Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18 1 Corinthians 6: 12-20 Last weekend we celebrated the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. and I think about how his work changed the world in which we live. His sermons and other writing have left a lasting impact on our nation’s values and, even when it seems like we are moving backwards, we have his words to steer us toward a vision for a more just and loving world. He wrote one of his most impactful works while he sat in a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, arrested for taking part in nonviolent protests. The story is often told that he wrote it on toilet paper because that was all he had available. But as good as that sounds, it isn’t true. He began writing on scraps of paper and, eventually someone gave him a writing pad. He wrote in response to a letter […]
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The Shepherd
Psalm 23 John 9:1-41 Robert Jones has been a Christian all his life. He was raised in the Southern Baptist Church – this was something that played an important part in forming his identity. But at some point, he began to have questions he could not ignore. There were things about his upbringing and the church community that he grew uncomfortable with. He began noticing the implicit racism all around him. He increasingly became aware of the assumptions that were made about people that no one ever seemed to question. Beliefs and preferences were accepted as facts. But, to Robert, they no longer seemed to be reliably factual. As an adult he pursued a career studying religion in America, particularly the way our religion forms our social and political identity. He founded an organization called the Public Religion Research Institute, which conducts opinion polls to measure how political issues in […]
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1 Samuel 3:1-10; John 1:43-51 “The word of the Lord was rare in those days.” This is the setting in which the young boy Samuel first heard the call of God to him. It was the period of time before there were kings in Israel, a time when Israel was ruled by judges, and if you have read the book of Judges then you know it was not a high point in Israel’s history. As the closing words in that book says, “all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” The word of the Lord was rare in those days. It was not one of the good times. The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the temple under the authority of Eli, and Samuel was there for a reason. Before he was conceived, his mother Hannah was childless. She was married to Elkanah, who loved […]
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Genesis 37:1-38 When I ask people about their dreams, often they say, “I don’t have dreams, I just don’t dream.” Or, if they do have dreams, they don’t remember them. But, sometimes, if we continue talking they will remember a dream they had … then maybe another dream will come to mind. When it comes to dreaming, I think we all do it – it’s a matter of being mindful of our dreams. During the past six months, I have read, many people have been experiencing pandemic dreams. Some of them are pretty obvious – like dreams about being sick, or having a loved one sick with the virus, dreams about being unable to breath or desperately trying to find your lost face mask. But some are weird and funny dreams – like being wrapped up in toilet paper and being the envy of all who see you. Being surrounded […]
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Isaiah 49:1-7 John 1:29-42 There is a new film on Netflix called The Two Popes. It’s a dramatization about the relationship between the Popes Benedict and Francis. Pope Benedict, who was elected after Pope John Paul died, and Pope Francis, who was elected after Benedict resigned. Or retired. Or quit. I’m not sure what to call it. It was something that has no precedent in modern history. Popes don’t usually resign – they die. The film portrays how during the conclave when Benedict was elected, the cardinals were not initially all of one mind. Many wanted Francis instead. But Benedict eventually received the required number of votes and so that was it. Francis (although he wasn’t called Francis at that time. He was Jorge) went home to Argentina and continued serving as a cardinal. Some years later, Francis, or Jorge, sent a letter to the Pope asking for permission to […]
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