Apr 09, 2023 |
Jesus Movement
| The Rev. Philip DeVaulJesus Movement
When that stone rolls away and they see that Jesus is already
gone because he is already alive and out in the world again, doing the work. It
is not just that their friend has been raised up. It is that the movement that
Jesus began is not dead. The movement of creating a world where all people know
that they belong and are beloved. They have a place creating a world where
it's true.
The movement towards that is not dead because Jesus is not dead. They belong. You belong. And I belong because of what Jesus has done and is doing. This world right now, we are in, my goodness, we are in interesting times. The division that we are seeing, the existential dread and the fear, the people in our own culture and in others who on a systemic level are being told they are less than that they do not matter.
The Jesus movement started with a much smaller number of people than this. The movement that terrified an empire and threatened to change the world for love was a much smaller movement than this right here.
The movement towards that is not dead because Jesus is not dead. They belong. You belong. And I belong because of what Jesus has done and is doing. This world right now, we are in, my goodness, we are in interesting times. The division that we are seeing, the existential dread and the fear, the people in our own culture and in others who on a systemic level are being told they are less than that they do not matter.
The Jesus movement started with a much smaller number of people than this. The movement that terrified an empire and threatened to change the world for love was a much smaller movement than this right here.
Apr 03, 2023 |
Homecoming
| The Rev. Gary LubinHomecoming
If I were to pick a bird to symbolize Jesus' life, it would
be this albatross.
When Jesus was baptized, God declares, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. God expresses an enduring love as a parent does for their child. Just like Mary and Joseph cherished Jesus for just being who Jesus was. Then Jesus wanders the desert for 40 days, fasting, and he is tempted big time. I mean, this was the mother of all Lenten experiences. Through it all, Jesus comes to fully appreciate his belovedness and not as a possession or something to own, but as a gift to be shared with others. Then Jesus wanders the sandy oceans of the holy land for three years. Jesus heals and teaches and preaches the Good News of shared love, sharing his belovedness. And at one time a teacher of the law was so inspired by Jesus that he said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
Well, Jesus warned him what it would be like saying, foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. Jesus had no place to call home, no real place to call home. He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, but he wandered far and wide like that albatross.
And the one time he did return to Nazareth, they tried to throw him off a cliff and he just flew away. And indeed, Jerusalem was his real destination all along. He may not have even known it. The temple is there after all, Jesus was drawn there like an albatross to its nest.
When Jesus was baptized, God declares, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. God expresses an enduring love as a parent does for their child. Just like Mary and Joseph cherished Jesus for just being who Jesus was. Then Jesus wanders the desert for 40 days, fasting, and he is tempted big time. I mean, this was the mother of all Lenten experiences. Through it all, Jesus comes to fully appreciate his belovedness and not as a possession or something to own, but as a gift to be shared with others. Then Jesus wanders the sandy oceans of the holy land for three years. Jesus heals and teaches and preaches the Good News of shared love, sharing his belovedness. And at one time a teacher of the law was so inspired by Jesus that he said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
Well, Jesus warned him what it would be like saying, foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. Jesus had no place to call home, no real place to call home. He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, but he wandered far and wide like that albatross.
And the one time he did return to Nazareth, they tried to throw him off a cliff and he just flew away. And indeed, Jerusalem was his real destination all along. He may not have even known it. The temple is there after all, Jesus was drawn there like an albatross to its nest.
Mar 27, 2023 |
The Power and Wisdom of God
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. SlaneThe Power and Wisdom of God
Having a spiritual experience can happen in a split second.
And trust me, you'll know when you see it, when you feel it. It is essential in
understanding this dilemma that we remember who Paul is speaking to. The church
in Rome, a complicated convergence of two vastly different cultural communities
bound together by a common spiritual experience.
To oversimplify and generalize the two, we can do it like drawing the line down the center of the page. On one side, we have the Jews on the other side, the Greeks. I remember being a little girl and my dad telling me, you know, Melanie, there are only two types of people in this world, those who are Greek, and those who wish they were Greek. In Rome these two communities were separated by contrasting worldviews. The Hebrew view of the world was grounded in earthly material realities in which they lived, spiritual truth found only in justice.
And on the other side, the Greek view to simplify was asserted that the highest human experience is knowledge. Always seeking to explain why people fall in love like Aeros and Aphrodite. Why night turns to day like Hyperion and why it rained on my wedding day when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Oh, just we don't talk about Bruno, no.
This is why in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Paul reduces these two communities to their simplest form in saying Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom. It would be like summarizing the political divisions of our day to say, Republicans demand guns and Democrats they desire taxes, but we all know it really isn't that simple, is it?
To oversimplify and generalize the two, we can do it like drawing the line down the center of the page. On one side, we have the Jews on the other side, the Greeks. I remember being a little girl and my dad telling me, you know, Melanie, there are only two types of people in this world, those who are Greek, and those who wish they were Greek. In Rome these two communities were separated by contrasting worldviews. The Hebrew view of the world was grounded in earthly material realities in which they lived, spiritual truth found only in justice.
And on the other side, the Greek view to simplify was asserted that the highest human experience is knowledge. Always seeking to explain why people fall in love like Aeros and Aphrodite. Why night turns to day like Hyperion and why it rained on my wedding day when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Oh, just we don't talk about Bruno, no.
This is why in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Paul reduces these two communities to their simplest form in saying Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom. It would be like summarizing the political divisions of our day to say, Republicans demand guns and Democrats they desire taxes, but we all know it really isn't that simple, is it?
Mar 20, 2023 |
The Present Past
| The Rev. Philip DeVaulThe Present Past
There are days when we feel as if we are connected to God
and clear about who we are, our place in the world, and what the world is
doing, and what God is doing in the world. Where we not only are in the light,
but we feel like we are the light. And then there are days when we
are darkness, where we cannot see God's presence, where we do not feel like
being any kind a good. Where we do not even know what good means.
There are days when we know what righteousness looks like and we are all in on loving and being just and kind in this world. And there are days when we just wanna wrap ourselves in a blanket and finish that sleeve of thin mints and say, I just gotta get through We just gotta make it.
And that's the reality for us, I think is less that there is this moment where we have this, we used to be something and then this big light shines, and now I understand, and now I live completely differently. I think most of us don't have that experience. Most of us have moments of light, moments of clarity, followed by moments of darkness and periods of fear and uncertainty.
There are days when we know what righteousness looks like and we are all in on loving and being just and kind in this world. And there are days when we just wanna wrap ourselves in a blanket and finish that sleeve of thin mints and say, I just gotta get through We just gotta make it.
And that's the reality for us, I think is less that there is this moment where we have this, we used to be something and then this big light shines, and now I understand, and now I live completely differently. I think most of us don't have that experience. Most of us have moments of light, moments of clarity, followed by moments of darkness and periods of fear and uncertainty.
Mar 12, 2023 |
Direct Access to Grace
| Tym HouseDirect Access to Grace
...the reality is, is that God shows up through Christ
and the Spirit to show us that we are a blessing. He has come to heal us and to
reconcile us, and for us to then go and share that hope with the world because
God is with us where we are presently and where we are moving forward. But how
is that possible?
Well, that's where Romans 5 enters in. Before we jump in to explore the text together, though, I would just like to share a little bit of my own story with you all, not unlike all of us, I am a makeup of many things that make me who I am and create my identity. To share a few; I am a father, I'm a son, I'm a brother.
But also, I am divorced, I'm gay, and I'm a youth minister. So let me maybe unpack a little bit of that for you. I grew up going to a very conservative evangelical church. Now, I will not stand up here and say that it was all bad because I gained a lot of things from my church home. A lot of good things that have shaped me, informed me, and that have rooted me in the faith that I have today.
But as you can imagine, there were also things that I learned growing up that made me question, and really caused harm to me for things that I came to learn later about myself, specifically regarding my sexuality. It wasn't until later in high school where I started to even understand what that looked like, but my foundation had already been laid for me to question that part of who I was.
Well, that's where Romans 5 enters in. Before we jump in to explore the text together, though, I would just like to share a little bit of my own story with you all, not unlike all of us, I am a makeup of many things that make me who I am and create my identity. To share a few; I am a father, I'm a son, I'm a brother.
But also, I am divorced, I'm gay, and I'm a youth minister. So let me maybe unpack a little bit of that for you. I grew up going to a very conservative evangelical church. Now, I will not stand up here and say that it was all bad because I gained a lot of things from my church home. A lot of good things that have shaped me, informed me, and that have rooted me in the faith that I have today.
But as you can imagine, there were also things that I learned growing up that made me question, and really caused harm to me for things that I came to learn later about myself, specifically regarding my sexuality. It wasn't until later in high school where I started to even understand what that looked like, but my foundation had already been laid for me to question that part of who I was.
Mar 06, 2023 |
Being Righteous
| The Rev. Philip DeVaulBeing Righteous
If when you see God coming down the lane, you say, here
comes blessing, here comes love. My heart is filled. I can't wait to find out
how I'm loved. That is good and healthy relationship, and you don't have to be
religious to get this because again, you know this in your real friendships and
relationships in your life, you know the people that when they come over, you
don't even care that your house is a mess.
You know those people where you don't even say, I'm sorry, it's a mess cuz they're just in and they love you and you know it. Are those the good relationships, the healthy ones, the people who, when you see them, you see something beautiful and powerful and you recognize how they're loving this world and the people who make you feel like loving more? That is a good and healthy relationship.
And what Paul's talking about today is simply howwe have a good and healthy relationship with the one who made us. We do it first and foremost by just having the right lens at which we look at God.
You know those people where you don't even say, I'm sorry, it's a mess cuz they're just in and they love you and you know it. Are those the good relationships, the healthy ones, the people who, when you see them, you see something beautiful and powerful and you recognize how they're loving this world and the people who make you feel like loving more? That is a good and healthy relationship.
And what Paul's talking about today is simply howwe have a good and healthy relationship with the one who made us. We do it first and foremost by just having the right lens at which we look at God.
Feb 27, 2023 |
Two Sides of the Same Coin
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. SlaneTwo Sides of the Same Coin
Today in Paul's letter to the Romans, we are presented with
two diametrically opposed realities of human life as we know it. On one side,
we have sin brought about by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; the wanting to
be like God, knowing good and evil. And we hear that this way brings death. And on the other side, we have Jesus, the pioneer and
perfector of our faith, the giver of grace and life and love. On this side is
life.
For a long time, I viewed these two divergent certainties as separate conundrums that I myself stood in the middle of and dabbled in each some of the time. But after years of contending with the two, I realize that they're not actually separate currencies, but two sides of the same coin.
Two sides of our true human condition, painfully captivated by revenge, dishonesty, and self-centeredness on the one side, and at the same time, capable of immeasurable good, and loving kindness and fortitude for the way ahead. Rooted in our deepest longing to be in loving relationship with our creator. The truth of who we are is sin and righteousness fused together in form and function, but wholly committed to different currencies.
For a long time, I viewed these two divergent certainties as separate conundrums that I myself stood in the middle of and dabbled in each some of the time. But after years of contending with the two, I realize that they're not actually separate currencies, but two sides of the same coin.
Two sides of our true human condition, painfully captivated by revenge, dishonesty, and self-centeredness on the one side, and at the same time, capable of immeasurable good, and loving kindness and fortitude for the way ahead. Rooted in our deepest longing to be in loving relationship with our creator. The truth of who we are is sin and righteousness fused together in form and function, but wholly committed to different currencies.
Feb 20, 2023 |
Superman Transfigured
| The Rev. Philip DeVaulSuperman Transfigured
Have you ever felt like someone saw you for who you really
were? How beautiful that is to feel that when someone really knows you and sees
your glory, It's overwhelming and beautiful, isn't it? But there's a
difference, of course, between Superman and Jesus. And it's not just that Jesus
isn't a superhero, he's, you know, our Lord and Savior.
It's not just that. The reality is that Superman will never be one of us no matter how much he disguises himself. His true identity is other than Us. And so all we can really do is stand back in awe of this superhero and say, wow, look at those things that he can do. I could never lift a car above my head. I'm not bulletproof. Isn't that amazing? But Jesus is not disguising himself as human. Jesus is human. Jesus is one of us. The powerful thing about Jesus is that he's not God disguising himself as a human to sort of just make it palatable for us to look at him. Jesus is God completely and totally connected to humanity, married to us forever, such that when we see Jesus, we do see the glory of God, but we also see the glory of our own humanity fully present in that space.
It's not just that. The reality is that Superman will never be one of us no matter how much he disguises himself. His true identity is other than Us. And so all we can really do is stand back in awe of this superhero and say, wow, look at those things that he can do. I could never lift a car above my head. I'm not bulletproof. Isn't that amazing? But Jesus is not disguising himself as human. Jesus is human. Jesus is one of us. The powerful thing about Jesus is that he's not God disguising himself as a human to sort of just make it palatable for us to look at him. Jesus is God completely and totally connected to humanity, married to us forever, such that when we see Jesus, we do see the glory of God, but we also see the glory of our own humanity fully present in that space.
Feb 06, 2023 |
Unrighteous blobs of goo
| The Rev. Melanie W. J. SlaneUnrighteous blobs of goo
I searched, can the ocean ever run out of salt? It seems
like a ridiculous question or maybe just a rhetorical one. Can the ocean ever
run out of salt? What an absurd thing to wonder. I always get this way in the
dead of winter, the frozen Midwest tundra seems to elicit feelings of
helplessness and heartache for me.
Jesus' words of firing synapse of the taste buds of humanity, and the blazing presence of collective light, well they seem like a far off vision in this cold, cold little cave where we hibernate. So can the ocean ever run out of salt? Can I, in fact, hide the light that is in me? Can I hold it so tightly in that little squishy spot in my belly where fire rages and where passion comes from and where disciples long before me have found strength to preach the Gospel even in the midst of unspeakable violence, exile, and abandonment.
Can the ocean run out of salt? And can the Christian ever unknow the glory of God? The God who gives them life.
Jesus' words of firing synapse of the taste buds of humanity, and the blazing presence of collective light, well they seem like a far off vision in this cold, cold little cave where we hibernate. So can the ocean ever run out of salt? Can I, in fact, hide the light that is in me? Can I hold it so tightly in that little squishy spot in my belly where fire rages and where passion comes from and where disciples long before me have found strength to preach the Gospel even in the midst of unspeakable violence, exile, and abandonment.
Can the ocean run out of salt? And can the Christian ever unknow the glory of God? The God who gives them life.
Jan 30, 2023 |
Blessed Practice
| The Rev. Philip DeVaulBlessed Practice
I showed up to my piano lesson one day, and my teacher could
tell that I was really frustrated. She'd been working with me since I was nine and she could tell that I was very frustrated. She asked, what's wrong? I said, I'll tell you what's wrong. I'm listening to Glen
Gould play this invention and I can't play it like that. And she said, Phil,
he's one of the greatest piano players in the history of piano, no one can play
it like that. Don't do that to yourself.
I said, well, I, if I can't sound like him when I play this, why play it at all?
I feel like this is how we get when Jesus tells us what it means to be a disciple. Jesus stands up before us today in the beginning of what we call his Sermon on the Mount, which in the Gospel according to Matthew, is the true beginning of his earthly ministry. And these are the very first words he says. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
I said, well, I, if I can't sound like him when I play this, why play it at all?
I feel like this is how we get when Jesus tells us what it means to be a disciple. Jesus stands up before us today in the beginning of what we call his Sermon on the Mount, which in the Gospel according to Matthew, is the true beginning of his earthly ministry. And these are the very first words he says. Blessed are the poor in spirit.