Faith in Progress

July 1, 2012 Pentecost 5, Proper 8 Mark 5:21-43             Just before the power went out on Friday, Holden and I watched a movie called “Our Idiot Brother.”   In it, Paul Rudd plays this character whose life philosophy is to always be kind and honest, always assume the best about people, always trust, in the assumption that people will rise to their better natures.   He ends up wrecking havoc in the lives of everyone he meets, but at the end, he inspires them all to live more honestly and openly too.   It was a decent movie – good character development, funny.   But at the end I was left thinking about how unrealistic it was.   It’s such a rosy idea to be so idealistic and assume the best about everyone, but it real life that guy would probably be dead in a back alley somewhere. It was only after I’d pretty much discounted this character as a life model that I started seeing the parallels to Jesu...

June 10, 2012 Baptism of Maggie Jonas Pentecost 2, Proper 5, Year B Genesis 3:8-15 Last week on Trinity Sunday, John spoke about the three ways of thinking about and being in relationship with God.   This morning’s story from Genesis can be easily placed into the “God the Father” category.   Here we see God as Creator of the world and humankind and as Parent, trying to guard and guide his progeny, Adam and Eve.     As we prepare to baptize little Maggie Jonas this morning into the Body of Christ, it seems like the perfect time to see what kind of parenting tips we can pick up from God who is dealing with his own fairly incalcitrant children. 1. Sometimes the real meaning of a story is more important than its historicity. The stories of the seven days of creation and Adam and Eve’s beginnings cause great angst for well-meaning literalists who want to know exactly when these two people lived and how our earth came into being.   But that is not what t...

I've been contemplating a quote lately by Rosemary Radford Ruether talking about the roles of the Church.  She wrote that the Church exists both to pass along the tradition from generation to generation and to be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit.  Often individual denominations or churches seem to veer towards one or the other of those, and so holding the two in tension is a good and important goal.  Pentecost seems like such a great marrying of the two.  It is the birthday of the Church and so deeply embedded in our tradition, and yet a time when we are thinking most intently about the new and living work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches.  It's also presents itself as an interesting time in the Church to introduce new possibilities to the congregation.  On Sunday, instead of a sermon about the possibilities of the Holy Spirit, I was hoping to create an experience of Pentecost.  I set up nine prayer stations around the church...

Easter 6, Year B May 13, 2012 Acts 10:44-48 For those of us who thought we knew Jesus’s disciple Peter based on what we read about him in the Gospels, the stories we’ve been hearing during the Easter season are turning him on his head.   Before Easter, I’m pretty sure Peter was someone I wouldn’t have enjoyed hanging out with.   He wanted to lead the pack.   He was aggressive and self-important.   He always wanted to be the first to speak and always seemed certain about his answers.   And he wanted to control every aspect of his religion.   When Jesus said his life would end in defeat and death, Peter interrupted him to demand Jesus be the kind of Christ Peter wanted him to be.   When Peter saw Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah he didn’t revel in the moment or sit in awed silence or even ask questions about what it all meant.   He wanted to erect tabernacles.   At the Last Supper he smugly denied the possibility of his forsaki...

Easter 4 (Year B) April 29, 2012 John 10:11-18 Every year at my daughter’s school, the PTA sponsors an art contest where the kids can submit drawings, poetry or photography around a certain theme.   This year the theme was “Diversity is….”   The awards presentations were held this past week and most of the entries were just what you’d expect – very Kumbayah-ish with pictures of different colored people holding hands.   But some of the explanations the kids gave for the work, while completely well-meaning, left me feeling a little depressed. The one I remember most vividly said: “Diversity means we’re all really the same and we have to like everyone.” It’s almost the exact opposite of what I’d hope for the meaning of diversity – that our community is made up of people who are all different and yet all beloved by God.   Now I know that God piece is unlikely to make it into a public school art contest, but the idea of our each being unique and beloved of God ke...

Easter Sunday was wonderful, with the church as full as could be, beautiful hats and Easter dresses, blooming flowers.  But this morning it was definitely still Easter!  At our early service, I got to do what I as a priest feel most blessed to get to do -- baptize!  Even better, I was baptizing my own god-children, fabulous almost-nine year olds that are full of energy and fun.  I loved meeting with them ahead of time, talking about baptism and what it means to be a Christian, and hearing them take on this new way of being and living of their own volition.  Fortuitously, the Godly Play lesson right afterwards was about baptism, so Cameron and Kahil got to add their candles to the growing light.  The class started off with wonderful Lisa Richard teaching them a great Easter song: Alleluia!  The Lord is Risen!

Easter 2, Year B April 15, 2012 John 20:19-31 There was a letter to the editor yesterday that warmed my heart.   It was from a woman who would fit right into St. Aidan’s.   She was responding to a column that I hadn’t read and talking about how she believes that doubt and faith are intertwined and that both seem to be necessary parts of a spiritual journey, pointing to Thomas, from our Gospel story this morning, as a great example.   I couldn’t agree more. I wasn’t here when they came up with the name “St. Aidan’s” for this place, and I don’t know enough about the history of this church to know why Aidan was chosen for this special honor.   I really don’t know much about St. Aidan beyond what you can read on Wikipedia.   I’m sure he was a fine fellow and a good role model.   But, if I were choosing a name for this church -- this church that is more open to thoughtful wondering than any other Episcopal church I have ever encountered, more respectful o...