September 28, 2014 Exodus 17:1-7 ( Thanks to all the youth who helped to share this story by wandering through the wilderness with me! ) Our story from Exodus tonight needs a little background. Long, long ago, the Israelite people were living as slaves in Egypt. The king of Egypt, called the Pharoah, would not let them go. They had to work when the Pharoah said work, and sleep when the Pharoah said sleep, and eat when the Pharoah said eat. They were slaves in the land of Egypt, and it was a hard, hard life. But God heard the cry of the people groaning in slavery. And God choose one of them, named Moses, to lead them out of slavery into freedom. Moses confronted Pharoah many times. With God’s help, Moses performed miracles to convince the Pharoah to let the people go free. When Pharoah changed his mind and sent his army after the Israelites, God parted the waters of the sea so that Moses could lead the people through and t...
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August 17, 2014 Genesis 45:1-15 In the wake of the news about Robin Williams’ death, Holden and I re-watched Dead Poets’ Society this weekend. I loved the movie as a teenager when I watched it in the theater. I was the same age as those young men in the movie, struggling with the same age-old questions of what and who to be, how to be in relationship with my parents and my peers. Right along with the teenagers on the screen I was not only riveted by the poetry I heard recited with such fervor, but also convinced that I too could seize the day ( carpe diem!) and maybe one day even “contribute a verse to the powerful play,” as Robin Williams’ character, Professor Keating, puts it. And again this time around, now closer to Robin Williams’ age in the movie, I was spellbound as he looked into the eyes of his students and saw not their stubbornness or meekness or mundaneness or ego, but the uniqueness and possibility teeming within them. H...
July 27, 2014 Romans 8:26-39 There’s a small silver frame that sits on one of my bookshelves at home. The frame was given to my mother on her birthday by her best friend growing up, Barbara. “Happy 60 th birthday!” is inscribed on the frame, although “birthday” is actually misspelled. The photo is of my mom and Barbara as teenagers. Barbara is sitting on a countertop and mom is standing next to her with an old fashioned phone to her ear, both dressed in 1950s casual clothes. They are both beautiful, mom with her short dark hair, with hints of the mom she would become 15 years later. When mom died it was one of the mementos that I kept. I hold tight to pieces like that. Parts of her that I didn’t know much about and wish I did. After looking at that picture for more than a decade, my family was traveling in California a few years ago and I got to meet up with Barbara for dinner. We’ve stayed in touch some since mom...
Pentecost 5, Proper 10, Year A Matthew 13: 1-9 July 13, 2014 You may have noticed that I stopped reading the Gospel half-way through what was printed in your bulletin. There’s no mistake in the bulletin; the whole reading is intended to be part of the lectionary reading for today. And I didn’t forget to turn the page. I just don’t want you to hear it. Not yet anyway. For now, I just want you to sit on that seashore with the water lapping at your feet, taking in the sight of Jesus bobbing in that boat just a few feet away, listening to the sound of his voice sharing a story that is so simple and yet is about so many things that your mind can’t get around it. “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants w...
June 29, 2014 Genesis 22:1-4 ( This morning during sermon time, there was a lot of open space for discussion over this very hard reading. ) There is no one who thinks this reading is easy. Jewish and Christian commentators alike agree on that. Not to mention, I’m betting, all of us gathered here today. This is a ridiculously hard reading to hear. For so many reasons, most of which have to do with how poorly this story fits my conception and experience of God. For one thing, I have a problem with God testing Abraham to begin with. Life is hard enough. Our faith, our love, our perseverance are tested plenty. The last thing we need is God piling on. And what a test! To ask Abraham to sacrifice his son. What kind of a God would ask such a thing? ...