Usually, I tell you on Wednesday what my weekend sermon IS about. Today, I'll tell you what this week's sermon, "Rejoice in Adversity," is NOT about.
It's not about the theodicy question. Theodicy is a Greek term for the problem of reconciling the presence of evil and suffering in the world with the idea that there truly is a benevolent, omnipotent God. I won't take up the theodicy issue because I couldn't even provide a decent bibliography of the topic in a fifteen minute sermon.
It's not about that saying we like to toss around jokingly: "God never gives us more than we can stand-I wish God didn't think so highly of me!" For the most part, my life is embarrassingly good. Never in my life have I lacked for nutritious food, clean water, or safe shelter. Never have I faced a life threatening diagnosis or lost a child to the 1,000 things parents fear losing their children to.
It's not about God's ability to bring good out of the greatest suffering. Yes, my life is easy and excessive in comparison to so many of the world's people, but when I hurt, I hurt. Sometimes I feel like that funny- looking man with the red nose in the game "Operation"-I feel like unskilled people are pulling out my internal organs with a flimsy pair of tweezers. This pain often has nothing to do with physical injury or illness at all. Often, it's the searing pain of rejection or a lost friendship or a bungled attempt at reconciliation.
Now, don't worry. Don't think that it's already Wednesday and your pastor doesn't have a clue about what her sermon is about. I do. God's been working on me.
If you'd like a preview, spend some time reading this weekend's scripture from the Gospel of Mark. There is a lot of adversity there, and a lot of rejoicing. I guess you could say there's a lot of life. I can't wait to worship with you!
Always in Hope,
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Our Regional Conference - Join Us!
In addition to my weekly invitation to each of you to worship with us at MCC Austin this weekend, I also want to extend an invitation to each of you to attend the MCC Region 6 Cluster Conference coming up on April 24-26 in Houston, Texas. Originally, Region 6 was to have a combined regional conference with Region 7 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, this spring, but the combined conference was cancelled in consideration of growing financial challenges in our global economy and local congregations. While the cancellation of the combined regional conference is disappointing on several levels, the decision to hold smaller, more easily accessible cluster conferences means that many more of us can attend the conference.
MCC conferences are wonderful opportunities to connect with fellow MCCers during worship services, workshops, forums, and fellowship. Some people might be under the impression that MCC conferences are only for clergy members and lay delegates, but that's not the case at all. While only clergy and lay delegates cast votes for nominated positions and for bylaws and revisions, everyone is welcome to participate in all worship services, plenary sessions, workshops, and of course, fun and fellowship. Especially important at this cluster conference will be opportunities to enter a discussion with Region 6 Elder candidate, Rev. Darlene Garner, before the vote on that position takes place and to participate in conversations about the two candidates for MCC Moderator to be elected at General Conference in 2010.
If you've been to an MCC regional or denominational event before, I'm sure I don't need to sell you on how wonderful they are. If you haven't been to one, don't let this opportunity to attend one so close to home pass you by. Do you remember how you felt when you first found your MCC home? Multiply by 20 and that's the feeling you'll have when you enter into worship and work with 200 or so others who are part of MCC's past, present, and future. Think of it as PRIDE weekend with the Spirit of God as the Grand Marshall...
Please, do join us and our friends from Galveston, Corpus Christi, Houston, Waco, and San Antonio at Resurrection MCC in Houston for the Region 6 Eastern Cluster Conference on April 24-26. You can register online for a very reasonable $50 per person, and hotel information is available online here . Please call Alycia Erickson, Director of Congregational Life, at 512-291-8601 with questions or for assistance.
I'd love for us to have 75 or 100 representatives from MCC Austin make the trip to Houston together. Encourage your friends and family to go; set up caravans and "green" carpools; stop and eat on the way; tie a rainbow flag on your antennae so you don't get separated from the group; and of course, honk if you love Jesus!
Always in Hope,
MCC conferences are wonderful opportunities to connect with fellow MCCers during worship services, workshops, forums, and fellowship. Some people might be under the impression that MCC conferences are only for clergy members and lay delegates, but that's not the case at all. While only clergy and lay delegates cast votes for nominated positions and for bylaws and revisions, everyone is welcome to participate in all worship services, plenary sessions, workshops, and of course, fun and fellowship. Especially important at this cluster conference will be opportunities to enter a discussion with Region 6 Elder candidate, Rev. Darlene Garner, before the vote on that position takes place and to participate in conversations about the two candidates for MCC Moderator to be elected at General Conference in 2010.
If you've been to an MCC regional or denominational event before, I'm sure I don't need to sell you on how wonderful they are. If you haven't been to one, don't let this opportunity to attend one so close to home pass you by. Do you remember how you felt when you first found your MCC home? Multiply by 20 and that's the feeling you'll have when you enter into worship and work with 200 or so others who are part of MCC's past, present, and future. Think of it as PRIDE weekend with the Spirit of God as the Grand Marshall...
Please, do join us and our friends from Galveston, Corpus Christi, Houston, Waco, and San Antonio at Resurrection MCC in Houston for the Region 6 Eastern Cluster Conference on April 24-26. You can register online for a very reasonable $50 per person, and hotel information is available online here . Please call Alycia Erickson, Director of Congregational Life, at 512-291-8601 with questions or for assistance.
I'd love for us to have 75 or 100 representatives from MCC Austin make the trip to Houston together. Encourage your friends and family to go; set up caravans and "green" carpools; stop and eat on the way; tie a rainbow flag on your antennae so you don't get separated from the group; and of course, honk if you love Jesus!
Always in Hope,
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Confession
This weekend we "Reclaim Our Stories," and so I share a story with you.
Two years ago, a group of us were trying to revive the PRIDE multi-faith service after a major organizer of the event left town. As we began to plan the service, we each offered elements that we felt the service should have. One woman, a good friend of mine and a wonderful, committed, straight ally of the GLBT community, offered, "We should have a confession." Of course, I thought, a worship service should have a confession, a recognition that none of us live wholly loving lives that reflect the true nature of the God we worship...a recognition that we fail and we are forgiven. But maybe not this particular worship service.
I began talking with my friend about the experience many of us who are GLBT and Christian have had when it comes to confession. I explained how so many of us have been assaulted by those who believe our sexuality and gender expression are an affront to God, and how often we're urged to "confess" what is most certainly not a sin. I shared that many GLBT people I've met are so fragile in their self-esteem or, at the other extreme, so determined to celebrate their sexuality and God's affirmation, that confessions might need mountains of accompanying education to ensure that they could be embraced and understood for their true meaning and value. I told my friend that I wasn't sure we could pull off a confession in a service that was so multi-faceted and hoped to reach such a diverse swath of the GLBT community.
We didn't, that first year, but then last year we introduced a confession that acknowledged our need to provide better stewardship to our earth, air, and water. It felt like an honest, careful way to offer a corporate confession. That brings me to our worship together here at MCC Austin and the question I was asked this week: Why don't we have a confession before communion? I thought there might be many of you wondering the same thing, so here I am doing my best to answer this big question in this little space.
The first thing I want to share is that most often, we do include a confession (generally in the form of a Prayer of Confession) in our communion service. We have the advantage--through the course of living in community and worshipping and learning together regularly--of placing the confession within the context of God's faithful forgiveness. Always, when confession is part of our liturgy, it is followed by an assurance of God's pardon and grace...of God's love!
Right now, though, you will not find a Prayer of Confession as part of our communion liturgy. This is not because we no longer feel the need to bring our complete selves before God or because we've decided to ignore the 1st Corinthian teaching that we examine our hearts before taking communion; it's simply a process matter. For several series now, we've been using one worship bulletin for the entire series. This is a response to our desire to be better stewards of natural resources and to cherish the earth. During the Advent and "Love Letters from God" series, we included a prayer of confession in the worship bulletin. However, the repetition of the same prayer each week prevented the kind of variety and the personal "stamp" of the communion Celebrant that we so cherish.
For those reasons and others, we decided to leave a printed confession out of the bulletin for the Lenten series. For those of you who feel that you can't come to communion without a confession, let me offer you some possibilities.
First, you can always offer your own confession. It can be simple and personal, along the lines of "God, I know I'm far from perfect. Forgive me when I fail." You might use the words of a familiar song, hymn, or scripture; something like "Change my heart, oh God/Make it ever true," or "Create in me a clean heart, oh God/And renew a right spirit within me." If your soul craves the liturgy of other traditions, you might confess "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." And for those of you who need the pastor's assurance that God will forgive, does forgive, has already forgiven, believe this: When we confess our failings, God who is faithful and just forgives us wholly, totally, perfectly. That is very good news.
Always in Hope...
Two years ago, a group of us were trying to revive the PRIDE multi-faith service after a major organizer of the event left town. As we began to plan the service, we each offered elements that we felt the service should have. One woman, a good friend of mine and a wonderful, committed, straight ally of the GLBT community, offered, "We should have a confession." Of course, I thought, a worship service should have a confession, a recognition that none of us live wholly loving lives that reflect the true nature of the God we worship...a recognition that we fail and we are forgiven. But maybe not this particular worship service.
I began talking with my friend about the experience many of us who are GLBT and Christian have had when it comes to confession. I explained how so many of us have been assaulted by those who believe our sexuality and gender expression are an affront to God, and how often we're urged to "confess" what is most certainly not a sin. I shared that many GLBT people I've met are so fragile in their self-esteem or, at the other extreme, so determined to celebrate their sexuality and God's affirmation, that confessions might need mountains of accompanying education to ensure that they could be embraced and understood for their true meaning and value. I told my friend that I wasn't sure we could pull off a confession in a service that was so multi-faceted and hoped to reach such a diverse swath of the GLBT community.
We didn't, that first year, but then last year we introduced a confession that acknowledged our need to provide better stewardship to our earth, air, and water. It felt like an honest, careful way to offer a corporate confession. That brings me to our worship together here at MCC Austin and the question I was asked this week: Why don't we have a confession before communion? I thought there might be many of you wondering the same thing, so here I am doing my best to answer this big question in this little space.
The first thing I want to share is that most often, we do include a confession (generally in the form of a Prayer of Confession) in our communion service. We have the advantage--through the course of living in community and worshipping and learning together regularly--of placing the confession within the context of God's faithful forgiveness. Always, when confession is part of our liturgy, it is followed by an assurance of God's pardon and grace...of God's love!
Right now, though, you will not find a Prayer of Confession as part of our communion liturgy. This is not because we no longer feel the need to bring our complete selves before God or because we've decided to ignore the 1st Corinthian teaching that we examine our hearts before taking communion; it's simply a process matter. For several series now, we've been using one worship bulletin for the entire series. This is a response to our desire to be better stewards of natural resources and to cherish the earth. During the Advent and "Love Letters from God" series, we included a prayer of confession in the worship bulletin. However, the repetition of the same prayer each week prevented the kind of variety and the personal "stamp" of the communion Celebrant that we so cherish.
For those reasons and others, we decided to leave a printed confession out of the bulletin for the Lenten series. For those of you who feel that you can't come to communion without a confession, let me offer you some possibilities.
First, you can always offer your own confession. It can be simple and personal, along the lines of "God, I know I'm far from perfect. Forgive me when I fail." You might use the words of a familiar song, hymn, or scripture; something like "Change my heart, oh God/Make it ever true," or "Create in me a clean heart, oh God/And renew a right spirit within me." If your soul craves the liturgy of other traditions, you might confess "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." And for those of you who need the pastor's assurance that God will forgive, does forgive, has already forgiven, believe this: When we confess our failings, God who is faithful and just forgives us wholly, totally, perfectly. That is very good news.
Always in Hope...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A Free Gift
Shameless, I know. But we have, to complement our Lenten series of reuse*renew*rejoice*resurrect, 500 awesome reusable tote bags. We plan to give one to every person who attends worship this weekend, and I want you to have one. They are beautiful. Deep green and a little larger than average reusable bags, they boast "MCC Austin: A green Church Without Walls" and our Church Without Walls logo on the side.
Whether you're participating with us in the carbon fast or not, we'd like for you to have one of these bags. They're free! A gift! No strings attached!
Which reminds me. That's pretty much what happens each time we worship together. Each time we gather as a community of faith and acknowledge God's dominion, God's love, and God's grace, we take away with us a free gift, no strings attached. So often we worship together and we leave with renewed hope and refreshed spirits. We leave reminded that God is with us and God is for us. We might have the unexplainable urge to smile at strangers, the strength to stand against adversity, an unexplainable feeling that things are somehow better, or at least the confidence that even if things are not better, we won't be facing them alone.
I hope you'll do yourself the favor of worshiping with us this weekend, either in the comfort of our Saturday @ 6:24 service or the celebration of our Sunday morning services. This weekend, as always, you'll receive many, many gifts. Most of them are on God; the bags are on us!
Always in Hope,
Whether you're participating with us in the carbon fast or not, we'd like for you to have one of these bags. They're free! A gift! No strings attached!
Which reminds me. That's pretty much what happens each time we worship together. Each time we gather as a community of faith and acknowledge God's dominion, God's love, and God's grace, we take away with us a free gift, no strings attached. So often we worship together and we leave with renewed hope and refreshed spirits. We leave reminded that God is with us and God is for us. We might have the unexplainable urge to smile at strangers, the strength to stand against adversity, an unexplainable feeling that things are somehow better, or at least the confidence that even if things are not better, we won't be facing them alone.
I hope you'll do yourself the favor of worshiping with us this weekend, either in the comfort of our Saturday @ 6:24 service or the celebration of our Sunday morning services. This weekend, as always, you'll receive many, many gifts. Most of them are on God; the bags are on us!
Always in Hope,
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Lenten Journey
Last weekend our scripture reading told the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, and I suggested that a key to that story was that the temptation was preceded by 40 days of prayer and fasting. I asked you to imagine taking 40 days and nights to pray, to join your spirit and will to the spirit and will of God, and to think about what temptations you might overcome after 40 days of dwelling with God. I asked you to imagine what you might be strong enough to resist AND strong enough to accept if all your trials were preceded by 40 days and nights of communion with God, sustained only by the bread of life and living water.
I invited you to willingly enter a period of 40 days in which you removed yourself, to whatever extent you could, from the normal frantic pace of your life...decided to pray during lunchtime instead of running errands. Walked to work instead of driving or took the bus and read something good for your soul. Willingly entered a period of 40 days in which you bought and cooked only as much as you would eat and didn't throw anything away...
What if you promised yourself that every time you looked at your watch you would whisper, "God, help me slow down and live deeply"? What if you used less electricity, saved more water, produced less waste, and helped heal the deep wounds in our Mother Earth?
I want to add to those suggestions some more that were shared with me by a friend.
During Lent...Fast from worry, and Feast on the divine order by trusting GodFast from complaining, and Feast on appreciationFast from negatives, and Feast on affirmativesFast from unrelenting pressures, and Feast on unceasing prayerFast from hostility, and Feast on tendernessFast from bitterness, and Feast on forgivenessFast from self-concern, an Feast on compassion for othersFast from idle gossip, and Feast on purposeful silenceFast from judging others, and Feast on the divine within themFast from emphasis on differences, and Feast on the unity of lifeFast from greed, and Feast on generosityFast from thoughts of illness, and Feast on wholenessFast from words that pollute, and Feast on the phrases that purifyFast from discontent, and Feast on gratitude
I pray that your Lenten journey is a time of renewal, refreshment, and rejoicing.
I invited you to willingly enter a period of 40 days in which you removed yourself, to whatever extent you could, from the normal frantic pace of your life...decided to pray during lunchtime instead of running errands. Walked to work instead of driving or took the bus and read something good for your soul. Willingly entered a period of 40 days in which you bought and cooked only as much as you would eat and didn't throw anything away...
What if you promised yourself that every time you looked at your watch you would whisper, "God, help me slow down and live deeply"? What if you used less electricity, saved more water, produced less waste, and helped heal the deep wounds in our Mother Earth?
I want to add to those suggestions some more that were shared with me by a friend.
During Lent...Fast from worry, and Feast on the divine order by trusting GodFast from complaining, and Feast on appreciationFast from negatives, and Feast on affirmativesFast from unrelenting pressures, and Feast on unceasing prayerFast from hostility, and Feast on tendernessFast from bitterness, and Feast on forgivenessFast from self-concern, an Feast on compassion for othersFast from idle gossip, and Feast on purposeful silenceFast from judging others, and Feast on the divine within themFast from emphasis on differences, and Feast on the unity of lifeFast from greed, and Feast on generosityFast from thoughts of illness, and Feast on wholenessFast from words that pollute, and Feast on the phrases that purifyFast from discontent, and Feast on gratitude
I pray that your Lenten journey is a time of renewal, refreshment, and rejoicing.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
As We Prepare for Lent...
Before looking ahead to this evening's Ash Wednesday service and the Lenten season, I want to thank you for making our All-Alleluia Saturday and Fat Sunday services amazing affirmations of the joy and hope we live into as followers of Christ. I also want to encourage you to remember that the joy and hope flows in both directions, for our God is a "happy God" who delights in each of us as well!
Don't forget that for a moment, even as we enter into the deep solemnity and reflection of our Ash Wednesday service tonight. Ash Wednesday does mark the beginning of Lent, but it doesn't mean the end of our joy, our hope, or our celebration of God's love and forgiveness. Not for one moment should we forget that we are Easter people, assured of God's unconditional love and unending forgiveness through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lent, here's a brief explanation: The Catholic Church began to observe Lent in the fourth century. Lent lasts 40 week days, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter. Since Sundays celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays that occur during Lent are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent. They are referred to as the Sundays in Lent.
Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were awaiting baptism. During Lent, those who were to be baptized observed a period of study and prayer before they were baptized at the Easter Vigil, early on Easter Sunday. Since the newly baptized members were entering into the larger community of Faith, the entire community was asked to prepare with study and prayer.
Many Protestant Christians are only recently beginning to reclaim the observance of Lent. The evangelical Christians, especially, have rejected Lent because it is associated with "high church" and Catholicism. But now many Protestant churches are observing the season of Lenten reflection as a way to refocus on spirituality.
Here at MCC Austin, we are claiming Lent as a time to Renew, Reuse, Rejoice, and Resurrect our spiritual selves. We invite you to attend our Ash Wednesday service tonight and use it as a way to "set apart" the sacred season of Lent. Then, we encourage you to engage in some type of personal spiritual practice throughout the season. Prayer, reading, fasting, and serving others are some of the practices you might take on during the 40 days of Lent. Many of us will be committing to a "Carbon Fast," and we will engage in practices that will help us reduce our individual "carbon footprints." In this way we will be worshiping God by renewing our covenant relationship with all of God's creation. A description of the "Carbon Fast" and suggestions for each day of Lent will be printed in tonight's worship bulletin and in our Lenten worship bulletin. In addition, we'll send out a "Carbon Fast" daily devotional beginning today and continuing each Friday in Lent.
For those of you who regularly observe Lent and for those of you who may be observing Lent for the first time, I pray that this Lenten season is a time of wonderful renewal and refreshment for your spirit.
God Bless and Keep You Always...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Fat Sunday
Our Worship Together
This weekend, we celebrate Mardi Gras at MCC Austin with an All Alleluia Saturday service and a Fat Sunday service. Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday," is the final day of the Carnival celebrations as well as the last celebration day before the Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.
In faithful New Orleans fashion, we are going to celebrate Mardi Gras with a rousing feast of food and music, and in faithful Christian fashion, we are going to celebrate by reveling in God's joyous love for us and ours for God.
A main focus of our weekend worship will be letting out all of our Alleluias! because during Lent, we don't sing or say Alleluia. As Ervin Knezek, our Worship Team leader, has shared with several of our ministries, "In Lent, we do not profess Alleluia. We use this time to wait in joyful expectation for Easter. This practice enriches and shapes our prayer and our sense of discipline as we anticipate Easter. It is a kind of fasting from 'ecstasy' and ecstatic praise, letting our Alleluia lie dormant for six weeks before we again burst out in joyful and ecstatic affirmation of the resurrection."
Come and lift your Alleluias! with us this week and help us reaffirm that, as Nehemiah says, "The joy of God is our strength." Not that we're in any danger of forgetting that here at MCC Austin, but I've heard tell that some churches think that following God means only fasting and never feasting. If you're of a different mindset (or just different), we'll see you Saturday and Sunday!
Laissez le bon temps rouler!
This weekend, we celebrate Mardi Gras at MCC Austin with an All Alleluia Saturday service and a Fat Sunday service. Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday," is the final day of the Carnival celebrations as well as the last celebration day before the Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.
In faithful New Orleans fashion, we are going to celebrate Mardi Gras with a rousing feast of food and music, and in faithful Christian fashion, we are going to celebrate by reveling in God's joyous love for us and ours for God.
A main focus of our weekend worship will be letting out all of our Alleluias! because during Lent, we don't sing or say Alleluia. As Ervin Knezek, our Worship Team leader, has shared with several of our ministries, "In Lent, we do not profess Alleluia. We use this time to wait in joyful expectation for Easter. This practice enriches and shapes our prayer and our sense of discipline as we anticipate Easter. It is a kind of fasting from 'ecstasy' and ecstatic praise, letting our Alleluia lie dormant for six weeks before we again burst out in joyful and ecstatic affirmation of the resurrection."
Come and lift your Alleluias! with us this week and help us reaffirm that, as Nehemiah says, "The joy of God is our strength." Not that we're in any danger of forgetting that here at MCC Austin, but I've heard tell that some churches think that following God means only fasting and never feasting. If you're of a different mindset (or just different), we'll see you Saturday and Sunday!
Laissez le bon temps rouler!
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