bob webber has died

"Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world; in the name of God the Father Almighty who created you; in the name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you; in the name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. May your rest be this day in peace, and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God. Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Bob. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen."

Bob was a teacher and a friend. I will miss him dearly. We e-mailed just last week about the thesis and his battle with pancreatic cancer. Bob was a grateful man. May God grant strength to his family and peace to his soul.

Here is an article from American Baptist Press...

sermon: the fourth sunday of easter

Sermon: The Fourth Sunday of Easter, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette
April 29, 2007

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

There is an icon of Jesus that I keep beside me when I prepare sermons. In the icon, he stands there with the scriptures in one hand and his other hand offering a blessing. I keep him beside me for several reasons. One is the simple reminder of the basic reason why I am preaching in the first place: Jesus asked me to. Through the church, the Body of Christ, I was asked to preach. Within the inner reaches of my heart, where I like to think that Jesus and I meet occasionally, I was asked to preach. So Jesus sits beside me as I prepare to preach.

He’s a demanding partner in the whole endeavor to be certain. Sometimes I imagine him saying things like “No really, I would never say that.” or “There you go. You are with me and I am with the congregation.” I never know what the comment will be.
I garner a certain kind of strength from the icons in my house. I have several. They each reveal something about a person or story from scripture. They each play in my imagination, in my heart, and become partners in prayer to God. But the icon of Jesus offering his blessing with one hand while holding the always-challenging scriptures in the other is perhaps the most provocative icon I possess. It’s almost as if it possesses me.

It seems so strange to say any of this about a picture. And in this case it’s really about a print glued to a thin piece of wood. It’s a simple object. But there it is. In this day and time, I can think of no more powerful a partner and guide than this particular window into Christianity. This is a time when the church needs to show itself as a blessing to the world and not a crutch for the weak or an oppressive institution bent on keeping women, minorities or anyone else in their place (wherever that might be). All I say from the pulpit should have the quality of blessing to it. But there is the other hand of Jesus.

There is a challenge implied in this icon. Jesus holds the scriptures in his left hand. The copy he holds is covered in gold and jewels. It’s a lovely book…perhaps a bit grandiose for your average community church, but then again I’m a Baptist talking about icons. So, maybe the rules have changed a little. But there they are, in his hand…the challenge of the scriptures is not to be taken lightly. And there are many challenges implied.

Can I make sense of words from two thousand years ago? That’s a challenge.

And if I do, can I bear up under their message to us now? It is hard to love the Lord, your God, the Great I AM, in a world that might question your intelligence or sanity for believing in God in the first place.

It is challenging to say that God loves all of us in this world that sometimes shows so little love.

It is challenging to cry “mercy” in stead of asking for vengeance.

It is challenging to proclaim that the poor are Christ in the world.

It is challenging to proclaim that no institution, government, power, corporation, principality, can save us from anything…
that it is only God who can save us…
that true judgment is the ability to recognize salvation when it is offered.

True courage is to accept it.

And all this is just the tip of the iceberg…held in Jesus’ hand.
The icon is great company in all of this. I should say that Jesus is great company in all of this. The icon points me to Jesus. The icon shows me this powerful reflection of Jesus. The icon is a window into some place I am only beginning to live into. I take great comfort in this image of Jesus, in the blessing and in the challenge.

God blesses me.

God is not yet done with me.

This morning we are met with an image of God…an icon of sorts. This is Good Shepherd Sunday. The passages this Sunday are all about this image of God…and it is a powerful one. Second and third century Christians lived under the shadow of The Good Shepherd. Churches that archaeologists have uncovered from that period often have mosaics of the Good Shepherd placed prominently within them. For those Christians, the image was both a blessing and a challenge.

In most of the Roman world, Christians from this period in history were being persecuted, imprisoned and killed for their beliefs. All of the apostles would be martyred. In generations that followed, many would suffer such a fate. So, images like the one offered to us in the passage from Revelation, and promises voiced by Jesus in John’s Gospel would take a central place in the faith of those generations of the church.

You will pass through the great tribulation, says John the Revelator.

Even death cannot separate you from the Love of Christ, says John the Gospeler.

The early church was wrestling with forces that were beyond their ability to circumvent. They were, in their way, subversives.
They gave to the poor. They created group homes for widows and orphans. They rescued the abandoned girl children from homes that did not want them because they would be an economic burden. They would not bow to the Emperor of Rome as a god. They would not swear such fealty because they believed that God was above any emperor, any king. They healed. They lived together in community.
This is what put them in danger. Their way of participating in the civil life of the empire was atypical. Some even thought that they were dangerous. They were considered superstitious on one hand, atheist on the other. Some onlookers admired them for their good works but balked at the reason behind the good works. So, the church looked to the Good Shepherd, the Lamb upon the Throne.

Sometimes I wonder if I have fallen into the trap of thinking of the Good Shepherd as just a pleasant image of God. When I have preached on this passage in the past, I have spoken about sheep…how they are clever…and how they are not. I have spoken about shepherds and how they were rough and tumble youths but yet gentle with their charge. I have romanticized the Good Shepherd into a bucolic image of agrarian pleasantness. But now I see it differently.

The early church claimed the Good Shepherd not just because they needed some assurance that they were going to heaven or that their robes would be washed in the blood of Jesus and be made clean. It is not an image proposing escapism. They needed the strength of the image to continue the work of the Gospel in the face of incredible difficulties. They knew the bone crushing power of empire. They knew that the work of the Gospel could lead to their deaths. And the image of the Good Shepherd, the mystical vision from Revelation, empowered them to stand in such a world and proclaim the Gospel nonetheless.

Jesus met with those who were on the outside. Those who follow him will be seen as odd, outlandish, crude, impossible, strange, subversive, and potentially a danger to the status quo.

As strange as Revelation may seem to us now, there is no other book in the Bible that so clearly describes the power of empire and the troubles that arise when we challenge it proclaiming that God sits in judgment of the empire and asks us all to give ourselves over to love and gentleness. The vision describes an ongoing cultural and cosmic shift of perception. The vision of John of Patmos is a pastoral response to a people caught in the midst of strife.

There are empires…there are forces set against God either by design or accident. And they believe that they sit in judgment. They believe that they can define humanity. They believe that their definitions of reality can remake the world. They believe they offer salvation…of one kind or another.

And don’t think that we escape this trap by virtue of our proclaimed allegiance. The church, too, as an institution, has fallen into this same trap again and again. Roman Christian Imperialism, The Crusades, American Evangelical Protestantism are just a few of examples…fundamentalism of any stripe, liberal or conservative has this same failing. We have to be wary of this trap. We have to look to the Good Shepherd.

Judgment belongs to God. Life belongs to God. Our safety, our salvation, belongs to God. It does not rest in our hands. It rests in the hands of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

So, what I would ask of you all this morning is this: Do you have an image of God that blesses and challenges you. Do you have an image of God, an icon that can hold all of the strife of the world within it?

The genocide in Darfur?
The massacre at Virginia Tech?
The daily bombings in Iraq?
Military invasion?
Poverty?
Cruelty and brokenness hidden behind doors in our suburbs?
All our feelings of insecurity?

Do you have an icon that can challenge this world? Do you have an icon that desires to bless and renew the same world, a world in turmoil? Do you have an icon that will uphold you as you participate in the renewal of this world?

If you do not, I ask you to look to the Good Shepherd. Begin there. See how he suits you. See how he challenges and cares for you in the midst of your work for the Kingdom.

The King of love, my shepherd is.

My shepherd will supply my need.

Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death…

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Thanks be to God.

sermon musings: the good shepherd

Abba Abraham told of a man of Scetis who was a scribe and did not eat bread. A brother came to beg him to copy a book. The old man whose spirit was engaged in contemplation, wrote, omitting some phrases and with no punctuation. The brother, taking the book and wishing to punctuate it, noticed that words were missing. So he said to the old man, 'Abba, there are some phrases missing.' The old man said to him, 'Go, and practice first that which is written, then come back and I will write the rest.' [Scetis=Sheheet]

This week's lectionary is challenging. The Good Shepherd passages are so well known. I hear many people say the same thing that I struggle with: Do I simply preach the comforting and familiar, or do I try to find an uncommon or unfamiliar take? I certainly will not come up with anything new. That is certain. If I am honest, that is true for most Sundays. People have been engaging the scriptures for thousands of years. So, what the hell do I know? Not much in comparison with the ongoing conversation I am entering whenever I preach. Humility, brothers and sisters, humility. Oy. Friggin. Veh.

Here are some of the various themes running through my head this morning.

1. Historically, the Good Shepherd was a very common image for God in the first couple of centuries of the church. Historians suggest that this is because of the persecutions that the church faced and the believers' understandable need to equate themselves with those who have passed through the great tribulation of the Revelation passage.

2. Walter Wink in his book The Powers That Be has a lot to say about the falsehood of redemptive violence. I am thinking about the variety of understandings of sacrifice that we have and wondering which is appropriate for the Christian. Believe it or not, I am trying not to force my own opinion in this. Is it the violent act that redeems us in martyrdom or is it the faithfulness in the face of/in spite of violence that redeems us?

3. I do not want to talk about sheep...how intelligent they are or how stupid they are. Please, God, don't ask me to talk about sheep. Amen.

4. McClendon wants us to think that one way to unity for the church is simple embodyment of the true saints. It's not a bad idea.

5. Hauerwas has a lot to say about sacrifice. But can I preach any of it? Perhaps in that there may be no earthly reward in civic life for the true martyr. Heck, I dunno. This is some dense stuff!

Well, folks, that is what is running through my head this morning. Trish is making cupcakes for a baby shower that we are going to later today. The house smells wondrously unhealthy right now. There is nothing like chocolate at eight in the morning to get the day started right!

Oh! This is from Protestants for the Common Good:

The Lectionary readings taken from the book of Revelation are heavily loaded toward the liturgical and heavenly-drama sections of that book. There is much else in this unique Christian book that has been left out of the three-year cycle of readings.

Christopher Rowland sums up Revelation in the Lectionary as follows:

The Revised Common Lectionary prescribes ten readings from Revelation over the three-year cycle. Of these ten readings, five are from Revelation 21-22 [New Heaven and Earth and the New Jerusalem], four from two passages (1:4-8; 7:9-17) [both visions of the heavenly liturgy], and one from chapter 5 [another heavenly liturgy]. …To paraphrase Bonhoeffer’s words, we have ceased to be a community that hears the Apocalypse, for the simple reason that we do not allow ourselves the opportunity of hearing, let alone keeping, its words.” (The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 12, p. 510.)

The point is that over half the book of Revelation is about the struggle and chaos on earth of the agony accompanying the birth of the new age. There is a great cosmic warfare going on, and the seer’s visions present the warring sides and the cost to faithful witnesses of the struggle between the mighty forces of evil and the good forces of the heavenly Lamb. There is not another book in the Christian Bible that presents so clearly the oppressive power of great imperial forces. This is a message that many Christians around the world need to hear, because it reflects their own experience of overwhelming forces bearing them down – but insists also on a final hope for deliverance.
...
Much of the language and vision materials of Revelation are highly suggestive insights into the forces of evil, the larger inertias of masses of people and power that ultimately oppose and resist the power of good indicated by the great end-goal, the Reign of God.

someone tagged me again...

Beth tagged me. And this is the perfect meme for a post-modern, post-colonial, and it would seem, post-protestant Baptist. Thanks, Beth.

Name your four favorite saints, your favorite blessed saint, and the person you think should be canonized.

The two faves: St. George (my given name, dragons, legends, not a pacifist) and St. Pachomius (monastics arise!)

The four:
1. St. Brendan (the voyage guy)
2. St. Patrick (c'mon, like I have a choice there)
3. St. Mary of Egypt
4. St. Francis Xavier (There is a room at Richmond Hill assigned this saint and the virtue of "victory over self.")

The runner-up: Thomas Merton (Heck, I dunno. Mother Theresa would be good, too. But Harry Emerson Fosdick would make a great Dominican saint!)

This was harder than I thought. I have several saints that I pray with through icons. But, yeah, none of the above except George. So, I tag Jorge, Kate K., Mark, and Jane Ellen.

friday five

Friday Five: What Are You...

1. Wearing - tan slacks, gray sweater, red AIDSRide shirt...

2. Pondering - my sermon and how I avoid talking about sheep

3. Reading - The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong

4. Dreaming - about my Jungian analyst. Yeah. Our next session will be fun.

5. Eating - I just had some Aztec hash from Blind Faith Cafe.

Kudos to RGBP.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Thanks, Huw.

the sea change

Abba Ammonas was asked, "What is the 'narrow and hard way?'" (Mat. 7:14) He replied, "The 'narrow and hard way' is this, to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the sentence, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.'" (Mat. 19:27)

The Young Fogey has asked me to post about some stuff that has been floating around the internet (here and here) and, honestly, the classrooms of American seminaries lately. Has the ethos of the Baby Boomes caused some sort of harm to churches in America? This is one of the many questions generationalists and others have been pondering as they have been searching for the variety of reasons mainline protestantism has struggled in the last, say, fifty years. I am not sure that it is a fair question, and let me tell you why.

No one generation is ever responsible for the whole of a church or a country. Yes, the Boomers are a sizable generation, but have they really "ruined it" for everyone else? C'mon. The Boomers show up and the rest of us are mute? Please. Let's own a little of this dynamic, okay? Someone made room for them in the church. They did not hijack it.

Okay, that wee rant is done.

Lots of things have come about in the church because of the efforts of Boomers and those who wanted to make room for them...the mega church is one example that has demanded everyone's attention in the US. Everybody's talkin' about how you put a rock band in your sanctuary and (whammo!) twenty thousand people show up. That's great. The economy of scale is a tremendous thing to witness in such churches.

What else have the boomers done? Have they turned the church into a social club? Maybe. But the Boomers mark a "sea change" from the last century. Churches were perceived as places where little social welfare was being accomplished. Churches, if you believe their detractors, were out of the loop. They were places that conserved the culture of the 1920's and that was all. They were irrelevant, not keeping up with the culture (science, music, art etc) around them that was changing at a mercurial pace. Yes, that is a gross oversimplification (See: Catholic Worker Movement), but this whole conversation is.

So, the Boomers asked the church to change, to make the shift. Otherwise they would not come. The same thing happened in Peter Marshall's ministry. He was at New York Avenue Presbyterian trying to get young people back into the church. There was a crisis, you know. That was during the 1930's when the Catholic Worker Movement arose as well...We are constantly having to ask the chruch to step up. Young people are always challenging the church and the church either changes or not in response.

Anyway, what we are seeing now is new...and not new. One generation, the Boomers, asked the church to meet them where they were. And it did. A new generation is asking for the church to tell them something that they think they need to hear. Call it Emergent. Call it Radical Orthodoxy. Call it what you want, but the short of it is that some people want to meet God...and they are not sure if the churches are offering God or something else entirely.

Now, I pastor two churches. One is a small-ish suburban church populated almost entirely by Boomers and people of their parents' generation. The other is a small urban church populated almost entirely by 20-somethings. The latter is much more orthodox than the former. They are equally social justice minded. They are, surprisingly, almost politically identical. But the theologies they espouse are, on the surface, opposed to one another. I am in quite a state trying to work my way into the lives of these two churches. But they have served as microcosms of this struggle others perceive. What I want to know is how we bring these groups together...not these two congregations per se, but certainly the generations.

Anyone have any ideas? I wish I did.

I agree that a congregation is not a social club. It is social, sure, but that is not its theological goal, is it? I mean, forgiveness, redemption, mercy, humility etc are all social, but I am not sure the church's purpose is to be social. Anyway...I also agree that a church is not a social service organization. I like what Jorge said:

The Church must change. The Church cannot merely be a service club, although it should be the service club par excellence. The poor need not be poor, so we cannot see the Church’s primary role as "feeding the poor." The Church is the Body of Christ, with all the brothers and sisters in Christ as its members. And it’s a big body, folks. Bigger than we realize, most of the time.

What I think Jorge is saying is that the Church is the body of people that proclaims the existance of and lives in the Kingdom of God. It worships God on Sunday. There are identifying practices of the church (liturgy, breviaries, etc) It proclaims God the rest of the time in their actions, their relationships, and even their politics. Correct me if I am misunderstanding you, Jorge.

So, yeah, the church is much more than what happens on Sunday morning (an old complaint about the church). It is also more than a service club (a new complaint?). It is the very presence of God in the world.

Well, that is what I think. And that identity challenges every culture and generation in different ways. And, in every generation voices will rise up and say "But wait! You forgot this part!" What will the generation that follows us say? What part have we forgotten. That should be our real question. We should not fret over what the Boomers, Silents, or (gasp) Gen X has done to us. We should ask Christ what Christ needs of us.

Wow.

Um, yeah. Thus ends the sermon.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!

wednesday linkage

Abba Isidore the priest said, 'If you fast regularly, do not be inflated with pride, but if you think hightly of yourself because of it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for you to eat meat than to be inflated with pride and to glorify yourself.'

I am trying to get back to the slipshod practice of Wednesday's post of links I have found interesting. So, take a moment or twelve and pop in on some of these!

AKMA is talking about people talking about his book.
Richard John Neuhaus - The Much Exaggerated Death of Europe
Mary Shertz - Sheepish
Cliff is posting ads about Fred's Presidential run. This in not for the faint of heart. Heh! (Hi, Cliff!)
Jane Ellen+ blogged about how not to welcome a bishop.
Noz is comparing Franklin with Rohrabacher.
Rich posted about Tech. Give him a read.
Amy wrote about the freedom of truth telling.
Mike posted on why he believes in God.

(a Chicago skyscape by petermavrik)

wow

From Levellers...

"Twelve men went out from Jerusalem into the world, and they were unlearned men, unable to speak [i.e., unable to speak eloquently because not trained in Greek rhetoric]; but by the power of God they told every race of humanity that they were sent by Christ to teach all people the word of God. And we who formerly slew one another not only now refuse to make war against our enemies, but for the sake of not telling lies or deceiving those who examine us [i.e., investigators charged with getting them to confess to the crime of being Christian], gladly die confessing Christ."–Justin Martyr (c. 100-165).

In a description of the early Christian movement to the Roman Emperor about the year 150.

sabbath 20: t-rex of choice

Abba Agathon said, 'There is no greater labor than prayer to God. For every time someone wants to pray, their enemies the demons want to prevent them, for they know that it is only by turning that person from prayer that they can hinder their journey. Whatever good work someone undertakes, if they persevere in it they will attain rest. But prayer is warfare to the last breath.'

Huzzah! We are back to blogging about Sabbath by Wayne Muller. You can go to Megan's blog here, or to Cristopher's post here. They both had interesting insights to offer per usual. As Megan said, it is great to share the blogging on this book. The widened conversation has been a great gift.

Muller wants us to think about the innumerable choices available to us in our culture. Go to the grocery store and choose a type peanut butter. No, not that one, the other one. No wait, maybe cashew butter. Or should it be the creamy free-range almond butter this week? My, it is hard to choose!

He also seems to think that we have fallen prey to the thinking that everything, people, communities etc, can be lumped into this practice of making choices. And this can pain us just as much as it is freeing. Choose a spouse. Choose a school. Choose someone, something, somewhere...Yeah. It can become overwhelming. Our freedom to choose can become a spiritual distraction. So, he suggets that sometimes Sabbath can be found by setting limits. I agree. This is what happens for me every week with my sermons.

Now, let me first say that I am completely aware that I have limited success with this practice. It is my constant reminder of my own humanity. Ah, blessed humbleness...or something.

I begin each week with about ten ideas for the sermon on the approaching Sunday. When I first started preaching I was able to reduce that number to three by the time Sunday came around. These days I have better success at getting the sermon down to one idea. But it is hard. I am constantly intrigued and engaged by these new ideas. It is an actual mental discipline to take an ideas as it comes and put it aside. I am constantly seeing something new and different for myself. I am constantly making connections. It is an unconscious process...a habit that I cannot quit. I am not even sure I even want to, but there has to be some coherency in my sermons. So, I endeavor to keep the options to a dull roar. This is completel counter intuitive, but it has proven to be a great thing to practice for me. There is a certain liberty in being able to focus on just one thing and not ten.

Wayne may be the kind of personality who is as easily distracted as I am. Perhaps not. I think that some people may find Sabbath in a break from the monotany...an opening of options may be Sabbath as well. Either way, it is an interesting line of thought...choice and Sabbath.

monday musings

One day Abba Arsenius consulted an old Egyptian monk about his own thoughts. Someone noticed this and said to him, 'Abba Arsenius, how is it that you with such a good Latin and Greek education, ask this peasant about your thoughts?' He replied, 'I have indeed been taught Latin and Greek, but I do not know even the alphabet of this peasant.'

The weekend was a full one. Saturday evening I attended the local Baptist region's "Discipleship Dinner." It was a lot of fun. Tony Campolo spoke. He's really quite good. Insanely extroverted, but wonderful. Ha.

There were several churches represented at the dinner. So, several of us pastors were there as well...all speaking of our sermons for Sunday. Few of us, it seemed, had actually finished writing our sermons. Some were wondering how they were going to speak about the events at Virginia Tech. Others were thinking about other possibilities, postponing the VT sermons until another time.

My sermon went well enough...well, except that I started crying toward the end. It's interesting that my own words set me off. But as I started saying:

"And God knows that this is a world that needs people who know how to bear the beams of love.

On the journey that is life, there are many turns in the road. Some we make ourselves. Other turning seems to come on its own volition, as if willed by circumstance. And sometimes it is as if a voice spoke from above and simply asked us to stop, to change direction, to follow, or to feed some sheep."

I just lost it. The emotions from the week caught up with me. Yeah. I'm still tired.

So, today I nap.

Oh! Sabbath 20 is up at Megan's blog. I'll get to it tomorrow.

sermon: third sunday of easter

Here it is gang. Have at it.

Sermon: The Third Sunday of Easter, 2007
April 22, 2007
Community Church of Wilmette

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
John 21:1-19

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

I have stood in this particular pulpit for almost a year now. And there was never a more helpful congregation when it comes to suggesting new ideas, giving pointers, or offering helpful comments about preaching. I thank you for your participation and I encourage you to continue.

One of the comments I have received from several people is this: Some want to know what I mean when I use the word "salvation." You want a definition. This is a wise request because, as many likely know, the idea of salvation can be used to bludgeon people into submission. We are still getting to know one another and I don't ever want you all to misunderstand me in this. So, write this down, or say it with me. Here's a good working definition of salvation:

"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."

William Blake penned those words. And for me, they are a great reminder of the purpose behind everything we do...God's intent for us on this earth. Every challenge, every obligation, and hope we possess can be channeled into this notion. It is a great working definition of salvation.

"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."

When I speak of salvation, I am speaking about the process of learning to bear the beams of love. There's still a great deal for me to learn about bearing the beams of love standing in this pulpit. So, I don't want you to stop making your suggestions, or asking your questions, or outright disagreeing with me. You see even Peter and Paul had to learn from community. They spent their entire lives, their ministries learning from Jesus through those whom they were called to serve. We can all learn from that example, especially those of us given the task to preach.

In our stories this morning Paul and Peter both encounter the Resurrected Jesus. They both encounter the risen Lord, and they both experience a moment that becomes a road marker on their journey of salvation. These examples are powerful, so powerful that the communities that surrounded them wrote the stories down, they handed them on to us so that we might better understand the nature of our own salvation…

Paul's journey to salvation is one of the more famous. In Baptist tradition it is so honored that in some circles if you cannot recite the day and the hour of your conversion, the validity of your conversion may be questioned. Now that's pretty stiff engagement with a story! We may not take it to that extreme, but Paul's salvation story can still be a great guide to us. Paul is led from violent opposition to Christ into passionate proclamation of love. His tale is legendary because of the immeasurable impact he had upon the church as a teacher, a guide and an example of what salvation can do. It can transform a man from being a violent persecutor into being a loving guide, and demanding teacher.

Peter's own journey to salvation is no less remarkable. Peter was given the "keys to the kingdom." Jesus honored Peter by placing incredible trust in him. "Will you feed my sheep?"

This is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times.

This is the same Peter who, so frequently, could not keep his mouth shut
and would try to walk on water only to sink into the sea.

Peter was given this kind of responsibility in spite of (or perhaps because of) his past inconsistencies.

Can it be that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom,
that the Resurrected Christ gave Peter the task of feeding his sheep,
because he hoped that Peter had learned compassion?

Peter knew what it was to deny Christ. Peter knew what it was to stand in opposition to Christ and yet still receive forgiveness and be led back into grace. This would be Peter's great gift to the church. Feed my lambs, Peter…Teach them salvation. Love them even when they deny me.

These two tales of salvation also tell us something of the role of community.

Conversion is not an isolated experience between the individual believer and Jesus. Yes, it is a personal, intimate and potentially quite profound experience, but it is at its very core a communal experience. It is not private, belonging solely to the individual. By deciding to follow Jesus, we enter into the community whom God has claimed as God's own Body. We join a great cloud of witnesses. God will call on others like Ananias to guide us, to teach us, to show us the way.

Paul, after he was struck blind, was given into the care of Ananias. He was told to go and find the community. We will find out later in Galatians that he spent three years with the community before beginning his work of creating communities of the faithful. He had to learn from someone, from a community what it meant to love in the radical life-giving fashion of Jesus. And this was no easy task for Ananias. Ananias took a risk.

"Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name."

But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel. I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

We risk.
But God is with us in this risk.
The community is not alone in its charge to teach people to love.

Peter was given the responsibility of guiding the community. He was given the responsibility of feedings God's sheep. Our salvation comes with this kind of responsibility implied. This is one of the many reasons why Baptists hold to the notion of believer's baptism. Agreeing to follow Jesus is a tremendous responsibility. It is a salvific risk! It is the pledge to love in a way that the world with its false hierarchies, divisions and violence may not welcome.

Today we witness to the beginning of conversion. We do not know if it will come to fruition in baptism or if it will take some other direction. We dedicate Hunter to God. But please notice that in all that was said and done this morning Hunter said nothing. He made no promises. He made no pledge. He gurgled and smiled and tried to steal my glasses, yes. But he made no promises. Hunter was simply presented to us as is.

We pledged.
We promised.

We, as parents, god-parents, and as church have committed to Hunter's education in love, his salvation. We have taken on that responsibility. The dedication of this child is about the pledge and commitment of this community to teach him about salvation in Jesus, to teach him about what it means to bear the beams of love.

And God knows that this is a world that needs people who know how to bear the beams of love.

On the journey that is life, there are many turns in the road. Some we make ourselves. Other turning seems to come on its own volition, as if willed by circumstance. And sometimes it is as if a voice spoke from above and simply asked us to stop, to change direction, to follow, or to feed some sheep.

This morning we have been given the generous reminder of that journey...to encounter Hunter so near the beginning of his journey is a great gift to us all. To be given the opportunity to pledge our love and wisdom to him and his parents, too, is a great gift to us all.

For God will meet us on the road.
Christ will ask us to feed his sheep.
God will ask us to turn when we stray.

"We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love."

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Thanks be to God!

limbo lower now...

Just say "no" to Limbo.

Read on!

Incredible. The Roman Catholic Church will do away with the doctrine/theory/notion of Limbo.

a merry distraction

friday five

This is a meme from the RevGalBlogPals

Tell us about five people, places, or things that have brought surprising, healing joy into your life.

1. Owning up: Megan, my interlocutor and friend, saved my life one long weekend.
2. Kissing up: My thesis advisor, Ruth, was wonderful when the degree track that I thought I was entering at seminary dissolved from beneath my feet. She helped me craft an alternate track that still met most of my needs. In the process I was welcomed more fully into the community of the seminary in stead of finding it to be an opportunity for alienation.
3. Tuning up: Shannon, with the help of Herr Erb, showed me that I could sing. Until she convinced me and he pushed me, I assumed I could not. From then on everything changed. Everything.
4. Teeing up: God save me, but I like golf. I like it a lot.
5. Shutting up: Richmond Hill will always be a quiet place of healing for me. Gotta be still. Gotta be silent. Sometimes I just can't hear God otherwise.

friday musings

Abba Zeno said, 'If a man wants God to hear his prayer quickly, then before he prays for anything else, even his own soul, when he stands and stretches out his hands towards God, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies. Through this action God will hear everything that he asks.'

I'm a little homesick for Virginia today. Can't imagine why with everything that is going on. Our nephew, Wyatt, is celebrating his third birthday on Sunday. It is a beautiful sunny day here in Ouilmette and the trees are budding. We needed this break in the gray skies. So, my motivation to do much has dwindled. Still, there is much to do. My sermon is almost done. It needs to be done before a 3pm meeting this afternoon. We have a baby dedication, so I am preaching on conversion. Saturday is already filled to the brim with activity. So, there will be no time to work on the sermon then. Ah, such is the life.

Had some random thoughts last night...I am a Southern white male Baptist minister. Who knew I had so much power? Wish I knew what to do with it. "People will love me and despair!!!" I miss azaleas. I wish to be more gentle, but prefer goodness over kindness. This may prove problematic in the long run. I need a new pair of green flip flops. The sun sings. We all need to pretend in order to encounter our mortality.

I'll find some time to play the mandolin today. I'm feeling some sadness and need to pick myself up.

Oh, and if you are in the neighborhood and just want to stop by and pray, the sanctuary is open! C'mon in.

a final tech post and other news

Abba John said to his brother, 'Even if we are entirely despised in the eyes of others, let us rejoice that we are honoured in the sight of God.'

Micah sent a link to Bishop Marc's blog. He has some fond memories of being at Tech. The ABC news wire has this article about the tragedy. Again, the students are struggling. This is the kind of thing that will stay with many of them for the rest of their lives. The school will need a great deal of help as it tries to recover from the trauma. Many of the wounds will not reveal themselves for years. Prayers are needed. Support is needed. I imagine Trish and I will make a pilgrimage at some point.

"The personal impact is deep and wide," said Sarah Ballew, a native of Blacksburg, whose father served as the Baptist campus minister at Virginia Tech for 26 years. She serves in China with her husband, Larry, as a mission worker of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

"Blacksburg is a small community of 40,000 people and 26,000 university students. Everyone is connecting with Virginia Tech somehow. This is devastating for everyone on the campus and in the community and for the many, many people who have connections to Virginia Tech."

This quotation is from the ABPress article. This pretty much sums it up. It is a huge school in a small city. It is the state school that many kids from rural communities go to...like the one I grew up in and the one Trish grew up in.

*Ryan at Everyday Faith posted this about VT. His youth group was deeply effected by what happened...one youth in particular.

In other news, the ABPress posted these two articles about the Supreme Court decision yesterday to uphold a ban on "partial birth" abortions.

In sweeping decision, divided court upholds 'partial-birth' abortion ban
In court's abortion decision, both sides see risk for Roe

And here we are again at the separation of church and state issue that Megan and I debated yesterday. Is this a church and state issue? Is it a domestic national security issue? Both? Neither? It's a tangled mess to be sure.

a post article

Amma Theodora said that a teacher ought to be a stranger to the desire for domination, vain-glory, and pride; one should not be able to fool him by flattery, nor blind him by gifts, nor conquer him by the stomach, nor dominate him by anger; but he should be patient, gentle and humble as far as possible; he must be tested and without partisanship, full of concern, and a lover of souls.

Here is another article on the shootings. It tells of a broken human being and all the difficulties that exist in trying to help someone. This entire story is so very convoluted ethically. The whole thing is just so sad. Cliff linked to this list of those killed. Again, heartbreaking. We should hold all of the families shattered by this event in our prayers.

A Song of the New Creation
(Isaiah 43:15-21)

'I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your king.'

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,

'Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.

'Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

'I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,

'The people whom I formed for myself,
that they might declare my praise.'

Beth Newman has written an interesting editorial about Easter. I commend it to your reading. In it she offers these words from Wendell Berry:

So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Love someone who does not deserve it… Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.

And this is the crux of my rant from yesterday. As a Christian, I want to know how to practice resurrection. It is a life-long struggle. This is a foregone conclusion. Because, as the events at Virginia Tech and in every other community in America suggest every day of the year, the world is not living into the resurrection. Sometimes it is like we are stuck between Easter and Good Friday. This is Paul's "glass darkly." I understand it.

And it is why the church throughout its history has wrangled with the place of violence in the world and how the church should or should not respond. Theories like "just war" and "Christian non-violence" pop up. We live in a world rife with powers and priniciplaities. Some of them are nations and corporations and are easy to see and name. Others, like illness and dysfunction, are not so easily seen. Violence comes. I am not utopian in my thinking. Jesus was crucified...and may ask us all to bear a cross at some time.

But, as a Christian, I believe I am to live a life that proclaims resurrection, a life that says that violence is false. A violent life is no life at all. And defending myself from violence with yet more violence is a denial of the power of the cross. I know many faithful who will disagree with me there. Faithful disagreement is a long-standing tradition in the church.

Isaiah speaks of a new world. Jesus has made it for us. So, yeah. That's my challenge. I want to live a resurrected life. I want to rail at a nation whose laws deny it. I guess that's all I have to say right now.

related links

Jorge
AKMA

virginia tech

The angel when giving the rules of monasticism to St. Pachomius said to him: "... He laid down that in the course of the day they should make twelve prayers, and at the lamp-lighting time twelve, and in the nightly vigils twelve, and at the ninth hour three. When the multitude goes to eat, he laid down that a psalm should be sung before each prayer. As Pachomius objected to the angel that the prayer were too few..."

This is the kind of thing that I always question posting...I know that I am angry. I know that I need to pray. I know that my wisdom is insufficient. And yet...We need to be gentle with one another.

We need to grieve and pray for the shattered families...including that of the gunman. The authorities had a hard time identifying him because his self-inflicted wound ruined his face. We should weep. This is, as my father said, unspeakable. We should turn to the example of our Amish brothers and sisters from almost a year ago.

My timing sucks. I am sure. But Trish and I were speaking this morning about the tragedy. She is a graduate of Tech. She was describing the distances, the security in the dorms. There is nothing that the authorities at Virginia Tech could have done to protect the students than they already do. I know this may sound absurd to many. But there you go. Twenty-six thousand students, an open campus...This is a small city, not a one room school house. There is no way to control a campus like this and assure the absolute safety of the students. It's impossible. I hope that no one loses their job over this. Truly.

What I will say, however scandalous it may be to say it, is that we need to wake up. As a nation, we need to wake up. We have established a system in which our children are sacrificed for our right to own a firearm...our supposed right to protect ourselves. We are willing, intentionally or not, to allow people to go to K-Mart or Dick's sporting goods and purchase handguns just like the ones that Cho Seung-Hui possessed. We are willing to make room for such atrocities in our country in the name of a "right." This is human sacrifice. If we are so evolved as a species or as a culture, you would think that we would see this. If God has asked us to stop sacrificing our children to assure our salvation (see: Abraham), you would think that we would put a stop to this outrageous "right." It is not worth it. I cannot see how it is worth it.

When we were a small nation...and we needed to protect ourselves from super powers like France, Spain and England, from wild beasts, from the Native Americans (That was the thinking.), then it made some sense. I'm a pacifist, you know, so I have trouble with this idea as a whole, but I understand the logic. Our country (the space, size of it) was virtually impossible to protect from invasion. Now, what are we protecting ourselves from?

One another. You. Me. Our neighbor.

We want to own guns so that our neighbor will not kill us. We want to own guns because we fear our neighbor! This is insane. And our legal punishments do not hold gun crime at bay. They do not protect us at all. They happen after our children die. It is too late. No one is saved by the legislation. No one is helped by the legislation. All we do is remind people where the line is...and they will continue to step over it. Why? Because they can. There is no way to protect ourselves.

Perhaps, perhaps it is too late. Logistically it may simply be impossible now to undo what is done. That may be true. I don't know that people would be willing to hand in their guns. I don't think that they would. And the gun manufacturers make too much money...and they give people jobs. It is a tangled mess.

But we have to admit that we have allowed ourselves room for such tragedies to occur. We have crafted a culture that says, believe it or not, I am willing to suffer such a tragedy so that I can keep a 9 mm. gun by my bedside. That is what we have agreed to.

Lord, God, forgive me. Protect me from myself...and may those who read this blog forgive my frustration and outrage...But I am completely beside myself in this. I want us to give up this "right." It does not save us. It cannot protect us. It has simply created a culture where we sacrifice one another to one another in the name of safety...an idol.

*updated* related links:

Episcopal Diocese of California
American Baptist Press
Washington Post
CNN
Kantinho Do Rev
The Pope
*Falsani

pray

This has been running across the internet and the television...

• Police chief says at least 22 people are dead; congressmen report 32
• Four hospitals report 29 wounded
• Attacks mark deadliest school shooting in U.S. history
• Student describes situation as "mayhem"; says 2 students jumped from window
link

My wife went to undergrad there. My brother went to graduate school there. We have been in touch with friends who teach there now. "Mayhem" is a word I used yesterday in my sermon. It's an underestimation.

remember

Yom HaShoah
יום השואה

tagged!

It was said of Abba John the Persian that when some evildoers came to him, he took a basin and wanted to wash their feet. But they were filled with confusion, and began to do penance.

Ref+ tagged me. Yes, he has set me up for failure. I love it when I get tagged and have nothing to say to participate. So, here is my plan. I will cut and paste the tagged instructions. In your ample free time this lovely Monday, I encourage all visitors to contribute one response in the comments. Given the subject matter, some of you may be tempted to contribute a great deal. Heh. Do what you must!

Thank you very much for your kind assistance. I am certain to learn loads.

Rules: 1) Post six weird things about yourself; 2) Tag six weird people to do the same.

Here are my six victims. I hope you have better luck than I did.

Cliff
Megan
Rich @ Squeezings
Young Fogey
Jorge
Mae

sermon: authority or authorship

Follow the extended link to read the sermon for this morning.

Authority or Authorship

(lectionary)

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia.

It may be hard to believe, but it is still Easter. This is the second Sunday of the Easter Season…so be ready, everyone, for who might walk through that door. You don't know when the risen Christ himself may come in.

What? Do you think that's foolish? Well, perhaps it is. But in reading today's gospel passage, it seems that one can never be too sure when Jesus is going to show up and show you his wounds and offer you peace.

Yes, peace.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." (John 20:19)

There they were, in fear, and a fair bit of doubt. Everything had come to a screeching halt. And there they were on the first day, a Sunday mind you, and Jesus walks in and says "Peace be with you."

Peace.

The disciples were in terror. The religious authorities hunted them. Their beloved teacher had been killed…and had somehow been taken away. Raised? Even after last week's Easter proclamation, the disciples still feared. Sure, maybe Jesus had been raised, but what of them? What of them? They still faced the Sanhedrin, the face of the religious powers. They still faced Pilate and the power of the Roman Empire. They were afraid. So they locked the doors and sat with one another.

Sometimes, in the presence of such authority as the disciples faced…be it a government, a religious body, or in our time, a corporation, it is difficult to imagine that someone or something can stand…

…stand in opposition

…or stand in truth.

It is difficult to imagine standing much anywhere with any kind of strength or hope. I imagine this is what was running through the minds of all the disciples on that morning.

What now?

Where do we stand?

How do we go on?

No wonder they doubted. No wonder they feared.

But then Jesus appears. And he offers peace. They all touch his wounds in his hands. They all touch his side…all but Thomas. I think Thomas gets a bum rap in some ways. It is not that he is an exceptional doubter. It is simply that he was not there on the first Sunday when Jesus came before the disciples.

But Jesus comes again.

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." (John 20:26-27)

"My Lord and my God."

There, Jesus stands. And Thomas recognizes him. Like the other disciples before him, he touches the wounds. Like the other disciples before him, his faith is restored. Ancient sources also suggest that it is safe to assume that Thomas, too, received the Holy Spirit as Christ breathed on him that day.

Thomas' faith proclamation of "My Lord and my God" was not only a response to the assurance of wounds, the proof that the disciples were telling the truth. Let's not make that mistake.

The response was also to the fact that the wounds were overcome.

Yes, overcome.

It is that Jesus, in spite of what the authorities did, stood before Thomas and offered peace. He was risen. The wounds that the world gave him did not end him.

The wounds that the empire offered, both Rome and the religious authorities, did not end him. God overcomes the empire. The marks of the cross, the marks of empire, of human authority, are overshadowed by God's mercy revealed in Christ's resurrection.

"My Lord and my God."

Christ's wounds do not end him. They do not even define him. They announce solidarity with us. Grace, love, and our very salvation, as someone once said, are authored by God. We are drawn into the story of resurrection, a story that trumps the powers of the world. It does so with shouts of mercy, and with the announcement of peace. It does so bearing the wounds of the world….your wounds…my wounds...the wounds of the oppressed and persecuted.

God's mercy endures forever, says the Psalmist.

Now, the disciples do not remain behind locked doors contemplating the story. They do not simply sit on this stuff. Nor do not stir up violent resistance. But they do stir up trouble. Peter and the apostles will stand before the religious empire of their day and say, "We must obey God rather than any human authority." (Acts 5:29) They will stand and proclaim the story, the story of a risen Lord and the peace that he offers. They will stand in the face of the empire and proclaim "mercy."

"Mercy!" is the church's response when the empire cries,

    "Fear!"

        "Scarcity! We need more!"

                                                        The church cries, "Mercy!"

The church stands as Christ in the world. The community of the faithful stands as Christ did before the disciples, before those living in fear and says, "Peace be with you." The wounds are never denied. The wounds are real. Trouble is real. Death and mayhem are real. There are horrible things in this world. Empires still exist. And they still live on fear. And the church must stand in opposition to such things.

In our day and age, we stumble across empires all the time, some are almost hidden from view…corporate empires, political empires, media empires, military empires, entertainment empires…and, yes, religious empires. In Acts, the disciples stand before the theocrats and cry "mercy" when they would rather cause people to fear.

Every institution is tempted to become an empire.

Empires want to stand in their authority. The spirit of empire wants you to believe that you need what it possesses.

But Christ, and those who profess Christ, stand in the story. We stand in the story where empires come to an end. Eventually Rome falls, brothers and sisters, but God's mercy endures forever.

We stand in the story. We stand not in authority, but in authorship, in the presence of the "author of our salvation." For the word of God, the word uttered at the beginning of creation is "Peace."

"Mercy."

We proclaim the forgiveness of sins.

We proclaim mercy and not fear.

We proclaim peace and not scarcity.

The failure to do so can be calamitous. For, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "The church is only the church when it serves the other."

Sometimes, brothers and sisters, an authority can rise up, an empire can rise up, and it can decimate what lies before it. Thus the church's message must be constant. The church must always proclaim the story; it's faith in a risen savior. It must proclaim that authorship belongs to God, that human authority is fleeting. It must proclaim mercy and peace to all the world.

And when the world wounds people, when powers rise up, the church must stand as Christ did, bearing the wounds…in solidarity with all who suffer.

Alleluia! The Lord is risen!
The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Thanks be to God.

happy birthday, al

as sure as taxes and one of the girls

Again, abba Pastor said, "Teach your heart to observe what your tongue teaches others." And again, "People often want to appear to be perfect because of what they say, but their deeds don't always match their words."

Live and learn, they say. Yesterday was miserable. Well, the accountant was as aggressive as he could be, but we are still in quite the quagmire. The next six months are going to be very tight. It could have been worse, I guess. But that does not make me feel better.

Okay, that's all I am going to blog about that. Moving on...

Today is Friday the 13th. Mae, a friend of mine, loves this day. Mike, the accordion player with One of the Girls, loves this day. I have no particular feelings about this day. Though, I do want to remind you that we have a concert tonight. Yes, One of the Girls is performing this evening at Duke's. You should come out. Cancel your plans. Bring your date. Get a babysitter. I'm sure it's a tax deduction if you work it right. It's a Murphy's Law concert.

One of the Girls
Duke's Bar
6920 N. Glenwood
Chicago, IL
9pm
FREE!

a happening...

Follow the extended link, people!

Hello to our Theater Comrades , We're so excited to announce our annual benefit to support our mind blowing upcoming season. Hold on tight baby, because we've got the Chicago premiere of    Reefer Madness-The Musical as part of our SUMMER CAMP series at Mary's Attic, the critically acclaimed, The Birds this fall at Berger Park on the lake and the 10 year anniversary of Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre.   Love and Kisses- Your Friends at Handbag  THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE + OPEN BAR + SHOWGIRLS + WIGS + ALL YOU CAN EAT + JOAN CRAWFORD + 70'S VARIETY SHOW= A HANDBAG HAPPENING! (A FUN  BENEFIT)   None of this wine and cheese stuff for us. Come and party HANDBAG style with plenty of food and refreshments that you actually want to eat and drink with an open bar and buffet. Let your inner DIVA frolic among the bawdy and bodacious Handbag ensemble and supporters. Bid on super cool auction items and see the kind of show you EXPECT from Hell in a Handbag.   Handbag Artistic Director and resident playwright David Cerda dug deep at the bottom of his handbag and found a treasure trove of new songs from past, new, and a couple of 'what if?' shows which include:   POSEIDON! An Upside-Down Musical- Handbag revisits it's most popular show ever with 2 new songs.   Joan Crawford Goes to Hell, AGAIN (featuring The Joans)- Joan Crawford is back and she has even more to say with her very own rock band. Get a taste of the sequel to David Cerda's 1998 Joan Crawford Goes to Hell.   Showgirls-The Musical in 5 minutes-  By popular demand. A tale of a girl and her burning ambition, the Vegas way. Our most requested production for one night only.   VALLEY! (Of the Dolls)- The Musical in 5 minutes - Booze, pills and broads in this abbreviated classic tale about the price of fame.   Just added- Cabaret legend, Marna Martin- The Last Lady of Song!   And much more!   Join the entire glam squad that is the Hell in a Handbag ensemble and some special guests for a camp-tac-ular evening at the beautiful and spacious restaurant/nightclub, The Spot for the WORLD PREMIERE of songs from past, future, and imaginary shows to benefit our exciting 2007-2008 season .   Where & When THE SPOT 4437 N. Broadway (just north of Montrose) Chicago, Illinois  April 24, Starts at 7pm                                       GET SPECIAL ADVANCE ONLY INDUSTRY TICKETS FOR $25 NOW through Paypal!  Click in the Paypal icon on our home page Or send a check or money order to: HIAH Productions 2034 W. Farragut, #3 Chicago, IL 60625 or buy them from an ensemble member or call the Handbag hotline @ 312/409-4357- The Industry rate is only available for ADVANCED ticket purchases, so act now!   Can't make it but still want to support us? Click here to donate online HEY! DONATE GOODS OR SERVICES FOR OUR SILENT AUCTION TICKETS:A $40 Value, $25 for industry professionals(advanced tickets only) $45 at the door Founded in 2002, HIAH is helmed by Artistic Director David Cerda with a diverse group of artists dedicated to the preservation, exploration and, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music, and homage.   Ensemble Members: Rick Aguilar, Patricia Austin, David Cerda, Derek Czaplewski, Brannen Daugherty, Brigitte Ditmars, Lon Ellenberger, Merrie Greenfield, Clarissa Gregg, Tina Haglund, Tim Howard, Ed Jones, BC Kalz, Steve Kimbrough, Terry McCarthy,  Chad McLaughlin, Michael Miller, Aaron Smith, Trista Smith, Al Spera, Sharon Woodfork Hell in a Handbag Productions is a Not for Profit 501(C)3 Corporation. Photos by Rick Aguilar and Michael Miller. 'Air pockets' Linda Rogo illustration by Brad Flood. Hell in a Handbag Productions 2034 W. Farragut, #3 Chicago, Illinois 60625

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Today we see the accountant. Today I learn about things like quarterly payment schedules and how the parsonage is taxed as income. Pray for me. I am likely to sin a great deal today.

sermon musings...

I am looking through the lectionary for Sunday. It is a "Low Sunday" for most congregations. Some have even joked that it is an "Associate Preaching Festival" or something like that. I don't have an associate, so I'll be preaching.

The lectionary readings I have chosen for Community Church are the Acts passage and the Gospel. Covering "Doubting" Thomas again does not appeal to me, but we'll see. The Acts passage is interesting, and following Acts through Easter is an interesting way of remembering the history of the earliest Christian community as told in their own words. So, I'll likely follow Acts and the Gospel through the season.

For those of you unfamiliar with us "free church" folk, we don't usually keep to a lectionary much less provide for three readings plus the psalm in worship. That we read two passages each Sunday is on the heavy side of the tradition. I am pretty liturgical for a Baptist. So, I try to stick with these things.

The Psalm will occasionally appear in the call to worship. I might allude to the other scripture passage (Hebrew scripture, epistle reading or whatever is omitted) in my sermon if there is a direct connection. The lectionary folk don't always seek connections with the passages. They have other concerns on their minds in the scheduling of the three year lectionary.

So, yeah, this Sunday is loaded with possibilities. It is Yom Hashoah. It is Tax Day in the U.S. It is Doubting Thomas Sunday. There are many ways to approach these readings in light of that information.

It might be a great Sunday to talk about t