Shared Vision
August 9, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 11th Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 14
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
(Epistle text is provided at the bottom of this post)
“Live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” This was the last verse of today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Does it sound familiar? With a few minor changes, this is the phrase both Ceci and I use each Sunday as the Offertory Sentence – though you probably don’t recognize it so much as a lead-in to the Offertory, as a confirmation that the announcements have come to an end!
At face value, this verse seems like an odd invitation to the offertory. It isn’t as “in your face” as Bishop Wright’s recitation from 2 Corinthians: “Let each of you give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7) When you hear that, you know it’s time to pull out your wallet… albeit cheerfully!
Yet I contend that to Walk in love; to Live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself [fully and completely], as an offering to God – this is asking even more from us. Giving all of ourselves as an offering to God is the ultimate act of stewardship – giving not only that which comes from our purse, but giving our whole selves; a fragrant offering – a sweet gift – to God. Read the rest of this entry »
The Imprint of Christ
April 26, 2015
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
The 3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 3:12-19; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48
(Gospel text is provided at the bottom of this post)
How many of you like commercials?
If you watch TV, listen to the radio, read the paper or surf the web, you are constantly being bombarded by messages telling you about things you need, things you should want, and things you can’t live without. It’s not uncommon to see the same ad over and over again during the same one-hour program, right. This is very intentional by marketers. Communication experts say that you have to communicate your message at least 7 times for people to hear it, and probably dealing with some, it’s more like 70 times 7!
If we apply this to our church context, this concept of repetition is substantiated by our use of the Lectionary. Over a three year period we hear different combinations of Old and New Testament readings, including a significant portion of all four Gospels. Then, after three years, we start over again. So, if you’ve been in the Episcopal Church, or a denomination that follows the common lectionary, it would take 21 years to hear each of these texts 7 times – and that’s if you attend every single Sunday!
But, don’t lose faith! The good news is that because of common themes, it can take much less than 21 years to get the gist of Jesus’ message– to have a sense of Jesus’ call for repentance, of God’s gift of forgiveness, the importance of servant-hood, and the command to love God and show compassion to all people. So, sign up today! Don’t delay! There’s still time!
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 »
A Flip of the Coin
October 19, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 24– RCL Year A
Exodus 33:12-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Matthew’s gospel is tough. It was written for a particular audience at a particular time in history. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have something to say to us today, but before we can attempt to understand how it might speak to us, we first have to do the work of understanding what it meant THEN, to THAT audience.
Most of us don’t take time for that kind of work. We hear today’s gospel and interpret it simply to mean that we should pay our taxes, give to Caesar what is Caesars’s, and get on with it. But, it’s not that simple. It’s Matthew’s gospel, so there’s work to do.
But, don’t be afraid, I’m here to help.
Matthew’s gospel is big on RULES and AUTHORITY.
We continually hear stories where the Pharisees challenge Jesus or his disciples about the Sabbath because they are healing people or taking corn from the fields and no one’s supposed to be working. And, a couple of weeks ago we heard the Pharisees asking Jesus, by whose authority John was baptizing people.
For all you rule-breakers out there, we like it when Jesus stirs things up! When he goes against the tradition and challenges the status quo.
And when we hear that the Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus with a question, we love it when Jesus turns the tables on them, and they are dumbfounded! Read the rest of this entry »
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