Sermons

December 21, 2014

Lectionary Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

You should have seen the shock on my mother’s face when she learned Nolan was raised Catholic. This fine lad she had met at the Potters House who earned her instant approval ...the news took her breath away..  Could her daughter be courting outside the faith? Nolan could have said he was Jewish or Muslim. You see my mother was your quintessential Methodist church lady, Bible study, church suppers and "What-a-friend-we-have-in-Jesus..."

“You’re a Catholic?” I kicked her under the table so she politely refrained from the follow-up question.” Don’t they worship Mary?”

Mary was a biblical image of my past that was relegated entirely to this season of Advent.  Methodists clearly did not elevate her role in the story throughout the year, but at Christmas she was carefully placed in her designated spot looking over baby Jesus in the nativity set.  I have collected creches for years and even now, the placement of Mary is done with great reverence. All little girls want to play her part in the annual pageant: Beautiful and mystical all in one. The regal, graceful, blue blanket draped around her sweet face. It so thrilling to pretend to be Mary.  The year Colby was a baby, a church on 16th St was asking neighbors to participate in a 24-hour live manger scene.  Never mind that my 6-month-old Colby was out in the cold laying in straw. I got to pretend I was Mary for an hour.  But then January comes, we fold the cloth, pack her away for another year, and Mary retreats from our lives.

Dec 14, 2014

Scripture: John 1: 6-8, 19-28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

What are you waiting for on this third Sunday of Advent? And why do we pay attention to the lectionary cycle of scriptures when the world seems so fractured, so evil, and so discouraging? What are we doing here when we could be at home, reading the newspaper or watching the news on TV?

I know that one of the things you are waiting for is a return to worship at the Potter’s House, in a clean new space. Maybe there are other things waiting to be birthed there as well.

December 7, 2014

Text: Mark 1:1-8

Hello, thank you for having me here today.  I feel blessed to be able to share with you.  I’d like to start by re-reading the Mark passage.

‘Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you;
He’ll make the road smooth for you.
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!’

John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins.  People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life.  John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt.  He ate locusts and wild field honey.

As he preached he said, “The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life.  I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life.  His baptism – a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit – will change you from the inside out.”  – Mark 1:1-8 (The Message)

November, 30, 2014

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of a new year in the Christian calendar. Advent, as you know, consists of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas day. It marks a time of preparation and waiting. The question is: “What are we waiting for?” “What are we preparing for?”

Sadly, the conventional interpretation of the Biblical texts for Advent is consistently individualistic, exclusively personal, and often sentimental or to put it straight, downright unfaithful. Conventional interpretation fits more with our culture than the Bible as a whole, the merging of commercial and religious music, generosity defined by buying for those who give presents to us. Is this all there is in terms of waiting and preparing? No, this is not all there is. There is a whole lot more, and we have to dig to find it.

November 23, 2014
Text: Matthew 25:31-46

I crawl in this morning, brought low by the surprising strength of a very little thing—the common cold. It is good when working on a sermon to be reminded that in the grand scope of things, I am quite small and powerless. Michael Leunig has a prayer dedicated to the cold in his little book called The Prayer Tree:

God bless those who suffer from the common cold.
Nature has entered into them;
Has led them aside and gently lain them low
To contemplate life from the wayside;
To consider human frailty;
To receive the deep and dreamy messages of fever.
We give thanks for the insights of this humble perspective.
We give thanks for blessings in disguise.
Amen.

“We give thanks for blessings in disguise.” So,I guess this will be a Thanksgiving sermon after all.

November 9, 2014

EVE: I’d like to share with you the circumstances under which I first became involved with peace and justice issues.   I’m not sure that Orlando Tizon knows I hold him responsible for this, but it was he that started it all when, in 2005, he invited me to TASSC’s (Torture Abolition Survivor Support Coaltion) annual vigil in Lafayette Park. I knew Guantanamo existed, and that the US engaged in enhanced interrogation of the prisoners, but since I didn’t know much about TASSC, I decided to see what it was all about.  When I arrived on a Friday night, I saw a large cage in which a chained and hooded man or woman (I couldn’t tell which), wearing an orange jump suit, was kneeling on the ground. Outside, a group of demonstrators were handing out leaflets to the crowd.  Orlando told me that the cage was a replica of the cage used in Guantanamo to hold prisoners who were also chained and hooded most of the time. He explained that throughout the weekend, volunteers were being asked to stay inside the cage for two hours and then asked if I would like to volunteer  “Sure, why not,” I replied.  

We don't have a written copy of Karen's teaching but here, for immediate listening or download, is an audio.

August 24, 2014

Texts:
Mark 12:18a, 24, 28-34
Romans 1:16-17

I love the metaphor of geese flying in formation.  The V-formation conserves energy for the flock as the front goose breaks the headwind which makes flying easier for the rest.  Moreover, geese honk as they fly.  This is to encourage the lead goose to give all he/she has for a concentrated time after which the lead goose will drop back into the formation as another goose takes the point.  By flying in formation and encouraging leadership by quacking geese can fly incredible distances without stopping.  This is a graphic example of an 8^th Day value: shared leadership. 

As your lead goose for the next 30 minutes I want to guide us to work with a critical question for 8^th Day and every other church in the Church of the Saviour tradition: how do we in this tradition conserve the understandings and commitment that gave us solid footing and at the same time adapt to a new situation?  I would appreciate your honking from time to time if something I say touches you.

August 17, 2014

As many of you know, my vocation for the past 28 years has been to live and work in a L’Arche community.  At the present time I no longer live in a L’Arche home but still am still there on a part time basis.  L’Arche has given me a sense of meaning and value for my life as well as being a place to belong that I can call home.  There are many ways we lived together that have made it very special.  Finding L’Arche, as well as finding this church, has made me feel as though I have hit the jackpot in life and I am well content.

At present I serve as the membership coordinator for the various homes and that means especially looking with people at the goals of membership.  Today I want to talk about my experience in L’Arche and describe how we try to live together and to carry out these goals. 

The first goal starts out by asking a question.  What is the vision, the value and the spirit of L’Arche?