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 »
Connecting with the Cross
August 31, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 17 – RCL Year A
Exodus 3:1-15; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28
For three of the last four weeks, the gospel lesson has featured Peter in a significant way. Peter is one of those guys in the Bible that seems especially real to me. He’s a fisherman. A man’s man, if you will. He’s willing to take risks, like stepping out of a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, to walk toward Jesus. But he also gets scared.
When he finds himself doing something he didn’t think he could do, like walk on water, a strong wind distracts and scares him and he starts to sink. Even though he surely knows how to swim, he shows his humanity by crying out for help in a moment of panic, “Jesus, save me!” And immediately, Jesus reaches out his hand to help Peter back into the boat.
This is a story I wish I could see on YouTube. Not for the walking on water part, although that would be really cool, but to see the expression on Jesus’ face as he helps Peter into the boat. My hope is that there’s a playful gleam in his eye as he teases Peter, saying “you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Like the smile and shrug we give a close friend whose exuberance for life always gets them into things a little over their head.
And last week we see Peter in a different light. Jesus is asking the disciples “Who do people say that I am?” and then he asks them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, once again the eager one, steps up and proclaims, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” There’s no hesitation; just pure confidence. Read the rest of this entry »
The Gift of Connectedness
May 25, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
6th Sunday of Easter – RCL Year A
Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22 ; John 14:15-21
A few months ago, TJ, a member of the J2A Youth group, approached me after Sunday school to ask if I could help her with a school paper. She had to write her perspective on the Creation stories found in Genesis in light of the scientific evidence of Evolution. She assured me that outside resources were allowed, including priests, so I was happy to help.
When she called later that day, I shared with TJ how I have reconciled these two ways of seeing God’s Creation of the world and humanity. As a life-long Episcopalian, my formation has been under-girded by what is sometimes called the “three-legged stool” of Anglican Theology: Scripture, Tradition and Reason. So, as new knowledge is revealed, reason is used alongside Scripture, and plays a part in our understanding of God and God’s relationship to the world.
After sharing my perspective, TJ asked if I had any outside resources that might be helpful for additional evaluation. At first I couldn’t think of anything, but then, I remembered a Newsweek article I read in the late 80’s that intrigued me – it was called “The Search for Adam and Eve.” What’s more amazing is that I was pretty sure I had a copy of it, and after a few minutes digging through boxes in the garage, though a Google search would’ve been faster, I found it for her to use.
The article talked about a study conducted by microbiologists at Berkeley and Emory who were exploring the origin of the modern human race. The authors acknowledge the risk of using the biblical names of Adam and Eve in the title – but how else are you going to sell magazines, right? The opening paragraph says in part: Read the rest of this entry »
