Leaving the Ninety-nine
September 11, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
17th Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 19
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10
(Gospel Text provided below)
Today we hear the familiar parables about the lost sheep and the lost coin. In Sunday School lessons and discussion groups our conversation usually focuses on the experience of being lost and being found. We ask questions like, “Describe a time when you were lost or separated from a family member?” or “What feelings did you experience when you were found after being lost?” Or perhaps the focus is on one’s assurance that someone cares enough about them to actually look for them.
This is a very understandable inclination. We can identify with the lost sheep because sometimes we feel lost ourselves. We want a God who will come and look for us, who won’t give up on us when we go astray. And, when we are found, we like the idea that God rejoices and celebrates our return! WooHoo!!
And while all of that is well and good, and these are comforting messages, I’m not sure that’s really what these parables in Luke’s gospel are getting at. When we look at the parable and its context more closely, we see that it isn’t a story about the lost sheep or lost coin. Like most stories in the gospels, it’s actually a story about Jesus. Read the rest of this entry »
Faithful Journey Toward a Hoped-for Future
August 28, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
15th Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 17
Jeremiah 2:4-13; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14
(Gospel Text provided below)
At the beginning of the summer, as we began our journey through Luke’s gospel, I said that if I had to pick a movie genre that best fit this gospel, it would be “supernatural.” Face it, the book is full of angels, healings, super-natural stuff, the whole bit. The gospel story on that day was about Jesus raising a man from the dead and it was told in only five verses.
I compared this matter-of-fact telling of the story to John’s elaborate gospel story about the raising of Lazarus. I explained that this difference in emphasis points to each author’s purpose for their gospel. John’s gospel is providing evidence in order to bring people to belief, or to reaffirm their belief, in Jesus as the Messiah. By contrast Luke’s telling isn’t intended to convert people, but instead, to shed a new light, a particular light, on Jesus’ message to an existing early Christian community.[i]
Luke provides an intentional message of salvation – a salvation that upends the status quo of his time. Jesus declares a ministry oriented to those without power.[ii] Where the lowly are raised up and the powerful brought down. Even more, Jesus is trying to remove those things that divide people, and restore those who have been excluded – the poor, the ill, the marginalized and the oppressed – and bring them back into the community.
At the risk of being a broken record, we see the same message from Jesus in today’s gospel lesson. Read the rest of this entry »
The Cauldron’s Call
August 14, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
13th Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 15
Isaiah 5:1-7; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56
(Gospel Text provided below)
This Sunday morning we find ourselves just past the midway-point of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. I grew up watching the Olympics, and have been watching more than my fair share this year. I can pretty much watch any event, but the one that has taken most of my attention so far, besides watching the amazing U.S. women’s gymnastics team, has been swimming.
Katie Ledecky at the age of nineteen is a swimming phenom. Her strength is long-distance races, and she holds the world-record in the 400, 800, and 1,500 meter freestyle. When she races, her goal isn’t to beat other swimmers. Her goal is to beat herself – to BEST herself. She keeps beating her own records, including this past Friday night in the 800, when she beat her own world record by almost 4 seconds – proving that she’s not content to just hold onto what she’s already accomplished.
Leah Smith, after finishing 2nd behind Ledecky in the Olympic Trials last June said, “I’ve never been able to see her feet before. That was exciting.” This has become the new measure of success when competing with Ledecky.[i] What’s more, Ledecky just goes about her business in a quiet and humble way. No grandstanding, just focused on doing what she is purposed to do.
A Wide-Enough World for All
July 3, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
7th Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 9
2 Kings 5:1-14; Galatians 6:7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
(Gospel Text provided below)
At the risk of breaking the rules about separation of church and state, I bid you a happy 4th of July weekend! As we’ve been journeying through Luke’s Gospel this summer, we’ve seen a narrative that shows Jesus confronting the established religious authorities. He challenges the practices that conflict with God’s dream for the world – were divisions are removed and God’s love is with, and for, everyone. Jesus is the one who will overturn the status quo, allowing the lowly to be raised up and the powerful brought down.
When you stop and think about it, we see some of the same elements in the Declaration of Independence. It was about breaking away from how things had been. The founding fathers were overturning the status quo, imagining a new way forward. Declaring boldly:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Now, we have to admit that there are some sticking points in this Declaration statement of 1776. The exclusion of women can’t be too surprising considering the highly patriarchal structure of that time. Yet more troubling is the reality of slavery that existed. These enslaved people were not seen as being created equal, or as being endowed with unalienable rights. So, I’ve come to understand why the 4th of July may not be the perfect celebration of liberty for our African American brothers and sisters. Read the rest of this entry »
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