One in the Lord = Love ALL
May 17, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 7th Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19
(Gospel text is provided at the bottom of this post)
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
This song has occupied my thoughts for the past several weeks. I chose it as the theme song for our Urban Adventure weekend earlier this month. And at the risk of making a shameless plug, you can find out more about how this song mirrored our experience that weekend when you read the cover story in the June Communiqué.
And even though that weekend is behind us, this song keeps coming to mind. It’s even managed to push out the ever-insistent refrain of “Uptown Funk,” though I’ll admit I’m working on some new lyrics for that: Christ Church Faith-you-up, Christ Church Faith-you-up. Say what? But, that’s for another time.
It’s not really surprising that the lyrics “We are one in the Spirit” and the refrain “They will know we are Christians by our love” continue to resonate with me. These same themes have been integral to our gospel lessons in recent weeks, and again today.
Living on Purpose
March 22, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 5th Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 31:21-34; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33
(Gospel text is provided at the bottom of this post)
Is it just me, or does this gospel lesson feel a little awkward? It starts with some Greeks telling Philip that they want to see Jesus. Philip then goes and gets his friend and fellow-disciple Andrew. The two of them then go and tell Jesus that some Greeks want to see him. That seems normal enough, I guess.
But then, instead of Jesus saying, “Great! Where are they? Let’s talk!,” Jesus goes into this whole thing about the Son of God having to be glorified, and a grain of wheat having to die, and losing one’s life to keep it… it’s really quite confusing! What is the gospel writer doing with this story?
Well, not unlike the turning over of the tables we talked about a couple of weeks ago, I think John is using this passage to reveal Jesus’ full awareness of his purpose. Even more, I think this story shows us that Andrew and Philip also understood and lived into their purpose.
Casting out OUR unclean spirits
February 1, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 4th Sunday after Epiphany
Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28
As many of you know, I spent much of my life in banking – mostly on the operations side. One of my roles was managing projects to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our business – like making sure the car payment you sent in gets credited to your loan accurately, otherwise you’re gonna get a call from our collections department, and nobody wants that!
A process improvement method we adopted was called Six Sigma, which is rooted in statistics – now, stay with me. It was initially used by the manufacturing sector. As you can imagine there are lots of places in an assembly-line production, especially complex ones, that can cause the end-product to be defective.
“Six Sigma” is an actual calculated measure that corresponds to 1 in every 300,000. So, as a productivity measure, to reach 6-sigma, it means there is only one defect in 300,000 opportunities. It’s an ambitious goal to only have one defect in that many attempts, but for that person who waited in line overnight for the latest iPhone, or the one standing at the baggage claim carousel, but not seeing their suitcase arrive, it’s the kind of goal we want Apple or Delta to have. Read the rest of this entry »
The Gospel according to Huckleberry Finn
January 11, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 1st Sunday after Epiphany
Genesis 1:1-5; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
After the worship service on Christmas morning, Alice and I headed to Hilton Head for a few days of R&R. We stayed at a hotel with a beachfront view, and each morning as I awoke, I could see the thin glimmer of day breaking, as color peeked above the ocean waters. I was drawn to it. Each day I welcomed the gradual emergence of a new day; of God’s creation.
That first morning at the beach, I began reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You know Huck, he’s Tom Sawyer’s good friend; the one who traveled down the Mississippi River on a raft alongside a runaway slave named Jim. I’ve always loved Mark Twain’s humor and the way he captures the full picture of life, both glistening and gritty. Through his stories he brings to light the truth of real-life experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
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