK we are grateful. But. We are very bad at expressing gratitude and without the expression of gratitude, we are not actually practicing the ethic of gratitude.
According to that OnePoll survey, only 40% write down what they are grateful for. And only 25% verbally express their gratitude.
Studies have been done, one by the National Library of Medicine, that show that some ways of expressing gratitude are more helpful than others. To sum up: being explicit in your gratitude, writing it out in letter or long form, and somehow expressing it versus just thinking it is more beneficial.
Christian author and theologian Diana Butler Bass wrote a whole book on the subversive power of gratitude, she says this: “Gratitude is, however, more than just an emotion. It is also a disposition that can be chosen and cultivated, an outlook toward life that manifests itself in actions—it is an ethic.”
Research backs up that gratitude is an ethic. That gratitude, when truly felt and put into practice, looks like actions and a way of life. Greater Good magazine says that “Grateful people have been shown to be more helpful, kind, supportive, and altruistic.” One study showed that those who kept gratitude journals were more likely to be empathic and offer more help than those who wrote about struggles or even neutral events. The Templeton Giving Survey found that people who say that they practice gratitude daily, donate more money and volunteer hours a year than those who don’t.
How are we practicing the ethic of gratitude? It starts with explicitly expressing gratitude about specific things.
Here are some examples to get the most out of our gratitude, to truly let gratitude change our hearts, minds, and souls. To let it be the antidote to worry. To let it be the seed to praising God and storing our treasure in heavenly things.
So here are those examples from my life.
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for my family.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the way Winnie smiles at me in the morning. I am grateful for the way Agnes wants to cuddle with me. I am grateful for my husband who has chosen to make these girls his number one priority for this stage of our lives.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful to live close to my parents.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful that on a random Tuesday I can call up my dad and invite him to the playground and then watch my daughter and him play together.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for those who taught me the faith.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to church. I am grateful to George and Bob and Don for showing me what being a faithful pastor looks like. I am grateful to Jen who showed me what it means for a women to be in the pulpit. I am grateful to her and Jeremiah who first told me, “I see gifts for ministry in you.” I am grateful to Bill for the countless camp sermons. I am grateful to Cherie for taking me under her wing and working with me through the growing pains of becoming a pastor. I am grateful….the list could continue.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for this church.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the people, especially the women, who graciously and joyfully sit by my daughter for the beginning of worship. I am grateful for those individuals who delight in watching the wonder and excitement of children coming forward for Communion. I am grateful for those who stop by my office to wrestle with theological opinions. I am grateful for when I go to the nursing home or make a phone call to pray with someone, thinking I will be blessing them - and I leave that interaction feeling absolutely floored by the way they just blessed me, the way they shared with me, the way they prayed for ME. I am grateful for the countless volunteers who serve this church by giving of their prayers, presence, service, gifts, and witness. I am grateful…for you.”
You know, I’d get even more specific on that last one. I would say your names. I would give a reason for each and every one of you. I could give a reason for every week I’ve been here - a reason to be thankful. But we’d be here all day and I don’t want to put any of you on the spot.
What I do want to do is inspire you to really reflect on what you are grateful for. In your life and in the church. And then I want you to get really specific about that thing. And then I want you to express it - to write it, to say it out loud, to share it.
That’s the only way that gratitude moves from a brief, passing feeling, to something that actually changes us - and then, because we are changed, we live out the ethic in all we say and do.
Gratitude is the soil in which we grow as Christians, as disciples, as people of love, of enough, of generosity, of community. Butler-Bass says, “We are safer and happier when we care for each other in community, when we do things for each other.”
We are called to be completely grounded in gratitude so that the Spirit can bear fruit in this life.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that ALL that we have is a gift from God. Nothing is completely ours, nothing is earned.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that God is inherently good, as is this world and our lives, and we marvel at this and praise God for that.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that living out our faith means building a bigger table to invite more in, not a wall to keep others out.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that we are called to show our gratitude through generosity, in all the ways that we can, because through it we recognize that ALL people, everyone we share life with, is a beloved child of God, equally loved, equally worthy…
This morning, I would like to invite you to an opportunity to practice gratitude.
In your bulletins is an insert of colored cardstock. After the sermon, the ushers will pass out pens. Please write in pen. If you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and wrote on it with those little pew pencils, you’re encouraged to go over it in pen. During the special music, fill out the prompts on the card. The responses are anonymous. There is no need to write your name on it. After the service there will be a basket in the Narthex, please return your card and pen there. These will be displayed at least next Sunday through Easter if not a little more. We will encourage you every Sunday to take time to read other’s statements of gratitude and love for this church, our church.
If you are online and wish to participate, post your responses in the comments.
These are the two prompts:
I am grateful for…
What I love most about my church is…
You’ve heard examples of gratitude from our children during the children’s sermon and in this sermon. I would encourage you to be as specific and as precise as you want.
Hold tight to those instructions, let’s wrap up this sermon by hearing once again, the words of encouragement from Colossians today.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Amen.
Luke 12:22-34
“Grounded in Gratitude”
Preached Sunday, March 23, 2025 at Boardman United Methodist Church
Today we are celebrating Gratitude Sunday.
This is a part of our Today, Tomorrow, Together Capital Campaign as we express gratitude for the faith, church, and community we have received. AND, it is important to our faith to regularly talk about, express, and practice gratitude.
And so in order to talk about gratitude…I am first going to talk about worry and anxiety. You may have wondered at the Gospel lesson, talking about worry, on this day themed for gratitude. It is important that we talk about what keeps us from gratitude - for anxiety and worry are the antithesis of gratitude and thanksgiving. Anxiety is worrying over what could be; fearing what is not yet; fixating on what is not present, what is missing. Gratitude fosters a sense of appreciation of what is; cultivating thanksgiving for what’s here in the present; celebrating what is right in front of us.
(Disclaimer about sometimes anxiety is also in the chemical make-ups of our brain.)
When we’re worried about what the future holds or what today has in store for us, we are not grateful for what we currently have. When we’re worried that the future will not be like the past...we’re not giving gratitude to God for all that God has already done for us...and all that God can and will do for us. Worry and gratitude are opposites.
So now let’s look at some conflicting statistics.
In a 2015 PEW Research survey, it stated that 80 percent of Americans said they felt a deep sense of gratitude every day. A more recent study I found from 2023 conducted by OnePoll has a similar statistic: 83% of Americans experience gratitude daily.
Given this, our anxiety levels should be low. But that’s not the case.
“The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. Adults are particularly anxious about current events (70%) — especially the economy (77%), the 2024 U.S. election (73%), and gun violence (69%).”
This morning’s scripture actually says that worrying cannot add a single hour to your life - and we know it’s actually bad for your health! The stress and strain that anxiety puts on our body and can actually shorten our lifespans.
Actually, let's pause here. As I wrote this sermon and I wrote that last line I noticed a tightness in my chest. My shoulders were scrunched up to my ears. My jaw was clenched. Perhaps sitting in the pews now, you are noticing a similar sensation.
Put your feet on the ground. Let your weight settle into your seat. Take a deep breath in, and out. Do three breaths. Shrug your shoulders, roll your neck, release your jaw. Think of one thing you are grateful for.
Okay. With hopefully more looseness in your body and soul, let’s turn our attention back to gratitude.
Some researchers and people with opinions online say that the percent of Americans experiencing gratitude is too high. After all, it’s self-reported. I am not going to make that claim but I will make this claim:
We may THINK we are grateful. But. We are very bad at expressing gratitude and without the expression of gratitude, we are not actually practicing the ethic of gratitude.
According to that OnePoll survey, only 40% write down what they are grateful for. And only 25% verbally express their gratitude.
Studies have been done, one by the National Library of Medicine, that show that some ways of expressing gratitude are more helpful than others. To sum up: being explicit in your gratitude, writing it out in letter or long form, and somehow expressing it versus just thinking it is more beneficial.
Christian author and theologian Diana Butler Bass wrote a whole book on the subversive power of gratitude, she says this: “Gratitude is, however, more than just an emotion. It is also a disposition that can be chosen and cultivated, an outlook toward life that manifests itself in actions—it is an ethic.”
Research backs up that gratitude is an ethic. That gratitude, when truly felt and put into practice, looks like actions and a way of life. Greater Good magazine says that “Grateful people have been shown to be more helpful, kind, supportive, and altruistic.” One study showed that those who kept gratitude journals were more likely to be empathic and offer more help than those who wrote about struggles or even neutral events. The Templeton Giving Survey found that people who say that they practice gratitude daily, donate more money and volunteer hours a year than those who don’t.
How are we practicing the ethic of gratitude? It starts with explicitly expressing gratitude about specific things.
Here are some examples to get the most out of our gratitude, to truly let gratitude change our hearts, minds, and souls. To let it be the antidote to worry. To let it be the seed to praising God and storing our treasure in heavenly things.
So here are those examples from my life.
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for my family.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the way Winnie smiles at me in the morning. I am grateful for the way Agnes wants to cuddle with me. I am grateful for my husband who has chosen to make these girls his number one priority for this stage of our lives.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful to live close to my parents.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful that on a random Tuesday I can call up my dad and invite him to the playground and then watch my daughter and him play together.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for those who taught me the faith.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful to my parents for bringing me to church. I am grateful to George and Bob and Don for showing me what being a faithful pastor looks like. I am grateful to Jen who showed me what it means for a women to be in the pulpit. I am grateful to her and Jeremiah who first told me, “I see gifts for ministry in you.” I am grateful to Bill for the countless camp sermons. I am grateful to Cherie for taking me under her wing and working with me through the growing pains of becoming a pastor. I am grateful….the list could continue.”
It’s one thing to say, “I am grateful for this church.”
It’s another thing to say, “I am grateful for the people, especially the women, who graciously and joyfully sit by my daughter for the beginning of worship. I am grateful for those individuals who delight in watching the wonder and excitement of children coming forward for Communion. I am grateful for those who stop by my office to wrestle with theological opinions. I am grateful for when I go to the nursing home or make a phone call to pray with someone, thinking I will be blessing them - and I leave that interaction feeling absolutely floored by the way they just blessed me, the way they shared with me, the way they prayed for ME. I am grateful for the countless volunteers who serve this church by giving of their prayers, presence, service, gifts, and witness. I am grateful…for you.”
You know, I’d get even more specific on that last one. I would say your names. I would give a reason for each and every one of you. I could give a reason for every week I’ve been here - a reason to be thankful. But we’d be here all day and I don’t want to put any of you on the spot.
What I do want to do is inspire you to really reflect on what you are grateful for. In your life and in the church. And then I want you to get really specific about that thing. And then I want you to express it - to write it, to say it out loud, to share it.
That’s the only way that gratitude moves from a brief, passing feeling, to something that actually changes us - and then, because we are changed, we live out the ethic in all we say and do.
Gratitude is the soil in which we grow as Christians, as disciples, as people of love, of enough, of generosity, of community. Butler-Bass says, “We are safer and happier when we care for each other in community, when we do things for each other.”
We are called to be completely grounded in gratitude so that the Spirit can bear fruit in this life.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that ALL that we have is a gift from God. Nothing is completely ours, nothing is earned.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that God is inherently good, as is this world and our lives, and we marvel at this and praise God for that.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that living out our faith means building a bigger table to invite more in, not a wall to keep others out.
By practicing gratitude we are saying that we are called to show our gratitude through generosity, in all the ways that we can, because through it we recognize that ALL people, everyone we share life with, is a beloved child of God, equally loved, equally worthy…
This morning, I would like to invite you to an opportunity to practice gratitude.
In your bulletins is an insert of colored cardstock. After the sermon, the ushers will pass out pens. Please write in pen. If you’ve gotten ahead of yourself and wrote on it with those little pew pencils, you’re encouraged to go over it in pen. During the special music, fill out the prompts on the card. The responses are anonymous. There is no need to write your name on it. After the service there will be a basket in the Narthex, please return your card and pen there. These will be displayed at least next Sunday through Easter if not a little more. We will encourage you every Sunday to take time to read other’s statements of gratitude and love for this church, our church.
If you are online and wish to participate, post your responses in the comments.
These are the two prompts:
I am grateful for…
What I love most about my church is…
You’ve heard examples of gratitude from our children during the children’s sermon and in this sermon. I would encourage you to be as specific and as precise as you want.
Hold tight to those instructions, let’s wrap up this sermon by hearing once again, the words of encouragement from Colossians today.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving…And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Amen.
Call to Worship based on "I Love To Tell the Story"
L: We gather today to tell the story.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory and love.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: for it’s done so much for me.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: We are hungering and thirsting to hear!
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of Jesus and his love.
All: Let us tell the story! Amen.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory and love.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: for it’s done so much for me.
P: I love to tell the story -
L: We are hungering and thirsting to hear!
P: I love to tell the story -
L: of Jesus and his love.
All: Let us tell the story! Amen.
Monday, March 17, 2025
"Under God's Wing" a sermon on Luke 13:31-35
Luke 13:31-35
“Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 16, 2025
God loves you unconditionally.
God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD
“Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 16, 2025
God loves you unconditionally.
God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD
Loves - Loves with an agape love - love that is patient, love that is kind, love that does not boast, that isn’t proud, love that doesn’t insist on its own way, that isn’t irritable or resentful, love that does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in the truth, love that believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - LOVES
YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present) - go ahead and say your name aloud for me. YOU.
Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.
God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.
Amen.
…
And I really debated ending my sermon here today! And yet .. I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So I thought I'd go on…So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.
In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.
Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.
Mother hens nestle their chicks in their wings.
They just tuck them under there: safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talks back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…
Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:
“Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.
And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the children of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - we know him from the Christmas story where he ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hens.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen…I wouldn't recommend it.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone?
I am a fan of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Anyone else here a fan? I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was performed at Playhouse Square several years ago, the final scene…. it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. No words. This was a directorial choice. And I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us, all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.
Is [insert name of the most vile, violent person you can think of here] loved by God unconditionally?
Is Putin loved by God?
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The last time I preached this text, it was three years ago, right after the start of the Ukrainian War. I said this to my congregation - and I am going to just quote myself from three years ago because while a lot has been changed and politicized about this war, our response as Christians, as people of peace, should not change.
I said:
“The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.x
Three years later, we still need to be praying for peace daily. We still need to working towards peace daily.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present) - go ahead and say your name aloud for me. YOU.
Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.
God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.
Amen.
…
And I really debated ending my sermon here today! And yet .. I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So I thought I'd go on…So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.
In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.
Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.
Mother hens nestle their chicks in their wings.
They just tuck them under there: safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talks back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…
Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:
“Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.
And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the children of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - we know him from the Christmas story where he ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hens.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen…I wouldn't recommend it.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone?
I am a fan of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Anyone else here a fan? I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was performed at Playhouse Square several years ago, the final scene…. it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. No words. This was a directorial choice. And I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us, all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.
Is [insert name of the most vile, violent person you can think of here] loved by God unconditionally?
Is Putin loved by God?
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The last time I preached this text, it was three years ago, right after the start of the Ukrainian War. I said this to my congregation - and I am going to just quote myself from three years ago because while a lot has been changed and politicized about this war, our response as Christians, as people of peace, should not change.
I said:
“The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.x
Three years later, we still need to be praying for peace daily. We still need to working towards peace daily.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Call to Worship, based on Colossians 2:6-7, 3:15-17 (Thanksgiving/Gratitude)
Leader: We gather today in worship in a spirit of Gratitude.
People: Thank you, Jesus!
L: For those who taught us the faith:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: For the body of Christ and all those gathered in this space:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In times of joy and celebration we say:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In times of hardship and struggle we say:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In all circumstances, and in all we say and do, we give thanks to Jesus.
P: Thank you, Jesus!
All: Thank you! Amen.
People: Thank you, Jesus!
L: For those who taught us the faith:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: For the body of Christ and all those gathered in this space:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In times of joy and celebration we say:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In times of hardship and struggle we say:
P: Thank you, Jesus!
L: In all circumstances, and in all we say and do, we give thanks to Jesus.
P: Thank you, Jesus!
All: Thank you! Amen.
"Even in the Desert" a sermon on Luke 4:1-13
Luke 4:1-13
“Even in the Desert”
Preached Sunday, March 9, 2025
Today is the first Sunday in this season that we call Lent. Lent is a season marked by self-reflection, fasting, and penitence as we move toward Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection. It is 40 days, not counting Sundays, symbolic of Jesus’s 40 days of being tempted in the desert.
Biblically, Jesus was just baptized - his first public appearance, if you will, as the coming Messiah.
It's good and right that we baptized a beautiful child of God this morning - on the first season of Lent. That's what Jesus did, after all, right before going into the desert. Baptism is a celebration that we are all beloved children of God. Baptism is a promise - child to parent, congregation to child, child or the baptized to God - that we will love one another and live our lives as God would have us live them - those promises made in the vows this morning. And God promises to us - you will be my child. And so it is appropriate that Baptism also gives us the opportunity to examine our lives - specifically to ask: am I living out my baptismal promises? Promises to repent, to reject evil, to serve and confess Christ, to nurture one another in Christian love?
These are good questions to ask ourselves at any time. Lent specifically, offers intentional opportunists for such reflection over our lives, as Christ reflected in the desert.
So Jesus is baptized and then he goes into the desert before the rest of his public ministry. In our observance of Lent, we talk about this season as a time for us to be in the wilderness of the desert alongside Jesus. Metaphorically, we follow Jesus out into the desert. - so I want to ask you today: what do you first think of when you think of the desert?
Perhaps words like….dry, hot, sandy, brutal, lifeless.
Many of us probably think of something like this.* This is an image of the Sahara Desert which is the largest desert in the world and the biggest source of sand and dust in the world. When thinking of images like this, combined with the Biblical stories of Jesus being tempted in the desert, and the Israelities wandering the deserts it is easy to think of deserts as harsh, unforgiving places…which, well, they can be.
The Gobi Desert*, pictured here, has temperatures that range from -40 degrees fahrenheit to 122 degrees fahrenheit. Yes, snow in a desert. The snow there never actually melts, it will snow and then instantly vaporizes when the temperatures start to warm.
And that’s not even the hottest desert. The hottest place on earth is Death Valley*, pictured here, a northern part of the Mojave desert in California. It has reached record temperatures of 134 degrees fahrenheit.
Looking at these pictures we might be thinking…do we really want to follow Jesus into the desert? Do we really need to do this whole season called Lent? So we really need to examine our lives and promises? Haven’t we given up enough? Haven’t we already given up enough? I long for a fuller, richer, more alive life. I long for the Spring and blooms of Easter, the joy of resurrection - not the somber and reflective mood of Lent, not fasting, not the cross. I long for the lush vegetation and life of the rainforest, not the barren, lifeless landscape of the desert.
Except - except…deserts make up one-third of our planet and not a single one of them is lifeless. Even in the hottest place on earth, like Death Valley, a small amount of rain can awaken seeds that have been there for decades, creating beautiful desert blooms.* Yes, THAT picture is a picture of the desert. That picture is a picture of the hottest place in the world - literally with the word death in its name. But there is so much life.
In fact, deserts are not lifeless places. The desert may make it harder to survive but animals do indeed adapt and even thrive.
The desert is full of resilience. Snakes have armored skin to protect against sand storms. Insects go beneath the ground. These Red Kangaroos* in Australia take shelter under trees in the hottest part of the day. They then lick their body to allow their saliva to evaporate off of them and cool their blood. They dig in the sun-baked earth to get to cooler soil.
These Fennec Foxes* in Africa, like many wildlife in the desert, are nocturnal, coming out at the coolest parts of a day.
And even though it is not a living creature*, rock formations like these in Egypt’s White Desert tell a story of resilience against the storms of life that would try and topple us over.
So yes, the desert is a place of resilience. The desert is also a place of beauty and of color.
Take a look at these lizards*, called Flat Lizards, in South Africa where there is the highest density of lizards in the world. They are bright and vibrant.
And then there is the saguaro cactus* and its beautiful flowers, found in the desert of Arizona. The largest cactus in the world that can grow up to 40 feet tall, live 100 to 200 years, and soak up and store 200 gallons of water at a time. Its flowers* bloom at night for four weeks out of the year so bats can visit it for pollination as they traverse across the Sonoran desert. A journey that the whole ecosystem depends upon.
So yes, the desert is resilient. And the desert is beautiful. And one more thing about deserts and then I’ll get back to Jesus, I swear! But the desert can also surprise you!
*Take for example the Atacama desert in Chile which is the driest desert in the world. On average, it only has one significant rainfall once a century. So how in the world can life survive and thrive here? The desert’s coast runs parallel to a cold sea that creates a dense, thick fog, that rolls over the desert. You can see the fog in the image. Within minutes the landscape and vegetation are drenched in mist, giving life to all, like this bird* pictured here.
At this point I’m sure you’re all thinking: Okay, Pastor Allison, the bird and everything is cool and all…but remind me again what this has to do with Jesus and Lent?
Okay. Hear me out on this. We must rethink how we view and think of the desert, not just as an ecosystem but in the spiritual desert of the season of Lent.
What if we viewed Lent, not as a season where the glass is half empty….or even entirely empty, but a season where the glass is overflowing with God's abundant and generous grace for us.
What if we viewed Lent, not as a time of restriction or restraint of ourselves and our lives, but an opportunity to more fully be who God calls us to be, who God created us to be - our true beloved selves.
What if we viewed Lent as a time to contract the scarcity mindset of our world - if capitalism, oppression, and hierarchy that always tell us there is not enough. What if we viewed Lent as a time to lavish love, kindness, generosity on others proclaiming that there is always enough to go around.
What if we viewed Lent, not as another thing to do, but as a time to step away from the world’s demands of us that diminish us - to step away from the rest race and seeking of power and the desire for more, more,.more….and instead claimed Lent as a time for us to fully live into our baptismal vows: we are enough. We are beloved.
God, in our baptisms, has already claimed as as God's own. We don't need to earn that this Lent. But we may need to accept that gift and live and love more deeply in to it.
So again - what does this have to do with Jesus in the desert?
When Jesus is tempted in the desert he is offered things that would give in to the scarcity mindset and the mindsets of this world, the mindsets of domination and power. I will not turn this bread into stone - for there is enough bread for everyone - something Jesus shows in his miracle of feeding the 5,000. And no, I will not vie for the power and kingdoms of this world - for my Kingdom is not of this world and does not rely on the subjugation and violence of this world’s kingdoms. And no, I will not put the Lord my God to the test, for there is no need to test God, God’s grace is abundant, spilling over, given not earned - always there.
In the desert, Jesus shows us another way. Perhaps, symbolically, these temptations didn’t necessarily need to take place in a desert, in a dry and sandy ecosystem. But the desert has long been known as a place of journey…and a place, despite the harsh environment and sun and extreme temperatures - a place where God could be found.
If I’m in a lush environment, I might not notice the life all around me. But in the desert - the resilient, beautiful, surprising desert - there, life captivates us. It’s hard to miss. Our eyes are drawn to it, our souls are called to it. The kangaroos are all the more an example for their resilience. The desert blossom is all the more beautiful for being rare. The mist covering the land is all the more wanted, all the more life inspiring. God’s presence is all the more known for the lack of distractions around us.
So as we enter our Lenten journey, and follow Jesus into the desert, let us resist the temptations of this world - temptations of scarcity, and power, and doubting God’s love. Because in the desert - God is with us. In the desert, we are resilient - we can not only survive, but thrive, for God is with us. We can not only grow in the desert, but blossom like flowers. And in the desert, we can be surprised by God’s abundant, overflowing, life-giving presence.
This is the Lent I am calling us towards today. A Lent in the desert, yes. But not a Lent devoid of life and beauty, no - a Lent where we appreciate those things all the more for being in the desert.
May God bless us on this Lenten journey.
Amen.
“Even in the Desert”
Preached Sunday, March 9, 2025
Today is the first Sunday in this season that we call Lent. Lent is a season marked by self-reflection, fasting, and penitence as we move toward Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection. It is 40 days, not counting Sundays, symbolic of Jesus’s 40 days of being tempted in the desert.
Biblically, Jesus was just baptized - his first public appearance, if you will, as the coming Messiah.
It's good and right that we baptized a beautiful child of God this morning - on the first season of Lent. That's what Jesus did, after all, right before going into the desert. Baptism is a celebration that we are all beloved children of God. Baptism is a promise - child to parent, congregation to child, child or the baptized to God - that we will love one another and live our lives as God would have us live them - those promises made in the vows this morning. And God promises to us - you will be my child. And so it is appropriate that Baptism also gives us the opportunity to examine our lives - specifically to ask: am I living out my baptismal promises? Promises to repent, to reject evil, to serve and confess Christ, to nurture one another in Christian love?
These are good questions to ask ourselves at any time. Lent specifically, offers intentional opportunists for such reflection over our lives, as Christ reflected in the desert.
So Jesus is baptized and then he goes into the desert before the rest of his public ministry. In our observance of Lent, we talk about this season as a time for us to be in the wilderness of the desert alongside Jesus. Metaphorically, we follow Jesus out into the desert. - so I want to ask you today: what do you first think of when you think of the desert?
Perhaps words like….dry, hot, sandy, brutal, lifeless.
Many of us probably think of something like this.* This is an image of the Sahara Desert which is the largest desert in the world and the biggest source of sand and dust in the world. When thinking of images like this, combined with the Biblical stories of Jesus being tempted in the desert, and the Israelities wandering the deserts it is easy to think of deserts as harsh, unforgiving places…which, well, they can be.
The Gobi Desert*, pictured here, has temperatures that range from -40 degrees fahrenheit to 122 degrees fahrenheit. Yes, snow in a desert. The snow there never actually melts, it will snow and then instantly vaporizes when the temperatures start to warm.
And that’s not even the hottest desert. The hottest place on earth is Death Valley*, pictured here, a northern part of the Mojave desert in California. It has reached record temperatures of 134 degrees fahrenheit.
Looking at these pictures we might be thinking…do we really want to follow Jesus into the desert? Do we really need to do this whole season called Lent? So we really need to examine our lives and promises? Haven’t we given up enough? Haven’t we already given up enough? I long for a fuller, richer, more alive life. I long for the Spring and blooms of Easter, the joy of resurrection - not the somber and reflective mood of Lent, not fasting, not the cross. I long for the lush vegetation and life of the rainforest, not the barren, lifeless landscape of the desert.
Except - except…deserts make up one-third of our planet and not a single one of them is lifeless. Even in the hottest place on earth, like Death Valley, a small amount of rain can awaken seeds that have been there for decades, creating beautiful desert blooms.* Yes, THAT picture is a picture of the desert. That picture is a picture of the hottest place in the world - literally with the word death in its name. But there is so much life.
In fact, deserts are not lifeless places. The desert may make it harder to survive but animals do indeed adapt and even thrive.
The desert is full of resilience. Snakes have armored skin to protect against sand storms. Insects go beneath the ground. These Red Kangaroos* in Australia take shelter under trees in the hottest part of the day. They then lick their body to allow their saliva to evaporate off of them and cool their blood. They dig in the sun-baked earth to get to cooler soil.
These Fennec Foxes* in Africa, like many wildlife in the desert, are nocturnal, coming out at the coolest parts of a day.
And even though it is not a living creature*, rock formations like these in Egypt’s White Desert tell a story of resilience against the storms of life that would try and topple us over.
So yes, the desert is a place of resilience. The desert is also a place of beauty and of color.
Take a look at these lizards*, called Flat Lizards, in South Africa where there is the highest density of lizards in the world. They are bright and vibrant.
And then there is the saguaro cactus* and its beautiful flowers, found in the desert of Arizona. The largest cactus in the world that can grow up to 40 feet tall, live 100 to 200 years, and soak up and store 200 gallons of water at a time. Its flowers* bloom at night for four weeks out of the year so bats can visit it for pollination as they traverse across the Sonoran desert. A journey that the whole ecosystem depends upon.
So yes, the desert is resilient. And the desert is beautiful. And one more thing about deserts and then I’ll get back to Jesus, I swear! But the desert can also surprise you!
*Take for example the Atacama desert in Chile which is the driest desert in the world. On average, it only has one significant rainfall once a century. So how in the world can life survive and thrive here? The desert’s coast runs parallel to a cold sea that creates a dense, thick fog, that rolls over the desert. You can see the fog in the image. Within minutes the landscape and vegetation are drenched in mist, giving life to all, like this bird* pictured here.
At this point I’m sure you’re all thinking: Okay, Pastor Allison, the bird and everything is cool and all…but remind me again what this has to do with Jesus and Lent?
Okay. Hear me out on this. We must rethink how we view and think of the desert, not just as an ecosystem but in the spiritual desert of the season of Lent.
What if we viewed Lent, not as a season where the glass is half empty….or even entirely empty, but a season where the glass is overflowing with God's abundant and generous grace for us.
What if we viewed Lent, not as a time of restriction or restraint of ourselves and our lives, but an opportunity to more fully be who God calls us to be, who God created us to be - our true beloved selves.
What if we viewed Lent as a time to contract the scarcity mindset of our world - if capitalism, oppression, and hierarchy that always tell us there is not enough. What if we viewed Lent as a time to lavish love, kindness, generosity on others proclaiming that there is always enough to go around.
What if we viewed Lent, not as another thing to do, but as a time to step away from the world’s demands of us that diminish us - to step away from the rest race and seeking of power and the desire for more, more,.more….and instead claimed Lent as a time for us to fully live into our baptismal vows: we are enough. We are beloved.
God, in our baptisms, has already claimed as as God's own. We don't need to earn that this Lent. But we may need to accept that gift and live and love more deeply in to it.
So again - what does this have to do with Jesus in the desert?
When Jesus is tempted in the desert he is offered things that would give in to the scarcity mindset and the mindsets of this world, the mindsets of domination and power. I will not turn this bread into stone - for there is enough bread for everyone - something Jesus shows in his miracle of feeding the 5,000. And no, I will not vie for the power and kingdoms of this world - for my Kingdom is not of this world and does not rely on the subjugation and violence of this world’s kingdoms. And no, I will not put the Lord my God to the test, for there is no need to test God, God’s grace is abundant, spilling over, given not earned - always there.
In the desert, Jesus shows us another way. Perhaps, symbolically, these temptations didn’t necessarily need to take place in a desert, in a dry and sandy ecosystem. But the desert has long been known as a place of journey…and a place, despite the harsh environment and sun and extreme temperatures - a place where God could be found.
If I’m in a lush environment, I might not notice the life all around me. But in the desert - the resilient, beautiful, surprising desert - there, life captivates us. It’s hard to miss. Our eyes are drawn to it, our souls are called to it. The kangaroos are all the more an example for their resilience. The desert blossom is all the more beautiful for being rare. The mist covering the land is all the more wanted, all the more life inspiring. God’s presence is all the more known for the lack of distractions around us.
So as we enter our Lenten journey, and follow Jesus into the desert, let us resist the temptations of this world - temptations of scarcity, and power, and doubting God’s love. Because in the desert - God is with us. In the desert, we are resilient - we can not only survive, but thrive, for God is with us. We can not only grow in the desert, but blossom like flowers. And in the desert, we can be surprised by God’s abundant, overflowing, life-giving presence.
This is the Lent I am calling us towards today. A Lent in the desert, yes. But not a Lent devoid of life and beauty, no - a Lent where we appreciate those things all the more for being in the desert.
May God bless us on this Lenten journey.
Amen.
Monday, March 3, 2025
"Show Me The Sparkles" a sermon on Luke 9:28-43a
Luke 9:28-43a
“Show Me The Sparkles”
Preached Sunday, March 2, 2025
We are really into crafts in my house right now. Paint, egg cartons, stickers, glue sticks, googly eyes, construction paper, stickers, those scissors that when you cut with them make the edge of the paper all fancy, pipe cleaners, toilet paper rolls, stamps and ink pads…All of these items are probably currently on or somewhere near my dining room table. Who needs room to eat anyway? I have recently stocked up on craft kits and hid them in a cupboard to be our “emergency” craft supplies. You know, as one does…don’t we all have emergency craft supplies for when the going gets rough? Or is that only those of us who regularly care for young children…?
“Show Me The Sparkles”
Preached Sunday, March 2, 2025
We are really into crafts in my house right now. Paint, egg cartons, stickers, glue sticks, googly eyes, construction paper, stickers, those scissors that when you cut with them make the edge of the paper all fancy, pipe cleaners, toilet paper rolls, stamps and ink pads…All of these items are probably currently on or somewhere near my dining room table. Who needs room to eat anyway? I have recently stocked up on craft kits and hid them in a cupboard to be our “emergency” craft supplies. You know, as one does…don’t we all have emergency craft supplies for when the going gets rough? Or is that only those of us who regularly care for young children…?
But you may have noticed that there is ONE craft supply that I did NOT mention. It is one that I will not, under any circumstances, allow into my home. Any guesses on what it is? Feel free to shout it out. Yes. I heard you say it: Glitter.
Only give a young child glitter if you hold a grudge against their parents. Because the thing about glitter is it gets EVERYWHERE.
Now, despite my household ban on glitter, a prayer that I have been finding myself praying over and over recently is “God, show me the sparkles…”
And in order to talk about what I mean about that, let’s turn to our story of The Transfiguration from today:
“Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory…”
We know that Jesus is God enfleshed. Divinity in a human body. And when people looked upon Jesus they saw…just a man. An ordinary man, in human flesh, looking just like the rest of us. In Jesus being transformed, transfigured, in this mountaintop experience, the eyes of the disciples no longer saw Jesus as just another human. In that moment, God pulled back the layers of reality to see the sparkles, the dazzling Divine in the presence of Jesus. Like a giant thing of glitter was dumped all over Jesus…
Now, there is precedent for this mountaintop experience - of a glittering, blinding, dazzling revelation from encountering Divinity. From the book of Exodus, Chapter 34:
“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.”
This passage is when Moses is coming down from the mountain after receiving the Torah and because he was talking to God, because he encountered God - HE is glowing. It’s like…residual radiation. That’s how DAZZLING the glory of God is, that even encountering the Divine makes YOU glow. And Moses, he didn’t even get the full glory of God that causes this residual glowing radiation of glory.
In Exodus, Chapter 33 we get this:
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord,’ and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.” And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
So to be clear…Moses didn’t even see the FACE of God. Moses saw, well, the term for polite company is…backside. And even the backside of The Most High, is SO glorious, SO Divine, SO beautiful…that Moses gets this residual DAZZLING glory that people can’t even look at his face, the face of Moses, without being blinded.
The way I see it is like this: encountering the Divine is an experience of pure beauty. Encountering the Divine is something that our human eyes can barely handle. Encountering the Divine rubs off on us, changes us, makes us sparkle too.
Moses said to God, Moses prayed, “Please show me your glory.” My version of this prayer recently for me has been, “God, show me the sparkles.” This prayer actually came to me separate from the readings of this text in Exodus and the story of the Transfiguration. It came to me because of a desire to see God at work in this world. I was inspired to start praying this prayer when I saw the absolute awe at which my child sees the world. Young children can see beauty everywhere. They find the glitter that sparkles in the tiny pebbles we step on. They see the way there is a rainbow in the puddle that to us is just an oil spill. They see unicorns in the clouds as our eyes are fixed downward.
I want to see the world as a child does - full of awe, and full of wonder, and full of beauty. And as a person of faith, I believe the ultimate source of awe, the ultimate source of wonder, and the ultimate source of beauty - is in God. I believe God is at work in our world. I believe God is present in every moment. I believe that God is only ever as far away as our next breath. God is everywhere… So why does my outlook on life so often lack dazzling sparkles? Why do my human eyes, and my human heart, so often fail to see the beautiful glory of God?
Because most of the time, even though God is all around us, we aren’t looking. And it’s hard to find what you aren’t searching for. It’s hard to receive what you don’t ask for.
Now, sometimes, God’s beauty breaks through and knocks us flat on our…backsides. A moment of such breath-taking beauty that we can’t ignore it. Like it does for the disciples at the Transfiguration. A true “mountain-top” moment - maybe that first time you held your child or your grandchild. A sunset that was simply spectacular. An action of love or generosity that was so heartfelt and genuine that it couldn’t be denied.
And yet…and yet…God is in the everyday. God is in the valley as much as God is in the mountaintop. God is in the darkness as much as God is in the sunrise. God is in the everyday, normal moments, as much as God is in those life-changing experiences. And we have to train our normal human eyes to see it. We have to look for the sparkles. We have to pray for the sparkles.
Often in our world, it can be hard to see God at work. Not because God isn't here and not because God isn't at work….but because our eyes struggle to see past this reality and our hearts get closed off along with them. So how do we open our eyes and hearts? We pray to see God. This is a prayer that is almost always answered. When we pray for awareness of God, we get awareness of God. When we pray to see God's glory, we see God's glory. When we ask to be shown the sparkles, reality is peeled back…and we see the sparkles.
Maybe we see the sparkles in the children in our midst and their joy and openness. Maybe we see the sparkles in our neighbor as we look upon them with the eyes of God, seeing them as fully beloved. Maybe we hear the sparkles in a deep belly laugh that brings levity during a hard time. Maybe we are the ones who bring the awareness of the sparkles as we spread God’s generous love in this world.
I have found myself praying “show me the sparkles.” I pray it while sitting at red lights. I pray it while sitting in meetings. I pray it when I wake up. And admittedly, I pray it when I am beginning to get frustrated and my patience wears thin…show me the sparkles. Show me how you are active in this world, Lord. Show me that your Holy Spirit is moving through me and around. Show me that your fingerprints are over everything. Show me you. Help me see you. Make me more aware that you are God and that your beauty is everywhere.
Today as we come forward for Communion, we know we will encounter God in this meal. While there are lots of places where we may be made aware of the sparkling presence of God…God promises to show up, to reveal God’s self to us, in the sacrament of Holy Communion. As you come forward today pray, “Show me the sparkles.” Or perhaps “Show me your glory” or even “Just be here with me God and let me know it.” In this encounter between us and our Risen Lord in the bread and the cup, may it help us sparkle a little bit more too. Or reflect God’s glory…or as God has shown up for us, may it encourage us to be God to others, by showing up for them. As we partake in the body and blood of Christ, may we be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.
While the last thing I need in my house is glitter…we all need more God sparkles in our world. A greater awareness of God’s divine beauty in this world. A greater awareness of everything Good. A greater awareness of the Love of God in action. And through experiencing that, through our eyes being opened to the dazzling Divinity, may we, through our actions and words, reflect that dazzling Love and Beauty of God to all we meet, making our world sparkle just a little bit more.
Amen.
Now, despite my household ban on glitter, a prayer that I have been finding myself praying over and over recently is “God, show me the sparkles…”
And in order to talk about what I mean about that, let’s turn to our story of The Transfiguration from today:
“Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory…”
We know that Jesus is God enfleshed. Divinity in a human body. And when people looked upon Jesus they saw…just a man. An ordinary man, in human flesh, looking just like the rest of us. In Jesus being transformed, transfigured, in this mountaintop experience, the eyes of the disciples no longer saw Jesus as just another human. In that moment, God pulled back the layers of reality to see the sparkles, the dazzling Divine in the presence of Jesus. Like a giant thing of glitter was dumped all over Jesus…
Now, there is precedent for this mountaintop experience - of a glittering, blinding, dazzling revelation from encountering Divinity. From the book of Exodus, Chapter 34:
“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.”
This passage is when Moses is coming down from the mountain after receiving the Torah and because he was talking to God, because he encountered God - HE is glowing. It’s like…residual radiation. That’s how DAZZLING the glory of God is, that even encountering the Divine makes YOU glow. And Moses, he didn’t even get the full glory of God that causes this residual glowing radiation of glory.
In Exodus, Chapter 33 we get this:
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord,’ and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.” And the Lord continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
So to be clear…Moses didn’t even see the FACE of God. Moses saw, well, the term for polite company is…backside. And even the backside of The Most High, is SO glorious, SO Divine, SO beautiful…that Moses gets this residual DAZZLING glory that people can’t even look at his face, the face of Moses, without being blinded.
The way I see it is like this: encountering the Divine is an experience of pure beauty. Encountering the Divine is something that our human eyes can barely handle. Encountering the Divine rubs off on us, changes us, makes us sparkle too.
Moses said to God, Moses prayed, “Please show me your glory.” My version of this prayer recently for me has been, “God, show me the sparkles.” This prayer actually came to me separate from the readings of this text in Exodus and the story of the Transfiguration. It came to me because of a desire to see God at work in this world. I was inspired to start praying this prayer when I saw the absolute awe at which my child sees the world. Young children can see beauty everywhere. They find the glitter that sparkles in the tiny pebbles we step on. They see the way there is a rainbow in the puddle that to us is just an oil spill. They see unicorns in the clouds as our eyes are fixed downward.
I want to see the world as a child does - full of awe, and full of wonder, and full of beauty. And as a person of faith, I believe the ultimate source of awe, the ultimate source of wonder, and the ultimate source of beauty - is in God. I believe God is at work in our world. I believe God is present in every moment. I believe that God is only ever as far away as our next breath. God is everywhere… So why does my outlook on life so often lack dazzling sparkles? Why do my human eyes, and my human heart, so often fail to see the beautiful glory of God?
Because most of the time, even though God is all around us, we aren’t looking. And it’s hard to find what you aren’t searching for. It’s hard to receive what you don’t ask for.
Now, sometimes, God’s beauty breaks through and knocks us flat on our…backsides. A moment of such breath-taking beauty that we can’t ignore it. Like it does for the disciples at the Transfiguration. A true “mountain-top” moment - maybe that first time you held your child or your grandchild. A sunset that was simply spectacular. An action of love or generosity that was so heartfelt and genuine that it couldn’t be denied.
And yet…and yet…God is in the everyday. God is in the valley as much as God is in the mountaintop. God is in the darkness as much as God is in the sunrise. God is in the everyday, normal moments, as much as God is in those life-changing experiences. And we have to train our normal human eyes to see it. We have to look for the sparkles. We have to pray for the sparkles.
Often in our world, it can be hard to see God at work. Not because God isn't here and not because God isn't at work….but because our eyes struggle to see past this reality and our hearts get closed off along with them. So how do we open our eyes and hearts? We pray to see God. This is a prayer that is almost always answered. When we pray for awareness of God, we get awareness of God. When we pray to see God's glory, we see God's glory. When we ask to be shown the sparkles, reality is peeled back…and we see the sparkles.
Maybe we see the sparkles in the children in our midst and their joy and openness. Maybe we see the sparkles in our neighbor as we look upon them with the eyes of God, seeing them as fully beloved. Maybe we hear the sparkles in a deep belly laugh that brings levity during a hard time. Maybe we are the ones who bring the awareness of the sparkles as we spread God’s generous love in this world.
I have found myself praying “show me the sparkles.” I pray it while sitting at red lights. I pray it while sitting in meetings. I pray it when I wake up. And admittedly, I pray it when I am beginning to get frustrated and my patience wears thin…show me the sparkles. Show me how you are active in this world, Lord. Show me that your Holy Spirit is moving through me and around. Show me that your fingerprints are over everything. Show me you. Help me see you. Make me more aware that you are God and that your beauty is everywhere.
Today as we come forward for Communion, we know we will encounter God in this meal. While there are lots of places where we may be made aware of the sparkling presence of God…God promises to show up, to reveal God’s self to us, in the sacrament of Holy Communion. As you come forward today pray, “Show me the sparkles.” Or perhaps “Show me your glory” or even “Just be here with me God and let me know it.” In this encounter between us and our Risen Lord in the bread and the cup, may it help us sparkle a little bit more too. Or reflect God’s glory…or as God has shown up for us, may it encourage us to be God to others, by showing up for them. As we partake in the body and blood of Christ, may we be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed and reconciling.
While the last thing I need in my house is glitter…we all need more God sparkles in our world. A greater awareness of God’s divine beauty in this world. A greater awareness of everything Good. A greater awareness of the Love of God in action. And through experiencing that, through our eyes being opened to the dazzling Divinity, may we, through our actions and words, reflect that dazzling Love and Beauty of God to all we meet, making our world sparkle just a little bit more.
Amen.
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