Monthly Archives: June 2019

Cost what it will.

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Proper 8C  
June 30, 2019

1 Kings 2:1-2,6-14 Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.
Galatians 5:1,13-25 You were called to freedom…do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence.
Luke 9:51-62 Follow me.

O God of our ground of all being, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Last week I gave you some homework: to re-read or pray with Psalm 42 to help you acknowledge your thirst for the Divine; to disable or dial down the “better-than/worse-than” calculators that are always running in our brains and using up power like background apps on a smart phone or like clocks on kitchen appliances. And finally, to tell others what the Holy One has done for you. How did it go? If you missed the assignment or the dog ate your homework, it’s okay. You’re here – that’s the important thing! Thank you for being here. Church is one place in life where you get full credit just for showing up!

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Tell how much God has done for you!

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Proper 7C
June 23, 2019

1 Kings 19:1-15a What are you doing here Elijah?
Psalm 42 Deep calls to deep.
Galatians 3:23-29 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female for all of you are one.
Luke 8:26-39 Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.

O God of love, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Those of you who have heard me preach know I often have scripture readings to complain about. (Think the late Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes.) Today I want to say that there should be a lectionary rule about not having too many good readings from scripture on the same day. The story of Elijah, Psalm 42, Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and the Gerasene demoniac story – I mean, come on. It’s just too much. I love these scriptures – they are touchstones for me in my own life of faith. Very often, they are at the top of my head and the tip of my tongue. Today there’s too much to say about what I love.

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A Time of Prayer

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Seventh Sunday in Easter (C)
June 2, 2019

Acts 16:16-34  Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21  And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
John 17:20-26  So that the love with which you have loved me may be in them.

O God of purpose and possibility, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

In our Church calendar, we have entered into the commemoration of a period of time after Jesus’ death, in between when his friends stopped having powerful external experiences of his presence and started internalizing his presence. After they watched Jesus work and before they started feeling brave enough and inspired enough to make his work their own. In the Church calendar, the commemoration is nine days – a novena – a period of special devotion, a period of prayerful waiting for a spirit of holiness to deliver some grace in a circumstance of peril or need. Of course, any churchy observance or season might feel mismatched with what we’re experiencing or feeling. You might already be filled with inspiration – like our newly ordained deacon Sarah. You might be feeling dazed and confused by the sorrows of your life or the sorrows of the world. Either way, the Church invites you to be in a time of prayer about what’s next.

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