Faith in Progress

Pentecost 9, Proper 15 August 14, 2011 Matthew 15:10-28 Who here remembers the Mr. Mister song called “Kyrie eleison”? I was in 8th grade when it came out. Apparently the band member who wrote the words was inspired by singing the Kyrie in his Episcopal Church as a kid: "Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison." It means: Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. It probably sounded a lot like the one we sang at the start of our service this morning. As a cradle Episcopalian, I was one of the few in my peer group who had any clue that the words to the #1 Billboard song meant “Lord, have mercy.” I distinctly remember giggling when instead of singing “Kyrie eleison down the road that I must travel” my friends belted out “Carry a laser down the road that I must travel….” I always felt like I had a secret insight on the song – like it had a deeper message that was just for me. The chorus especially spoke to my teenage angst, I think: Kyrie eleison down ...

July 17, 2010 Pentecost 5, Proper 11, Year A Genesis 28:10-19a – Jacob’s Ladder It might be because I am not the best sleeper, but I have very vivid dreams. Most of them are anxiety dreams, unfortunately. At least every few nights I dash out of bed thinking one of the kids is in danger and I need to save them – last night Maya was about to fall down the stairs. Once I had this horrible dream that Holden was cheating on me and I woke up incredibly angry with him and couldn’t shake the feeling for hours. Often the dreams are just silly and make no sense – like the kind where you dream about one person but you somehow know it was really someone else. Every once in a while, though, my dreams are gifts from God. I feel a little uncomfortable saying that out loud, frankly, but I absolutely believe it. And so I appreciate Jacob’s experience that we read about this morning. Granted, Jacob is not the most sympathetic character. Many of the great forerunners of our faith were not. Last w...

July 10, 2011 4 Pentecost, Proper 10 Matthew 13: 1 - 9, 18 – 23 I considered reading just the first part of the Gospel and not the ending because I think the ending throws us off track. The ending of the reading, with its ostensible explanation of Jesus’ parable of the Sower, seems to fly in the face of everything Jesus was about. He so often spoke in parables because he wanted his listeners to really take in and think about what he was saying. Jesus rarely made things easy for his listeners. He wanted them to get inside the stories he told, maybe even to be shocked by them, but to come away with lots of questions and keep pondering them for their lifetimes. But instead, the early church couldn’t resist throwing an answer in there. Most commentators agree that this interpretation of the parable that takes up the second half of our reading this morning is a later addition. It’s an explanation of the parable that suited the Church in the time and place where it found itself. And it’s...

July 3, 2011 Pentecost 3, Proper 9, Year A Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 (I ended up not doing my sermon from the pulpit, so it wasn't exactly this, but close enough.  With some quiet for reflection after the questions.) Our Gospel reading for this morning includes the passage commonly known, in the Episcopal Church, anyway, as the “comfortable words.” “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” These are beloved words, and they are comfortable words. So reassuring. Such an open invitation. They are words for all of us who have experienced weariness (running from morning ‘til night, striving, schlepping, organizing). They are words for all of us who carry heavy burdens (care of a loved one, painful memories, sickness, fears, heartbreak, yearnings). These are words that ...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our plans to change things up a bit at St. Aidan's.  For the last three weeks, we've spent the first half of the service, The Liturgy of the Word, in a modified "choir" style seating, with rows of chairs facing each other and a big aisle in the middle.  Then the entire congregation came up to the Altar and stood around it for the entire Liturgy of the Table.  As with any change, there were a few logistical difficulties, especially for the first part of the service.  It was hard to know where exactly to process, where John and I should sit to officiate, where readers should stand since we had no ambo, where to keep the Gospel book.  But, for me at least, there were also some wonderful high points.  I loved reading the psalm responsively and hearing the voices echo back and forth.  I loved when the kids were part of my sermon on Pentecost and it felt like we were gathered in around them.  I lo...

June 12, 2011 Pentecost St. Aidan's Episcopal Church (The kids were a big help with this sermon, as you can see.  They helped "blow" the breath of God, build the Tower of Babel, and acted as disciples.  Anyone familiar with Godly Play will see a lot of crossover.  Thanks, Jerome Berryman!) In the beginning, the very first chapter of the Bible tells us, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.  But the Holy Spirit was there. A wind from God swept over the face of the waters and God began to create. The Holy Spirit was there for the creation of humankind, too. The second chapter of Genesis shows God forming the first human from the dust and breathing into its nostrils the breath of life and what was once dust becomes a living being. All things, including humankind, were declared “good” and we lived in relationship with our Creator. But it wasn’t long before we begin making our way toward division and death. There’s the forbi...

You probably know the biblical story of the first Pentecost from Acts 2: The disciples were all together and "a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind" and "tongues of fire" rested on each one of them and they "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" and were heard and understood by people from "every nation under heaven." Each year in the Church we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter, and the season continues for months after. Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church because it is the time when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, and when the mission and expansion of the Good News to people of every nation began in earnest. The movement that had until then been associated with the incarnate person of Jesus broadened, and Jesus' divine life spread to fill the Church. The disciples and new believers began to understand God in a new way, living in them ...