#rejectedsermontitles: we are cannibles! #Jesus=bread of life

Many thanks to Mihee Kim-Kort who discussed the scripture with me for This Everyday Holy Blog which is at the base of this sermon

John 6

Eating as an act is interesting, it is something every human has to do to stay alive.

Ever have a really good meal. The kind where you sit around afterwards and dissect what it was you loved about it? Almost reliving the meal and sharing with one another.

If I were God I probably would have made all food the same, to fit our needs. Here humans is grass, eat it and be nourished. Boom! Done! You are full, but Jesus promises not to just fill us up with some kind of food, but to nourish us in a new way.

But our God instead creates a myriad of flavors for us to try. In fact there are so many that eating a meal with another person creates a special kind of fellowship.

So, we all eat together, and then afterwards we can dissect the meal together. Talking about what was good, and sharing in that experience. We are in essence eating one another’s experiences and sharing into it.

What fills me up, and what I need is probably different than what you need (for instance I am a vegetarian and have been since the womb, meat made my mother feel ill). My husband would state that meat is necessary to meet his needs. What Jesus offers us is not just sufficency, not just enough to feed the whole world, but the right kind of food for you and for me. The food is different, but the experience is uniting. This is why our God is the God of justice because She meets us where we are and leads us to where we need to go.

Jesus is a prime example of that in his ministry, meeting people wherever they are: being stoned, up a tree, by a well even on a cross (if you are a follower of my blog you may notice this as one of my themes). Jesus meets us where we are.

But if you think about it, meal time is the epitome of what it is to experience church. It is to experience the Holy Spirit moving, each in our own way, and then sharing that experience. Ideally, Worship would be like a GREAT meal, where each of us imbibe in worship and then sit down together and talk about which instance of experiencing God–reliving it for others and inviting them to consume that experience with us. We, in that instant, become the Body of Christ. Thus making us cannibles: Eating Christ and Each Other over and over again.

Only God could set up Worship so that shared experiences and differential understandings of scripture and worship could actually DEEPEN our understanding of God.

Let’s Eat!

Sometimes Pastors Wear High Heels: How a Shoe Store Can Be Better Than The Church

#kinkyboots #retail and #God (yep they can all go together)

scoles7's avatarExploring Life

High-Heels

I have not posted in a while. Usually, my posts are based off of things that I have been thinking about for some time. In fact, I spend most of my nights processing through things that truly make me think. I have thought a lot about this post.  I have had plenty of time to process and to come to the conclusions that I have.

At the beginning of the year, I worked at a small coffee shop at my alumna mater. It was a wonderful job and I got to see all my friends that were still taking classes and such. That job, however, did not have great hours during the summer time. So, I started looking for other jobs. And I found one being a salesperson at a shoe store.

I had not worked retail before this job. I was quite terrified when I went into the interview because…

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The Most Epic Quest: A Sermon

reverendfem's avatarReverend Fem

**Originally preached for the 4:00 Jazz Service at Fourth Presbyterian Church Chicago on August 2, 2015.**

Ephesians 4:1-16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.Therefore it is said,
‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
   he gave gifts to his people.’
(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it…

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#RejectedSermonTitles: Time is Wibbley-Wobbley

Time is nonsense.

Ecc 1:1-11; 3:1-7

Humans have created time, like lines in the sand, to help us to keep track of things. This makes sense because we are namers, our job is to name things, explore them and understand them.

We are human, we compartmentalize. Time is human lines in the sand, just like countries, they are human ways of dealing and understanding the world. Tools that are useful, but do not tell the entire story.

But have you ever tried to make time for something, or to spend time on just one thing? Its difficult to do.

If I were God, I would have made life easier, just one human being going from point A->B no complications. Or perhaps stick to 2 humans, Adam and Eve, only having to concentrate upon one relationship only.

But God is timeless. God has allowed us to have complex feelings and complex relationships. the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. We can be at different places and do different things. We are made into complex beings, because God can step back and free us from time, to be more complicated. We have many relationships at different stages with many different types of people, and we feel complex emotions about all of these relationship and our relationships effect our other relationships.

Timey Wimey Dr Who
Timey Wimey Dr Who

God allows time to be different. Nowhere in the Bible does it have the timeline or steps to being a Christian. Different people come in different ways. Because God frees us from time and cultures and checklists.

Church is one of the few places where you come, wherever you are to experience God.

Again, we may wish that you are baptized before you take communion, but the reality is sometimes you take communion to get baptized. God is timeless, God is beyond time. Working on all the relationships that influence our experience of God, digging deep into the emotions which are so often mixed. Never are we just sad, we are sad with a touch of anger, or depression that comes from feeling bereft. We are happy, but nervous. We are full of joy and yet miss those we love.

Church is where we gather to practice experiencing God together, and wherever we are, we meet together. What’s more, we open our congregation to invite anyone in…

we know that our own experience of God is enriched by the different places that we all come from

Church is not a social club, or a volunteer group or a corporation. Its not a checklist, its a practice of the experience of God together, its a place to find companionship on the spiritual journey. Church is unique.

Because, God is timeless. Experience of time is as mixed and nonsensical as Ecclesiastes says. God experiences happen throughout the week, in fact we practice God’s presence on Sunday to help to interweave worship throughout our time.

We are practicing it here, every week, God’s presence together. Not because time is a constant stream, but because God is timeless, entering into our lives in different and complex ways–supporting us as complex beings.

#rejectedsermontitles This Week: #God said “Behold, I make time for all things, for I am a Time-Lord”

There is time for everything….
We try to schedule time
We to make time
Time is just lines in the sand
Like countries

But God created the world
God made time

God, time-maker

Time Lord!
Time Lord!

#RejectedSermonTitles : this week Song of Solomon is about #Sex

Why is Song of Solomon in the Bible?
Seriously, what is with the Bible having a book that is written by a human to a human being?

(There used to be a Jesus as the Bridegroom and Church as the Bride interp. but its frankly sexist and old fashioned)

Here are two people expressing love for one another. At one point I spent a seminary class translating and interpreting the text, and like Shakespeare the more you study it the more you understand the physical attraction in the text.

Song of Solomon 2:10-13; 8:6-7
0 My beloved speaks and says to me:
‘Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
11 for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

This is because, love is such an all encompassing thing, a part of it is physical, so I think its important that those words are a part of the body. Love is intense, its more than the cutesy-niceness of life. Little pink hearts and precious moments angels are not what the Bible is about. Angels, love-beings, are so intense that they have to tell us mere humans “fear not” every time they appear. (Cupid and Psyche is a much more accurate portrayal in my mind).

I also think that Song of Solomon is included because Love is one of the human languages, one of those experiences we try to describe again and again.

Love Songs are amazing that way. They always have been written, from the time of Song of Solomon, and each of us prob. experienced a love song that “got it.” (ex: Breaking Up is Hard to Do) A love song that was perfect for what we are experiencing. Love songs will always exist, because love opens us to see the world in a new way. (Fill the world with Silly Love Songs)

It is here that we begin to see the strength and power of love that can withstand fire and water. Love opens us up to be changed. It is the thing we hang onto, but also that which holds onto us when all else fails.

Love allows us to be melded, and every relationship we enter into holds that potential for change.

Anger and hatred, not so much. When I’m angry or hate-filled I cannot hear the other person, I cannot change my mind. There are times, when I’m arguing something that I realized mid-arguement that I am wrong, but at that moment I can’t let go of my argument, because I’m too angry to be wrong, I have to win. Its not about love or being right, its about winning.

Its for this reason when I’m at a contentious session or Presbytery meeting we pause for prayer. We stop everything (which is really hard, because everyone wants to finish their thought) and pray. We focus on God, love and community, we remember that its NOT about winning, and we are then more open to have a real, listening conversation. (and that folks is the true power of prayer). Love opens us up.

And here, in Church, we strive to be in relationship with every single person in this room. We open ourselves to be changed here, with these people. We are doing it not for money, not to feel good, not to be fit or healthy or popular. We do it, because love opens our eyes and is just that powerful.  (Theme Song: The Power of Love). We do it to follow Jesus, and that openness to be relationships changes our lives.

Achoo! What I catch from #Christianity (more on what it means to me)

The thing about Christianity is that its easy to make it about gentle-ness and being nice. Smiles and happyfaces.

In fact most faith organizations deal with this prob. What are we meeting for? Aren’t we all here to be nice to each other. Isn’t being nice enough?

If you’ve taken a look at the real poverty and violence in the world: i.e. the inability for so many people to experience sanctuary, then I would say, no. Being nice is not enough.

Funny thing I have talked to friends in Yoga communities, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Communities, and atheist communities. Eventually 2 different questions come up. Where are we meeting and for what are we meeting (Building & Belief Questions).

For me Christianity is (w)holistic life choices and it takes ongoing hard work. It is way more than buildings and beliefs. Its about creating community and practicing openness and love.

Katy’s Practices of Christianity

1. People are adults: This is really tough, it calls us to be in community with one another and to trust that they are making the best decisions they can. This means that we do not judge them for said decisions, nor is it our job to “rescue” people from making bad decisions. It means loving them, listening carefully to them, supporting and empowering them. Judging, shaming, scolding, yelling, etc. at people sometimes happens but it is not the most effective means to communicate with them. It calls both for having good and safe boundaries with how people exist in your life and yet still being open to being in relationship with them in some way.

2. If people aren’t adults, Figure it out: I have also worked with children, mentally ill psychiatric patients and others who might not be able to function as an adult. First I figure out whether this condition is ongoing or temporary, then I figure out what decisions they are trying to make and then I try to empower them (thru support, resources, Spiritual coaching) to make that decision–my husband likes to joke that I treat everyone like children, I prefer to think of it as I treat children as seriously as I treat adults and vice versa.

3. Look for the bigger problems: As a Christian I am in a unique position where I can imagine a better world painted by Christ, and can step back from the ongoing strife and address problems as human problems instead of just an individual’s problems. From that I am able to better see symptoms and work more on far-ranging solutions.

4. Ask Questions: Jesus did an awesome job of answering questions with questions. Delving deep into an individual’s problems until they reveal who they really are. The Samaritan Woman is a foreign woman without a husband, who is lonely and thirsty for life. Zaccheus is a tax collector who feels outside of society and that he can never be redeemed. James and John are fishermen who are looking for a job to do (and its not just catching fish).

5: Call People by Name: Jesus’ holds great power in seeing people calling to them by name and through the recognition empowering them to go forth to do what God wants them to do. In our best moments, we humans do the same. Its like when the teacher calls on us and we know the answer, or we get drafted for a trip we always wanted to do. True ministry is cultivating those moments so they can be a part of the faith lives of those who are around us, so that when we are called by name we feel free to say “Yes, Lord, Here I am” to do those things.

#church and #risky behavior

I know that this sounds crazy, but to me the Church is the risk-taking entity in the universe.

We opens our doors and lets anybody, I mean anybody walk in.

We concocts a budget based on what people try to promise to give

We employ people based on that budget

We try to help people without knowing what the results are going to be…and sometimes we never know what the results are going to be and they STILL give help

We do things based off of squishy intangibles (See Miracle on 34th St for more): like love and faith and theology (which is a fancy way of saying Christ based mission statement)

We empower people, young people who aren’t fully educated, old people who are too fragile to do other things.

This is what the church is about people, the Church is ITSELF an act of Faith.

We are faith in action, and taking risks and trusting in God is an Act of GOOD NEWS

Who doesn’t want to work for that sort of entity?