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Category Archives: current events
On judgement
Only the unjust know no shame, and say that because God does not change the dynamic of cause and effect, but lets us lead human lives of substance, agency, and consequence; only the foolish say that this means that God, our Judge and our Redeemer, does not notice nor care what goes on in our hearts, nor in our homes, nor in our nation. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, COVID-19, Jesus, judgement, karma, racism, Year A Proper 28, Zephaniah 1, Zephaniah 3
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It’s not about the oil
They were each one fixated on having her own lamp lit, and none had time nor bandwidth nor the imagination to think outside the oilcan.
If we each look to our own interests and neglect the needs of our siblings, we miss the point of the parable. If we abandon our cousins to the outer darkness, we miss the whole point of the gospel. Continue reading
In the meantime
From my weekly email to my parishioners: At the time of writing you this morning, the US 2020 election has yet to be definitively called. Many of us are waiting on the final results with a mix of anxiety, hope, … Continue reading
Promise and practice
Promises require practice. It is our call and our promise to bring comfort to the broken-hearted, to make peace without sacrificing justice, or mercy, for peace cannot survive without them. … It is our call, and our promise, to resist evil, to proclaim the gospel by word and practice, to serve our neighbour as Christ himself, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. And God promises us eternal life and an end to this separation, this wrenching of the spirit, not because we do these things, but because Christ does these things. Continue reading
Posted in current events, holy days, sermon
Tagged All Saints, baptism, beatitudes, COVID-19, election, grief, Matthew 5:1-12, Romans 8:38-39
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A more perfect idolatry
Reconciliation will not happen while anyone’s human dignity is denied, and repentance is more creative than repairing the machine that got us here. Continue reading
Posted in current events
Tagged church and politics, Genesis 3, Mark 10:17-18, US election
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Good tenants
But there is no bluster that can deceive God. There is no violence that can bend God’s will away from the justice, the tender mercy, the harvest of righteousness that God has planted. This disruption, this violence, this evil will not be allowed to stand. Continue reading
Standing up to Stand Your Ground: an open letter
We are not at war with one another. We are not at war with our fellow citizens or other Ohio residents. We do not need a law that assumes an attitude of antagonism between neighbors. Continue reading
Posted in current events, gun violence
Tagged #StandWithOhio, Matthew 26:52, racism, stand your ground laws
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Word, will, work
A sermon for September 27, 2020, at the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio. This week Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state at the Capitol. The US passed a grim milestone with 200,000 deaths from COVID-19. One … Continue reading
Bless, and do not curse or kill
Peter is angry, I’m angry, and we each struggle to see the way forward.
Then there’s Jesus.
Do not set your mind on earthly things, he admonishes. Don’t get mired in anger and defeat. Do heal the sick, do bring good news to the poor, do raise up the broken-hearted; but don’t confuse crucifixion with failure. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon, story
Tagged BLM, Christ, cross, Hebrews 12:1-2, Jacob Blake, Kenosha, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21, Violence
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Crumbs
If Jesus was putting on a scene in order to convict his disciples of their own exclusionary, xenophobic, racist, sexist, selfish attitudes towards the woman – “Make her go away!” they say. “Make her stop talking” – then we have yet fully to learn our lesson. Continue reading
Posted in current events, lectionary reflection, sermon
Tagged Canaanite woman, difference, Jesus, racism, sexism, Syro-phoenician woman, xenophobia
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