Wounds that Become Scars: The power of forgiveness

Ascension Sunday (May 21, 2023)

In Marvel movies, bad guys keep coming back, even after you were entirely sure they were killed.  In this way, art mirrors life, in that the sins, evil and brokenness of the past continue to haunt us in the next chapter of life.

The Ascension story (Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53) is a pivot story, in that we end on “episode” and begin the next one — moving from the ministry of Jesus to the ministry of the early apostles.  All too quickly though it seems like the old sins are going to come back to write the next chapter.  But nope!  God’s love is too powerful.

Pastor Rob offers that the good news of Jesus Christ is that his death and resurrection, which brings about the forgiveness of sins, means that even though sin and evil linger, God’s love has the upper hand and ultimately writes the story of our salvation.  The crucified and risen Lord does this as he heals wounds, transforming them into scars.  They bear witness to the  past hurt, but also the strength of God to redeem and transform our lives.

The picture is the ascending Christ from St. Paul’s stained glass windows.  Note the raised hands — the hands that will always bear the marks of crucifixion.

What makes a good inheritance?

 Easter 6 2023 (May 14)

What is a good inheritance?  Pastor Rob offers that a good inheritance is the gifts the dead leave behind for the living to go on living.  This can be money, heirlooms, photos, recipes, hymns, stories and even values.

Pastor Rob offers that in today’s Gospel (John 14:15-27) Jesus explains, the night before he will die, the inheritance the disciples will receive, namely, the Holy Spirit.  This inheritance is a good and glorious inheritance, one that allowed disciples then and allows disciples today to live!

Decades ago, this congregation received an inheritance of land.  We have finally found a way to put this inheritance to work, creating life from it as we building our Sacred Grounds.  Yesterday, as we moved stone into the prayer labyrinth, we took one more Spirit-filled step in building an inheritance for the next generation.

Is Anyone Excluded?

 

Easter V (May 7, 2023)

“I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus, Gospel of John (14:6)

The world has plenty of divisions and a strong tendency toward exclusion. Are the words here of Jesus just simply one more example of religious exclusion?

Pastor Rob argues that Jesus does exclude – not people, but sin – so that ultimately, all people will be included at the table of the LORD.

The image comes from an article found in The Financial Tribune about social exclusion.

What is Abundant Life anyway?

 

Easter IV, Good Shepherd Sunday (April 30, 2023)

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” ~ Jesus, the Gospel of John (10:10). 

What does it mean to have abundant life?  The photo comes from Ethiopia, where members of our church did medical work through the Medan Initiative.  There stories challenge a lot of our conventional notions of what abundance means.  To put it another way:  We all know that abundant living involves more than stuff.  But what then does it consist of?

Working with the image of the sheet and the Good Shepherd, Pastor Rob offers that abundant life involves intimacy with God, fellowship with others and generosity toward our neighbor. 

What lens are you wearing?

 Easter III 2023 (April 23)

Why can’t see disciples see Jesus as they walk with him on the road to Emmaus?  (Luke 24)

Pastor Rob suggests that what lenses we wear in life powerfully impact why we can see.  (The glasses in this image are from the movie National Treasure; without them, one cannot see the treasure map on the Declaration of Independence). After witnessing the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples are looking at life through a lens of violence, defeat and death; Jesus must renew their lenses of resurrection.

Likewise in our lives, Jesus also needs to renew the lenses of resurrection, that we can see his presence in worship but also on the road of life.

The glasses above were for sale on Ebay.

The Gardener

 Easter Sunday 2023

Jesus is assumed to be a gardener by one of his early followers on Easter morning.

This is not a coincidence.  Pastor Rob reflects on how Jesus must be raised in a garden, for the restoration of the garden is his mission.  However grand though, this mission is, like a good gardener, Jesus tends to each person individually, including you.  A reflection on how THE gardener, Jesus Christ, connects the cosmic with the individual as he restores THE garden.

The photo comes from a Best Pick Reports gardening website.

Encountering Jesus, Palm Sunday: Judas and the Poor

 Palm Sunday, April 2 2023

Jesus rebukes Judas, telling him “The Poor will always be with you.”  These are words that can feed our growing cynicism, if not our greed.

Pastor Rob reflects on where we’ve been in John’s Gospel, showing how Jesus’ actions are again and again about helping the people in need, in poverty and on the margins.  It turns out that we cannot eliminate all the problems in the world, but we are called embrace and serve our neighbor.  Jesus words to Judas about the poor being with us remind us to turn our attention away from the big, grand problems that are beyond us and turn our gaze to the people who need our help.

This Lent we focused on encountering Jesus.  Pastor Rob concludes the sermon by reflecting on how we encounter Jesus in serving others and our need for something more than Palm Sunday.

The picture is of the youth helping to read our Gospel reading, in which Jesus encounters Judas.