This Changes Everything

This week's text isn't short, but it's soooo good.  Read it HERE first:

I wonder…

When was the last time you were inspired?

I wonder…

What was so inspiring about that moment?

Maybe it was a podcast or tedtalk you heard,

Maybe that old song that came on the radio you hadn’t heard in forever, but this time it hit you like it was brand new.

Maybe you witnessed someone stick their neck out for somebody else.

As I look back on just this past week, I’m humbled and invigorated by the wealth of inspiration around me.  I’ve shared queso with a friend who works 60 hours a week, but still used his entire day off to help me fix our stupid wi-fi extenders and thermostats. I’ve sat with people who struggle with physical and mental health on a daily basis, but still somehow made it out of bed that day. Several of us went down to city hall to stand against proposed discriminatory bathroom bills, and I was inspired by those who made themselves vulnerable by sharing their personal stories. Transwomen like Reagan who talked about what it’s like to risk rejection on a regular basis. Moms like Kim spoke to the public shame her 5 year old Transgender daughter had to endure at school. 

I’ve experienced similar feelings of awe and wonder after time away in travel and the time my daughter learned to pour her own cereal.

When you think about those inspirational and life-changing moments…perhaps you notice that you’re filled with adrenaline, with hope, with renewed energy, courage, curiosity. It often leaves us with this momentum and so we want to do something as a result. When something beautiful happens, we want to keep building on it and when catastrophe happens, we want to do something to help. I find it fascinating that there is some common humanity that has not changed for 2000 years.

 After hearing John’s call for justice, the people want to know what they should do.

What should we do? They ask three times.

The crowd asks, what should we do….John replies, be generous.  Share your coats and your food with those that need them.

The tax collectors ask, what should we do?.....uh….try not extorting people? You’d think it would go without saying but apparently there are a lot of things like that we just can’t take for granted.

The soldiers ask, what should we do…again a fairly simple answer…pretty much don’t be a jerk.  Which is basically my preferred method of evangelism.  Be a public Christian and then don’t be a jerk. At least that’s often where we have to start.

And even though I’ve read this text before, many times over, this time I was struck with renewed energy, passion, and curiosity.  I’ve always understood baptism as part of our Christian tradition, a holy sacrament in the Lutheran church, so I wondered….how was it a part of John’s ancient Jewish ministry?

http://www.heqiart.com/store/p59/13_Baptism-of-Jesus_Artist_Proof.html

I learned that the baptism John was offering wasn’t necessarily a universal Jewish tradition, but it WAS a ritual practiced by many Jewish leaders. Their understanding of baptism was one of ritual cleansing, purifying a person and marking their commitment to a new way of living. It was a baptism of repentance by water. Repentance doesn’t only mean asking forgiveness, it literally means a change of mind, a new way of thinking. This is the baptism that brings together nameless crowds of the faithful, traitorous tax collectors, and soldiers of the foreign empire….AND….the son of God. This is the baptism that Jesus also experiences. But something is different, something WILL BE different.  John points to a new kind of baptism, a baptism that changes the question. Instead of asking what should we DO, the question becomes…who will we BE?

 Jesus’ baptism is unique among the baptismpalooza John was having that day, but reveals what we might remember or look forward to in our own baptism.

Jesus experiences the cleansing baptism of repentance. Repentance is that change, that shift, that turning toward God’s will and thus God’s saving work for all the world. Jesus’s baptism sets his face toward God above all else. Jesus is enveloped by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit remains with Jesus in the next chapter of his journey as it brings him to trials and wilderness.  The Spirit persists in its presence through every single moment – lending fiery courage, wholeness, healing, and hope.  Jesus hears the voice of God announcing, before all those assembled, that he is God’s beloved child. An intimate and powerful proclamation of identity and relationship.

In his baptism, Jesus receives a public blessing and an unbreakable tie. In our baptism, we are named and claimed as part of this sacred family. God says you are mine and you are blessed.  You carry the light of the creator, the light of the encourager, the light of Christ....which goes out into every corner of this place, into all places, to all people.

In baptism, we have moved from what we should DO to who we will be. This is who we are. These promises run through to the depths of our being.  This is who we will be. This is the bedrock of our life together. And we need a firm foundation…because baptism is not a gentle thing. Our identity is grounded in this covenant, but John reminds us that this new baptism is not just about our ability to claim our place as children of Abraham. Baptism doesn’t stop there.

Baptism isn’t only the peaceful trickle of water over our heads.  It’s not gentle, it is a drowning.  All that separates us from God…our old selves, our brokenness, the world’s brokenness…is drowned away.

The waters of baptism are moving living waters and moving water has the power to cut through solid stone. The stone of our darkened hearts, the stone of apathy and indifference, the stone of oppression and injustice. Baptism refreshes but it also stirs up and agitates, troubles, mobilizes. It makes John bold enough to speak up and call out even the most powerful politicians.

John speaks of the new baptism as one that will come by fire, a refiner’s fire which scorches and burns away the chaff, the dry part of the grain which protects but is actually dried up, dead, and devoid of nutrition.  I have enough scars from baking to know that coming through the fire will not be comfortable.

I know that I will try to resist that fire, even if I know it to be life-giving.  I will aim for calmer smoother waters, waters that cool and quench.

And they will be there waiting for me, refreshing me…until the current comes back by, saving me from stagnation, inviting me back into the rush of the river which changes the landscape it’s a part of. This is who we are, who we will be. A part of the living water. A part of the raging fire. A part of Christ. A part of hope. A part of the movement that changes the world. Amen.

Bless this House

Tomorrow is the 12th and final day of the season of Christmas.  Friday, January 6th, marks the day of Epiphany which remembers the magi who followed the wild star to the place where Christ dwells.

It is an old custom to bless your home on Epiphany. This blessing includes a prayer and a mark of blessing. This tradition isn't just for towering steeples, but for every common threshold. Here's how you can mark your own home with a sign of Christ's blessing:

Using chalk, write on the outside of your house’s door or frame (alternatively, on a path or driveway, or above or next to an entrance):

+ 20 C M B 17+

This stands for the first half of the current year written out, “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” (Christ bless this house), then the other half of the current year written out. Start and end with a cross.  You could even have each marking or word could be written by a varied member of the household.

After you've chalked up, here's a prayer you can say outloud:  May everyone who come to our home this year be blessed to find Christ living among us. May we recognize and serve that same Jesus, in everyone we meet. Amen

Joy isn't Perky

Luke 2:8-14

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 
14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

watch the Advent story from this week (up to 8:09):

"Advent" From The Complete Guide to Godly Play® By The Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman Told by Godly Play® US Trainer Caryl Menkhus Creswell http://www.GodlyPlayFoundation.org The Godly Play® approach to nurturing the spirituality of children finds it roots in the Montessori method and is used across the globe in many venues such as religious education programs, schools and hospitals as well as with Alzheimer's patients.

I wonder how you are getting ready to enter the mystery of Christmas?

I wonder how you would feel if greeted by an angel of God?

I wonder what God is saying to you?

….

Joy is what shows up, what breaks in while I'm busy protecting, planning, and just trying to get stuff done.  Joy comes in unexpected conversations...while installing thermostats, with strangers at coffee shops, among neighbors in the street.  Joy comes in our lover's arms or in a memory...

Joy spends seasons, sometimes even years eluding us. Seemingly always showing up in someone else's pasture, just close enough to where we can see it but beyond our borders. 

But joy is coming....for everyone. This joy is not that perky lady's well intentioned but condescending assurance that everything will be alright or that we can turn darkness to light by adding some glitter to it. This joy is the flood of light that doesn't just cover up but casts out all darkness. It fills us up so that we burst at the seams and cannot keep from singing. This joy does not belong to this one or that one, but to all of us. We are all on the way to Bethlehem, no one is left alone in the darkness. 

Joy...holy, divine joy...comes to the blue collar shepherds, not just to the priests, pastors, or the privileged. Joy comes even and especially to the least of these. Joy IS coming. 

The announcement is not only that joy is coming, but an invitation to come and be a part of it.  Don't be afraid. We bring you tidings of great joy. Peace on earth and good will to everyone. A child is born. Go. Hurry. Run to Bethlehem to see the child who will change everything. 

Everything is Changed

Everything is changed.  This is the time of the color blue.

This 2nd week in the season of Advent, we tell the story of the Holy Family. Watch Here (to 5:40):

"Advent" From The Complete Guide to Godly Play® By The Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman Told by Godly Play® US Trainer Caryl Menkhus Creswell http://www.GodlyPlayFoundation.org The Godly Play® approach to nurturing the spirituality of children finds it roots in the Montessori method and is used across the globe in many venues such as religious education programs, schools and hospitals as well as with Alzheimer's patients.

I wonder, what is it about this journey that is hardest for you?

I wonder, where do you see light in the darkness?

I wonder, how are you being changed?

http://www.everettpatterson.com/?p=1835

Mystery is not easy. There is no formula, nothing we can expect to follow a particular order.  Being a part of that mystery is not easy. The journey to Bethlehem is not easy. It is not always calm and it is not always bright.  It is many days of sweat and exhaustion, unfamiliar and even dangerous roads. With the dangers circling around us – of emboldened white supremacy, of xenophobic leaders who play on our fears of the other, of hateful and violent speech that bolsters discriminatory action and policies…fairly often I find myself like Dorothy in the poppy field, wanting to lay my head down for just a moment.   We will find our rest, but for now we must keep moving. We must stay vigilant and focused, our eyes set toward Bethlehem, toward hope.  When we feel we cannot take one more step, we lean on one another.  We share our worries and our woes so that we are not crushed by the weight of carrying them ourselves. We take turns caring for each other and allowing ourselves to be cared for.  We take turns speaking up for those in trouble, and seeking out the unheard voices, listening to the oppressed speak for themselves.  We look for twitter feeds and articles that are not only written about those on the margins, but by those on the margins. And that is certainly not easy, because it often reveals that we did not know as much as we thought we did. It often reveals that we too, must change.  Here's a few places to start listening.  They will challenge you, say things you'll probably passionately disagree with, and we need to hear that:

local - BLMHTX   Ashton Woods  Equality Texas

Lutheran - Lenny Duncan     Vance Blackfox     Rev. Tuhina Rasche      Rev. Wil Gafney

F This S: An Advent Devotional - heads up, uncensored and for good reason

We must be patient with ourselves, putting one foot in front of the other, allowing the Holy Spirit to do its work in us and in the world, and yet also be determined to press forward, just beyond what is comfortable, day by day. The Spirit goes ahead of us on this road and is waiting for us there.  The Spirit follows behind us, ushering us forward. We do not journey alone.  Still, the journey is not easy. Even when the holy family arrives to Bethlehem I’m sure it is not what they expected.  Finally hoping to lay down their sleepy heads, they must instead make due with scratchy hay and only smelly animals for company. Yet even in this broom closet of a forgotten and overlooked everyday space, something incredible is about to happen. Even on this dusty dreary evening, light is filling up the room. Anywhere we go, the light of the prophets, and of the holy family is spreading. Anywhere you go in this room you can come close to them today.

Give Thanks

Last month was my kid's birthday and she's old enough now that she can write her own thank you notes. They're nothing elaborate, but usually involve some custom artwork, the words "thank you", and her name.  We practice saying thanks not just because it is polite or good manners, but because we are transformed by the experience of gratitude.  True gratitude makes us profoundly aware of the generosity we have received and it overflows as we are generous to others.  This is holy.  This reveals God in our midst.  In the midst of small everyday moments, divine love breaks in and it shapes us anew.  As you spend this week contemplating thankfulness, I have a gift for you.  It's a simple printable card you can set at your table to guide you in giving thanks.  Use the blank lines to write what you're thankful.  If you want, you could even punch a hole in the corners and hang the cards like ornaments from a tree.  I am grateful for this community of KINDRED, for the table we share, and for the way it changes and shapes us.

Don't talk about it. Be about it.

This is who I am.  You are who you are.  This is how we will be together.  This is basically what a covenant means and is about. It’s a promise that defines a relationship. God established a covenant, a relationship, with people so that they we would be rooted in something that gives us life.   We don’t always follow in the covenant the way we hoped, but God remains faithful and calls us back into relationship over and over again.  For millennia, God has been reminding us that we always have a place at the table no matter what because that’s who we are – God’s beloved, God’s child, forever tied to one another in relationship.

That’s why, as KINDRED, we don’t have membership roles or orientation classes.  It’s not about who’s in or who’s out, or how you fit into a particular mold.  We want to live out God’s call for us in with our own unique gifts and passions.  We want to live for one another by sharing our challenges and our dreams. We want to live in a way that anchors us and gives us wings.  We do all of this together as a community in order to reveal God’s love at work in our world. 

But we don’t want all that to end up as pie-in-the-sky talk. We want to really live it.  So, as KINDRED, everyone is invited to enter into an annual covenant.  Remembering God’s promises to us in the covenants of baptism, the new covenant in Christ’s blood, and the covenant of creation… we respond by following the way Jesus commends.  The central practices of faith we’ve been exploring in our series are now opportunities for us to articulate our hopes for how we want to live out and lean into our faith.

On November 6th, we will celebrate COVENANT SUNDAY, as we make our covenants to ourselves, to each other, and to God.  We’ll place our covenants on the altar and pray for the guidance to remain faithful. We’ll e-mail you a copy so you can keep it somewhere you’ll be able to see it and be reminded of that anchor.  Next spring at Pentecost, we’ll pull these back out and see how we’re doing.  We can celebrate what we’ve experienced and take a moment to re-align ourselves if necessary.

Don’t feel like you have to check every box. We can’t do everything and we shouldn’t. We weren’t created to be everything all on our own, that’s why we have community. Choose one area of practice you’d really like to focus on this year.  One way you’d like to stretch and grow a little more. And take your time.  Really give this some reflection and prayer. If you can’t be there Nov. 6th, you can still bring your covenant in the weeks to follow.

We are covenant people. We long for connection, for hope, for the fulfillment of promises.  We are broken people who won’t always get it right. We are still beloved children of God. We get to remind others of that truth. As the gospel of Matthew tells us, “let you light shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (5:16)

PRACTICES: Community

PRACTICES: Community

In our series, “PRACTICES,” we’re exploring the central things that shape our lives as Christians and as a community.  We do this in preparation for COVENANT SUNDAY on NOV. 6TH when we’ll each of us who feel called will make commitments as Covenant Members of this community, articulating how we will engage our faith in practice here.  So far we’ve discussed Sacraments & Worship, Food & Hospitality, and now we want to take a fresh look at Community. 

 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35 

Our Christian Community is marked by love.  The command is simple, the implications are more complex.  Love God. Love People. Community is the context of church isn’t just about a club of like-minded people who enjoy…it’s a web of deep relationship where we share more than the superficial stuff of life.  Don’t get me wrong, we really enjoy being together (last Sunday’s AFTER HOURS at the bar, was fantastic).  But how can community be something more?  What happens when strangers become family?  When spectators become participants and creators? 

It is happening around the tables of DINNER CHURCH, and it extends into our offices, homes, and neighborhoods.  Here’s your weekly journaling guide that walks you through your own reflection:

Prepare: What do you bring with you to your community?  Write down what gifts, interests, passions, or ideas you have to share.  It doesn’t have to be stuff you might think of as “church-y,” but what are you good at in general?  What gets you fired up?  What would you do if you if you could do anything?

Day 1: This week, you’ll dig into the practice of community by finding ways to use your passions, talents, and connections in your church. Some people have a hard time with this – they feel they aren’t invited or welcomed to involve themselves in their faith community.  So start in this practice by writing down some thoughts about what might hold you back from investing yourself in your church.  What could you do to get over some of these hurdles?

Day 2: Remember that list you made of your gifts and interests? Look over what you wrote. Now get specific about the talents of interest or resources you have that could help you get more involved in your faith community.  Think creatively: maybe you’ve raised your kids already and could mentor a younger parent.  Maybe you live close to the airport and can offer rides when people need to fly somewhere.  Write down some options.

Day 3: Today, explore our church’s website or send an email to Pastor Ashley to find out what opportunities for involvement already exist in our faith community.  You don’t need to commit to anything yet, but don’t rule anything out either.  Just get a sense of what’s already going on in your community. Make some notes about places you can see yourself using the skills and interest you listed yesterday.

Day 4: Now that you’ve got a sense of what you can offer and what’s already happening in your community, take today to pray or talk to a friend or two about taking the big step toward true involvement.  What feels scary about this?  What feels hopeful?

Day 5: If you get this far and just haven’t found something that feels like a good fit for you, consider how you might create that fit.  If you brew your own beer or have a knack for gardening or tell great stories, think about how those skills could create new ways for you – and others – to connect in your community.  Write down your thoughts.

Day 6: This is the day to take action.  If there’s a group at church you’d like to join, call or text the person coordinating that group and let them know you’re interested.  If you’ve got an idea for a new event or project in our faith community, arrange to meet with Pastor Ashley to talk about how you can make that happen.  As you get started, write about how it’s going.  What are you learning about community?  About yourself?

PRACTICES: Sacraments + Confession

What’s at the heart of our Christian faith?  What are the most important practices for how we are to live as God’s people? This is what we will spend the next 7 weeks exploring in a series called “Practices.” It’s not just a sermon series, but a series we take home with us and reflect on through journaling and action.  We'll hear from diverse Christian leaders from across the country, reflect on how we experience these traditions, and contemplate our own commitments.  It all leads up to COVENANT SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 6TH.  This is how we will make promises to ourselves, to God, and to one another about how we want to be KINDRED.  It's a different kind of "membership."  It's less about who's in and who's out, and more about who we want to be.

This past week we engaged the tradition of sacraments – those things we set apart as uniquely sacred, as a combination of divine promise and common earthly elements.  For Lutherans, we identify baptism and Holy Communion as the two sole sacraments based on that understanding.  The word Sacrament comes from the latin “sacramentum” which had a broader meaning as a vow or promise, as in the swearing of an oath to Caesar. How does this historical meaning of the word sacrament change your ideas about the role sacraments play in the Christian faith? Can you remember a time when taking communion or witnessing a baptism felt like a truly spiritual experience for you?  If that never happened, what would it take for those sacraments to hold deeper meaning on your life?  Among KINDRED, we practice communion with homemade bread, we serve each other around our tables, and we proclaim that all are welcome – children, skeptics, sinners, and saints.  How does the WAY we practice communion reflect how we understand it? What does it mean to visibly seal our lives to God through the practice of the sacraments?

Although not a sacrament in the Lutheran church, the act of confession holds a special place in our tradition. Throughout the week we engage this practice with thoughtful reflection.  This practice might feel very new and even uncomfortable, but we open ourselves to the possibility that this practice might offer healing and freedom. Each day this week, we give ourselves over to this practice in a new way:

Day 1: This week, you’ll be working through one of the less-common sacraments, confession. This might be a new practice for you or one that feels a little uncomfortable.  That’s okay.  Each day, you’ll move a bit deeper into the practice and have the chance to write about the feelings or thoughts it brings up.  Today, think about a relationship in your life that might benefit from an act of confession on your part.  Write down the name of the person you’d like to reconcile with over the course of this week as well as the part of your relationship that needs to heal.

Day 2: It’s never easy to admit fault, but speaking our failures out loud can take some of their power and shame away. Start the process of confession by talking honestly with God about the issue. Confess out loud to God and allow yourself to feel God’s grace work its way into you. What is this experience like for you?

Day 3: It can help to bring another person into this process to offer support and encouragement. Today, ask a trusted friend or your pastor to listen to you confession. Journal a bit about what might be holding you back from moving more deeply into this practice.

Day 4: Now it gets real. Reach out to the person you need to confess to and ask to meet tomorrow.  If it’s not possible to get together in person, set up a time to talk over the phone or over Skype.  No texting or email allowed here – this needs to happen in a face-to-face conversation.  Write out any fears or anxieties you have about this step.  And don’t forget to lean on the person you asked to support you.  This is when you’ll need them most.

Day 5: This is the day you make it happen.  As you confess, keep the focus on you and the actions you regret.  Ask your friend to listen and allow you to say what you need to say. Ask for forgiveness.  You might not get it, but no matter what happens as a result of this confession, you will have made a significant step toward repairing a broken relationship.  Then take some time to write down your thoughts about this conversation.  How did it feel? What did you hope for? What might come from this?

Day 6: Today, take some time to reflect and write about this experience.  Allow yourself to feel that weight of guilt lift off of you, no matter how the conversation went.  You might not have gotten the response you hoped for from the other person, but you can find rest and peace in the grace of God.

God's Work, Our Hands

Church isn't just what happens inside the sanctuary, it's who we are. We gather as the people of God to celebrate God's goodness and share God's blessing - not just with our words...but in our action and experiences. We embody the Good News to each other, to our neighbors, to this city.  To someone who's hungry, Good News can look like a heaping plate of chicken and orzo salad, a full bowl of ham hocks and greens. That's one of the many reasons our worship happens around the table and over a good meal. Over and over, Jesus shows us that our abundance is to be shared with those in need. Throughout history, the people of God are marked as those who invite strangers into their homes, who clothe those who are down to their last pair of clean underwear, who acknowledge the humanity of those imprisoned and align themselves with the struggle of the oppressed. That's what "God's Work, Our Hands" Sunday is about - a day of service across our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. From Texas to Minnesota, we invest our time and energy in something other than ourselves. We make a visible declaration to the community that Christians aren't only concerned with piety, but with justice and the people who are most vulnerable among us. 

As KINDRED, and alongside Lutheran Campus Ministries of Houston, we went out into the streets of our Montrose neighborhood to gather necessities for our partner, Montrose Grace Place (MGP). The community rallied to provide clothes, toiletries, diapers and games for the homeless youth that MGP serves each week. We also labeled 1500 bars of hotel soap with Human Trafficking Hotline stickers. Houston is the #1 hub for human trafficking in this country and events like the super bowl are exponentially exploited as a venue for trafficking. In coming weeks, Lutheran Campus Ministry will deliver these soap packages to several hotels around town and educate hotel staff on how their vigilance and the access to this vital hotline can help release people from modern-day slavery. 

We began with prayers, holy communion, and a simple meal - food for body and soul , preparation for the work ahead. We mobilized in service to others. We continue to learn about the larger context for these community needs. To learn more about the mission of Montrose Grace place and youth homelessness, visit here:

http://www.montrosegraceplace.org/

http://www.montrosecenter.org/hub/services/hatch-youth-services/nest-home/

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/the-struggles-of-being-young-homeless-and-lgbt-7901209

http://cw39.com/2015/05/13/shocking-numbers-of-homeless-youth-revealed-for-houston/

To learn more about human trafficking (especially in Houston), here are some trusted resources and info:

https://www.soapproject.org/

http://www.elijahrising.org/

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-lost-girls/

http://humantraffickinghouston.org/

If you don't already know about A 2nd Cup, let me introduce you to one of my favorite coffee shops. In the heart of The Heights, it's part coffee shop, part non profit for justice. The proceeds from that delicious Squirrel Latte go to organizations that address prevention, liberation, and healing from human trafficking. I intentionally spend office hours there and take meetings there to support their work. I also learn a thing or two when I'm there, including awareness about upcoming events for continued learning or special art sale fundraisers, etc. We're seeing more creative collaborations between business and social change and I needed a good source of caffeine anyway. 

The Old Bedazzled Cross

Luke 14:25-33

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

As a pastor, people sometimes want to express their gratitude and appreciation for this or that, so they want to get you a little gift.  I’ve noticed that there’s a definite go-to pastor gift. It’s truly the thought that counts and I appreciate the appreciation….but can you guess what the most common gift is?

...

.......

.............

The number one gift a pastor receives is some kind of cross décor.  Before I even graduated seminary, our family had enough wall crosses to cover the entire wall of our stairwell.  Many are made by hand and are stunningly gorgeous examples of craftsmanship and artistry.  Some are more kitschy, bedazzled with carefully placed hot glued rhinestones or butterflies. All together, they are actually kinda beautiful and they hold the memories of the cherished people who gave them to me.  But every now and then the thought creeps into the back of my head that reminds me…you have an entire wall covered in first century torture devices.  Ultimately, the roman cross is a killing machine, a totem to imperial power, a landmark erected to remind us of what happens to those who mess with the established system.

Naturally, that frightens us. We don’t really want a God that’s bruised and bleeding , one thank makes us think of the darker side of life, and so we drift toward the shiny Jesus, the Jesus painted in Thomas Kinkade pastels, surrounded by woodlands animals like a Disney princess, the Jesus we can bring home to mama, preened and polished, shining, shimmering, splendid Jesus. The Jesus that won’t scare off our friends and let’s be honest…that one that doesn’t frighten us so badly. 

There are times that I can get behind this revolutionary Jesus.  I’m like, “yeah, Jesus, tell those money changer’s what’s up! Those consumerist heathens!” and then Jesus says, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”  Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jesus. Let’s not overreact. What do you mean by all?  Like, ALL all?  I was totally ready to follow hobby Jesus, but ain’t nobody got time for all this.

When faced with the real significance of the cross, we either throw in the towel or we water it down. We have too often metaphorically and literally whitewashed the cross – turning a homeless middle eastern radical into blue-eyed do-gooder. But there’s got to be another way. My soul longs for something more than that. How do we make sense of the cross? Let’s wrestle with that for a bit.  What does the cross mean to you?  When you really see it?

Real quick though, before we dive in, I want to offer two parameters.  First, this isn’t a multiple choice question with a single correct answer. Each of us are likely to see it a little differently.  After all, the cross means something different to each of the four gospel writers.  So, even in the Bible, there’s no one uniform answer. Second, I want us to be honest with ourselves and each other. 

What does the cross really mean to you? 

In your day to day life…not just the Sunday School answer you think I want to hear.

What are your gut reactions to the cross?

Has your answer changed over time?

I want to suggest another way of looking at the cross.  Jesus uses the examples of financial cost – a building project, the wages of soldiers – but these things are also matters of awareness, looking at the world with clear eyes not just rose-colored glasses, taking time to contemplate the very real implications of our choices. I often say that Christianity is pretty simple, but its implications are complex.  The cross is a light to the world, and so it brings to light some things we wish would have remained in the shadows. The Cross gives us sight to see the intimate brokenness AND beauty of the world God loves. God gives us eyes to see and it cannot be unseen.  Like, once you’ve seen the images of toddlers washing up on Mediterranean shores, you can’t think of refugees as some faceless issue over there. Once you’ve seen a homeless person bring their food back to camp and share it with those who have even less…they can no longer be an amorphous blur as we drive by. Once you’ve seen your annoying co-worker stop to invite that person who always gets left out, out to lunch…you see generosity in a new way. Once you see wildflowers taking over that abandoned eyesore of a lot, or whimsical dandelions breaking through cold concrete…you recognize beauty in barren places.

Cuban Artist, Eric Ravelo's contemporary installation, "Los Intocables/The Untouchables"

Once we’ve heard the good news that God loves us even with our messy truth, we see God’s love in so many other unexpected places and can’t help but follow in a new way. And that’s the key. If you hear nothing else, hear this. The Gospel comes first.  We receive grace overflowing first and foremost.  The cross isn’t about suffering our way to God, but God’s dogged commitment to transform even the dark dank dismal pits of this world into something entirely new and full of life.

So, what if the cross were about awareness? Some in the church call that revelation, others call it being woke. And it changes the way we live. What if we were to look at the cross as something that opens our eyes and can’t be unseen?

Now, with that framing, what does the Cross mean to you?

Jesus wants us to know that kind of life is tough.  Jesus is not interested in bait-and-switch discipleship and neither am I.  This way will not be always smooth. It may cause some people to think you’re strange, or too opinionated, too political, or a bleeding heart do-gooder. It will cause you to make choices that put the needs of others above your own.  In many ways this kind of life will cost you, taking up the cross will weigh you down and sometimes you’ll wish you could go back to the blissful ignorance you enjoyed before…but even more powerfully, it has liberated you.  On the journey to the cross and through it, Jesus liberates us from fear, from hiding, from crippling shame, from oppression, from sorrow, from ulcerating stress, from impotence, from avoidance, from consuming hatred, from hunger, from pain, and from ultimate death. We will never be the same.  Jesus calls to us, “Take up your cross, stay woke, and follow me.” The gospel is on the move, let’s go. Amen.

KINDRED'S Recipe Box: Chinese Steamed Buns

Yesterday evening was the last of our summer series in bread-baking as an act of worship.  We gathered around good food and great company, around the word of God, prayer, blessing, and work.  We tried something new, we learned more about each other, and we glimpsed God's joy.  We'll continue to make our rustic country loafs for Central City Co-op each week, but here's the special  recipe we made last night:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup warm water

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola or vegetable), plus more for brushing

3 tablespoons sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour + more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a mixer bowl, add the warm water, oil, yeast and sugar. Let sit for 1 minute, until the yeast begins to bubble a bit. Next, add in the flour, baking powder and salt, in that order. With the paddle attachment, mix on low for 2 minutes. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl. Change to a dough hook, and on speed 2, knead for 4 minutes, until dough is smooth, supple and clear the sides of the bowl. If the dough sticks to the side of the bowl, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time.

2. Dust your counter with a little flour and turn out your dough knead it a few times and Shape the dough into a smooth ball. Return the dough ball to the mixing bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm, dry spot for 1-2 hours, until it nearly doubles in size.

3. Turn out your dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half. Gently roll each half into a log shape. Cut each log into little balls. Roll the dough ball out to a long, oval shape about 6"x3". Brush the top with a little cooking oil. Fold over one side of the oval. Use your rolling pin to gently roll and press one last time. Place bun on a parchment paper, place into the bamboo steamer and cover with lid to prevent drying. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

 4. Fill your pot or wok with 2" of water. Place the steamer ring (if you have one) bamboo baskets on top. Do not turn on the heat yet. Let rest for 10 minutes. Then, turn on the heat to high. When you begin to see steam coming up from the top of the steamer, reduce heat to medium-high. Let steam for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, without opening the steamer. Let rest for 1 minute. Open steamer and gently lift the steamer off one another to let the buns cool.

Don't have a steamer basket? No problem! Here's how you can do it with everyday household items.

LIFE TOGETHER - The Mission of God

matthew 28:16-20 - The Commissioning of the Disciples

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

 There is so much packed into these 4 short verses.  These are the very last lines of the Gospel of Matthew, this is where one part of the story ends.  God reveals, God commissions, and God blesses.  The resurrected Christ comes into view, comes to where the disciples are, shows up in real time.  Jesus had told the disciples to go to this place and he would met them there, but nothing can really prepare you for the actual experience of witnessing the resurrection. Jesus waits about two seconds for them to register the shock, fall down in worship, but then moves right on to action.  You have seen me, you have heard my promises, God’s promises, you have experienced those promises fulfilled….what are you gonna do now? “Go!” he says. I love this line from a Dave Matthews Band song, it says “to change the world starts with one step.  However small, the first step is hardest of all.”  Often we just don’t know where to start. We want to follow, but we don’t know how. Or we have an idea of how…in theory…we just struggle to put it into real lived practice.

Jesus boils it down to the essentials, “go makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Church, this is what we are called to be and this is what I want to explore together today.

But before we do….we need to stop and recognize the complexity of that call.  The call is simple, but the implications, how we respond in reality…are more nuanced.  How did the disciples respond to seeing Jesus living where they expected to find only death?  They worshiped…and some doubted.  They both worshiped AND doubted…. There’s not an easy, clean, clear separation of those two elements. There is both adoration and inspiration mixed with uncertainty and skepticism. Resurrection living has room for both, but leans into faith.  This past week I joined Lutherans from around the country, even around the world, as they gathered in New Orleans for our Churchwide Assembly to move the church forward in this call. We heard from one Lutheran, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, a powerful Liberian woman who has tirelessly worked for peace, for women’s rights and safety, but most fervently for the Gospel. She’s met with presidents but she’s also been threatened with violence.  She can count the number of her friends on her hands, but…. She leans passionately into faith and hope.  This past week she told us “it’s not that we weren’t afraid, but we could not allow the fear to stop us.” 

This revelation, commission, and blessing can be overwhelmingly beautiful, frustrating, liberating, confusing, and transformational. I want to acknowledge that as we dive in. There’s room for all of it, but ultimately the last word will belong to blessing.

So let’s break this commission down.  “go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

 I want us to look at each piece and study it together, to explore what this resurrection living looks like, how we understand it in this place and time.  When you hear these words, what comes to wind, how do you hear them?  This is what the community gathered last night for Dinner Church heard:

Go! One thing's for sure, it isn't a commission to stay hidden in our homes.  There's a sense of being granted permission, of being released to go. This is part of the larger rhythm of being gathered and sent, of inviting and sending.  It invokes actions and movement.

make disciples.  There is a shared story.  The story was shared with the disciples, now they share it with others.  It's about spreading the good Word.  It involves encouragement and trust.

of all nations. This is a global commission, where everyone's included with no exclusions. It is directed toward "others" especially those who are different, even strangers.

baptize.  We envision water, but not just water...water that is combined with the Word.  It's about identity, being grounded as Children of God.  We are baptized in the name of God, into the larger church, not just this one church named KINDRED.  Baptism is enduring, we are constantly being reminded of the promises, the community promises and God's promises.  In baptism we are a new creation.

TEACH. We think of sharing, listening, and empowering, persuading. It's not just about intellectual knowledge, but a way of life, living as an example and a willingness to be transformed.  This implies an enduring practice, continual learning.

This is the commission of the church, of disciples, of those who follow in the footsteps of Christ, our commission, our resurrection life! But it is God’s mission.  Notice how close those words are: mission and co-mission.  God is the author, but we are invited to join in that life – co-missioners, co-misseraters, this is our co-mission, together with God as the ultimate director and perfecter of our faith. Our missions will inevitably break down, they point ultimately to ourselves, but this mission points toward God from whom it comes. This is God’s mission and so it WILL. NOT. FAIL!  We rest and lean into that hope, that promise.  It revives us, resurrects us into a fullness of being, a fullness of life as individuals, as a community, as an entire creation.  God’s mission of reconciling the entire world will not fall short. This is no up to us alone, we are not alone. We move forward with God’s blessing, which is this: God is with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Amen.  

5 Things We Need (but forget) for Housing Success

What is Houston doing to care for our homeless?  Several of you came to our local Hyde Park Civic Association last Monday to hear from Marilyn Brown, CEO of The Coalition for the Homeless.  COH brings service providers from around the city together so that those in need can create a plan for comprehensive care.  Housing Assessments and ID services are provided while they also meet basic needs with food, healthcare, showers, and laundry.  Services are concentrated in one location such as The Beacon downtown.  The city has moved to a policy of “housing first” which seeks to provide the stability of shelter and then work toward jobs assistance, sobriety, and other needs rather than expecting stability as a qualifier for housing.

One of our KINDRED community, Donnie, was able to raise his hand and speak to how these more integrated systems are still presenting challenges as struggles to fins housing and work.  Even after completing programs with local shelters, he has been unable to find a job so that he can move forward.  Marilyn reminded our whole association that there are still gaps and shortcomings, that when we talk about homelessness it isn’t an abstract idea, but people with names and stories like Donnie.  Before the meeting was over, Marilyn wrote down his name and promised to investigate his status further.  The next day we got the update that unfortunately they don’t yet have funding available to provide housing vouchers for folks like Donnie who are newly (not chronically) homeless, single (not families), and without disability.

There will always be people who experience homelessness because there will always be people who experience crisis.  The goal of COH is to get people into housing and services within 30 days.  Currently, that process takes an average of 86 days.  There’s still room to grow.  She shared 5 persisting barriers to housing success:

1.       Application fees

Apartments charge an additional fee not covered by the housing voucher.  COH keeps a small fund to help with this, but it’s still insufficient to meet all the need.

2.       Basic furniture

You got an apartment!  Yes! But you probably don’t have anything to sleep on.  We heard one story about a woman who laid our every item of clothing she had to create a soft surface to sleep on.  Again, COH keeps a small fund to provide three basic furniture pieces: a bed, a chair, and a lamp.

3.       Basic household goods

You have a lamp! Yay!  But you probably don’t have a lightbulb for that lamp…or sheets…or toilet paper…etc.

4.       Basic staple foods

Remember what it cost to set up your first apartment?  That first trip to the grocery store?  Oil, sugar, salt and pepper, flour…

5.       Transportation

Getting to your appointments for job interviews and for services requires mobility.  One man who had actually had housing was sleeping on the street downtown several days a week because he physically couldn’t take enough buses to get to his job on time.  Personally, I refer people to the comprehensive service locations which are a minimum of 3 miles from the church.  That’d be a 45 minute walk in the Texas heat without a bike or bus pass.

The arc of justice is long, but it bends towards justice. We know more now than we did two weeks ago, but there’s plenty room to learn.  KINDRED, let us pray for the release of those who are captive to homelessness.  Let us cling to hope as Donnie does.  Let us be an active part of the coming of the kingdom of God where all are cared for in their fullness.

LIFE TOGETHER - Our City

Jeremiah 29:1-7

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.3The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: 4Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

 This spring, KINDRED began to gather for the first time. As a people, as a community. We had a name, we had a place to worship, and we began to sing the simple songs of faith passed down to us by generations.  This summer, we have begun to explore what our identity as KINDRED is really about.  What does it mean to be KINDRED? What’s important?  Who is God calling us to be?  And so, our leaders on the Restart Team took time for prayer and reflection and study and discerned God’s vision for KINDRED

to cultivate bold community that reveals God’s presence in the city.

That’s the vision, God’s vision, for this time and place and people. And these leaders identified values that would help live into this vision as a people:

the Word of God, boldness, simplicity, equality, family, and our city.  Houston.

We value our city because our location matters, it affects how we live together.  The fourth largest city in the U.S., the most racially diverse city in the country, Houston is home to a wide variety of folks.  Some folks were born here, but many come from other cities, and many come from other states.  Actually, 1 million people in Harris County (that’s one in 4 people) were born in another country.  So that shapes how I look at this text from the prophet Jeremiah. 

It must have felt like the end of the world for the Israelites.  It was certainly the end of life as they knew it in Jerusalem – not just their homeland, their hometown, but their Promised Land!  Theologian Wil Gafney helps us imagine if their story was our story:

Our national government has just collapsed as the result of an invading foreign power. There is no remnant of the military. There is no government. The President, First Lady, Cabinet and Congress have all been exiled. All of the artists in New York and steel workers in Pittsburgh were separated from their families and exiled as well.  You are sent to live in a foreign land where the food is different, the language is different, your job probably doesn’t exist, and you are at the bottom of the societal totem pole.  It’s the reality of millions of refugees across the world including almost 5,000 refugees who come to Houston from 40 countries each year.

 Jeremiah tells the people that they won’t be returning home anytime soon.  That this generation won’t be going back.  That it will actually be several generations before they can return.  In the meantime, they are to make this new place their home.  It’s easier to endure life-altering challenges when you know there’s an end date, but there’s no such situation here.  God is not going to make their troubles magically disappear.   They aren’t told to hunker down, isolate and preserve themselves, but to engage and edify the culture they now inhabit.  They are to build houses, plant gardens, marry, expand your family…even to those who aren’t the same as them.

7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

The exiles, the refugees, are commissioned not only to tolerate the Babylonians, but to love them and to seek their welfare.  They are called to care for the city…not necessarily because the city has great parks and a renowned art scene or is so darn loveable, but because this is where God has called them to be right now.  They have been exiled from home but not from God. 

So I want us to explore more of what this means in our context.  In light of what this would have meant to the ancient Israelites, what do we hear the prophet saying to us? 

1)    What are your initials thoughts?

2)    As the dominant power, I’m sure the Babylonians did not expect their conquered subjects to then seek their welfare. Have you ever experienced love from an unexpected place?

3)    What keeps you from loving the city/its people?

4)    What would it look like to love this city/its people? To build it up?

5) How is God calling you to be a part of that love?

We are called to care for the city, not because the city is so darn lovable, but because this is where God has called us to be right now.  We are called to join in God’s love already present here – not just the cool and hip parts of the city, not only the art and the fantastic food, but the whole people of Houston, from the suburbs to the slums.  We don’t bring value to the city because we’re a church.  We bring value to the city because the church serves the people of the city and seeks their welfare because we know our welfare is tied to that of our neighbor.  I’m not gonna pretend like the Israelites heard this commission from Jeremiah and were just like, “oh ok!” Psalm 137 is a song of lament for their loss, their experience of being lost without an anchor, and then it’s followed by a cry for vengeance!  Rather the promise unfolded over generations.  In fact, is still unfolding.  There is no place we can go where God is not already present and already at work and we are invited to be a part of that work, of revealing God’s presence and promise in the city.  Let it be so.  Amen.

LIFE TOGETHER - Family

For our time of Word & Wondering, we hear the story of the Great Family.

You are a child of God.  That is your Identity above and before any other, it’s “child of god.” That’s foundational, but just as much so is our identity as Sibling, connected to the Children of God, siblings in Christ.

I wonder…When are people a family?  Obviously when you’re born, but is a couple only a family once they’ve had children?  Or when they have joined themselves in marriage?  Is it only couples and households? Are you a family when you’ve shared Christmas dinner together? When you’ve survived a summer road trip together?

KINDRED, when we say we value families and framilies, we mean that we honor the youngest among us, the relationship their parents have for their complete well-being, and there are lots of those kinds of families moving into the neighborhood.  But we also mean that we honor the intimate connections and relationship formed between people who are sharing their journey together. It’s not the DNA that makes a family, but the commitment to one another, to stand by one another when we celebrate God’s faithfulness, to stand by one another when we pass through a place where God is hidden from our view, to stand by one another as we remember things past and as we look toward the horizon. 

At our core, our foundation, we are created as children of God, siblings in Christ, knit into this expansive family tree that reaches as far as the sky.  We are a part of this great family.  We are family, we are kin. Psalm 133, “how good and pleasant it is when Kindred dwell together in unity.”  We are KINDRED, united in our diversity.

These are the intimate spaces where we learn how to relate to one another, how to trust, how to be generous, how to empower one another.  These are most intimate communities where we can practice being bold…So that…God is revealed in the city. 

The other day my 4 year old daughter, Marley, said to me “mom, I have a big family, not a little family…because I have friends in my family.” Oh yeah?  Who’s all in your family?  “oh! Carson, aroline, Kim, Wes, Emma, Lily, Jude, Tatum, Beth, Adelyn, Chris, Sara, Matt, Jen, Norah, Holden…."

Ok, she is biologically related to the first four on that list.  Carson is her cousin, but she almost always calls him her brother.  Sometimes I try and correct her, but I’m also grateful that she has this very intimate and yet wildly expansive sense of family.

We casually toss around our identities as children of God, baptized into one family, one body. We use relationships like euphemisms.  “Our African-American brothers and sisters, our homeless brothers and sisters, our refugee brothers and sisters.”  But I would never allow my biological brother to live in the conditions that my apathy allows these people to live in. 

The relationship is diluted into words while our lives remain disconnected.  We know in our heads that we are connected, that what affects one, affects us all, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…and yet, we keep a safe distance from one another.

But at the cross, a new relationship, a new KIND of relationship is formed. At the cross, we are fused together. At the cross, our identity as one family, a family that bears one another’s burdens, is revealed.  Woman, here is your son.  Disciple, here is your mother.  Living into this kind of family, this kind of kin-ship, means more than sending cards for birthdays.  It’s walking down grocery store aisles together, washing dishes together, helping each other move into a new apartment, sitting down to a table in our homes and sharing a meal together.  It’s showing up for vigils when a part of our community is hurting, it’s listening to each other so we might know how to help. It’s sharing our whole lives together, opening ourselves to be affected by the joy and challenges of another.  At the cross, Christ empties himself, for the sake of the world.  At the cross, we are invited to follow and to do the same…not in theory, but in practice. 

As I brushed through my daughter fine blonde baby hair, I wondered…what if she were to say to me, “mom, I want you to love this other little girl as fiercely as you love me.”  I can’t imagine it.  But that’s what Christ commends to us. 

Look up, look around you, look into the eyes of another…this is your child, your mom, you brother, your sister, your sibling.  How does that shape how you will love them? How you will live together?

God's Gift in the Midst of Violence

What a week.  Last week started with July 4th, Independence Day, a day we celebrate liberty and justice for all…but before the week was out we mourned the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and for Dallas Police Officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa. Less than a month ago I sat with my young daughter on a sidewalk in Third Ward watching the Juneteenth Parade go by to celebrate emancipation and the way that it liberates all of us.  In that same month, our new reels were filled with scenes from the gay nightclub in Orlando.  We lost so so so many. In the past year, we united in the face of terror to proclaim, “WE ARE PARIS!” The same brutal hate took the lives of our siblings in Istanbul’s airport and in the streets of Baghdad.

I’ve read so so so many articles on what happened and why.  I’ve stayed up until far too late scrolling through the memes, the cartoons, and the comments threads that offer both truth and vitriolic snark.  I’ve watched the videos because it is my responsibility to witness the suffering of my neighbor.  I have witnessed the utter fear and grief on the faces of people pleading for the very lives our people.  As Christians, all people are OUR people, and our call is especially to advocate for the oppressed.

I’m overwhelmed by all there is to take in.  I’m exhausted because I feel like I shouldn’t have to reiterate people’s humanity over and over again. I am breathless.  I am speechless.  What is left to say?  I know that God is with us in this mess, but where are the promises being fulfilled? Where is the glimpse of hope when the curtain of violence shields it from our view?  I long for a gospel that is more than silver-linings in the midst of tragedy.  The image of peaceful protestors and law enforcement hugging one another is a powerful one, but I don’t want mere eye candy.  We are promised more than that.  We are promised transformation.  Personal transformation, relational transformation, societal transformation…a new creation. 

Romans 8:18 -27

 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

We follow God who is still creating.  God is still speaking.  God speaks up on behalf of both children and tax collectors, for the oppressed and for the oppressor…to proclaim their humanity and to reconcile them once again to each other.  God says their names. God says our name.  God claims us, sighs with us, and groans with us.

Romans 8:31- 39

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.[i] 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
    we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are not alone in our grief, nor in our hope.  We don’t have to rely on our own strength to get through the day and toward tomorrow.  We come together to be reminded of this.  We come together to live into the love of God – to hear it poured out over us and to pour it out over others.  We pray together and we work together to reflect God’s light into dark places. Last night for WOR(K)SHIP we put our prayer into action as we worked with Montrose Grace Place to organize their closet so that it can be a joyful experience to the homeless LGBTQ youth that come each week.   Many hands made light work as both homeless and housed, first-time visitors and community leaders, people of all colors came together to live into our gospel promise.  Throughout our daily life we continue to show up for one another, speak up for one another, educate ourselves on the challenges we face together, call our representatives and vote for the sake of one another.  We are not alone in this.  We are not alone in our grief, nor our hope.  We pray together:

The world trembles out of control. The violence builds, some by terrorism, some by state greed dressed up as policy, violence on every side.  You, in the midst of the out-of control violence. We confess you steadfast, loyal, reliable, but we wonder if you yourself are engaged in brutality.  We confess you to be governor and ruler, but we wonder if you manage.

We in the midst of out-of-control violence, we in great faith, we in deep vocational call, we in our several anxieties. We — alongside you — in the trembling. This day we pray for freedom to move beyond fear to caring, beyond self to neighbor, beyond protection to growth. That we may be a sign of the steadfastness, that anxiety may not win the day. You are the one who said, “Do not be anxious.” And now we submit to you. Amen.

- "God's Gift in the Midst of Violence" by Walter Brueggemann

Invitation. Peace. Celebration.

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2 He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!' 6 And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9 cure the sick who are there, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 "Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'

16 "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." 17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" 18 He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Today, we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming, our summer series on KINDRED’s values, to explore this text about sending, peace, and celebration. Jesus has spent the first part of the gospel of Luke being born, growing up, teaching, preaching, and healing in his own neck of the woods, familiar territory and remote enough as to be outside the interest of Rome and its power.  But now he’s journeying toward Jerusalem. A time of transition has come and the gospel hits the larger road.  It will be a long journey and challenging journey, but also a joyful journey.  The journey doesn’t mean they take a break from sharing the Gospel, saving their good stuff until they arrive at the really important place, but all along the way, Jesus and the disciples continue to multiply, to tell their stories, and practice hospitality. This text is rich with things that intrigue me, starting with the very first verse:

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.

Did you know about the 70? Often when we picture Jesus and the disciples, we picture just 12 other men.  Just 12 people, 12 tribes of Israel. The people of God. We picture the last supper. And it’s true, the Jesus movement had to start somewhere, gathering just as a small handful. But a movement naturally gains momentum and multiplies. The 70 never get their names on the billboard, but Jesus assures them their names are written in heaven.  The work of the Spirit THROUGH them is what’s noteworthy.

At first glance, we might also look at the growth from 12 to 70 as significant and it is, but it’s not just about the success in recruiting new followers. It’s not just Exhibit A in the gospel of bigger and better.  It’s actually a profound statement about the vast expanse of the kingdom of God. Here we see that the Good News of Jesus Christ is not just for a special few lucky enough to be born into the 12 tribes of Israel, the privileged nation of Israel, it is for the multitudes.  70 is this number that represents the tent of God growing wider and wider. It signals that the mission of the church is not only for a small group, but for the nations. Indeed, this Good News is for the whole world.

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.

The 70 were not sent our as lone rangers, but in pairs.  In this mission of preparing the way for Christ, we are told: “Don’t go alone.”  With two, there is always someone to be encouraging if one of the pair is discouraged, to keep faith if one is dispirited, and to carry on when one feels tempted to quit. Just think about Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee… We could probably think of plenty of these dynamic duos. This discipleship thing can be hard, but it’s always easier with a companion.

So I want you to think about, how can you invite someone to join you this week?  I’m not saying you have to put on button down shirts and go door to door, just how can you share life with another person this week?  How can you invite someone to join you on your journey?  For example, last week I needed to finish cutting out this craft project, so I invited a neighbor to join me.  It didn’t have to be some extra thing, it was an opportunity to share something with another person and hang out in the process. So how can you invite someone to join you this week?

What I find particularly amazing about this passage is not the miracles but the willingness to be dependent on others. Think about it: no purse, no bag, no sandals and, importantly, no guarantees about how they will be received. I mean, I packed 4 pairs of shoes for two days out of town this weekend.  All they have is the promise of Jesus to go with them, to do great things through them, and to bring them home again.  That’s daunting and humbling, but also liberating.  This Kingdom of God, it’s not about masses and money. It’s about valuing people not things.  God sends just 70 with no purse.  We don’t have to be the richest church or the biggest church to be a part of the work of God.  We don’t have to have the right accessories, the best-looking banners, or perfect hair to share God’s promise of love. Where two or three are gathered…

There’s no “stuff” that will make this work. It is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in us that accomplishes the ministry. We let the Spirit do the heavy lifting.

But just because we’re sharing and depending on one another, doesn’t mean everything will work out like magic. It’ won’t be easy or without pitfalls, dangers, roadblocks, and rejection, but…Jesus tells them to keep moving.  Not with vengeance or hatred, but in peace.  Moving onward. 

The good news is that the reign of God, more traditionally “the kingdom of God”, is not pie in the sky when you die. It is right here. It is breaking into our world.

In what ways has the reign of God come near you? Tell your story, invite others to share their story, offer a word of peace, and celebrate what God is doing through you. Point to the God who shows up in the everyday stuff of everyday life.

Why bread?

This past Sunday we gathered for worship in a new way.  There were all the traditional elements: gathering, word, meal, and sending…but also something more.  We’ve been exploring how worship can also be about action. When we talk about our values (Word of God, Boldness, Simplicity, Equality, Families, and Our City), we have to also embody them. They can not remain abstract, but recognized as actual realities and practices.  Our new rhythm for worship this summer is a part of that. Every 4th Sunday we will gather in this way, as Kindred Kitchen, to make something for others. In worship, we gathered with liturgy, prayer, and a psalm, and then we set to the work of making bread.  There were four simple ingredients.  It was a simple process we shared together.    And it was delicious.

But why bread? Why put a cooking class in the middle of worship?  Why spend time with a blazing oven in the middle of summer? It’s not just because we thought it would be fun (although, it really really is). It’s not just because it’s an experience that everyone (young and old, housed and not, church-y or not) can contribute to.  It’s because there is something profoundly holy in this act.  Bread is an integral part of God’s story in the Bible.  It speaks to the rhythms of work and prayer throughout the history of the church.  It connects us to others in this very human way.

As the grains of wheat, once scattered on the hill were gathered into one to become our bread, so may all God’s people through all the ends of earth be gathered into one. In the beginning God watered the earth that humanity might have food and drink. God gave Sarah bread to strengthen her family on their journey. God called Moses and his people out of bondage and refreshed them with food in the wilderness. God gave Mary and Jesus their daily bread to share. Over and over the Bible tell us of God’s provision through this simple staple.  Over and over, we hear of how Jesus sits and breaks bread with the social outcasts in order demonstrate God’s love extending to all, even and especially in common everyday ways. Jesus offers his own body as bread for the world.  After the resurrection, Jesus walks along the road to Emmaus without being recognized by the disciples….until they break bread together. And when Jesus speaks of the God’s promise, of the Kingdom of God, he says, “it is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Luke 13:21)  As we mix three cups of flour with the tiniest sprinkle of yeast, we come to understand this promise in a new way.  We get to experience the messiness of hand-mixing and be a part of their transformation.

Surely, ancient cloisters of monks recognized a divine mystery in the comingling physical and spiritual work.  In their daily rhythms of devotion and rest was also a rhythm of work and prayer, ora et laobra. As they would tend the monastery garden, they would pray for creation and their community.  As they washed the dishes, they would pray for the sick and hungry.  The daily ritual would always include both work and prayer, not necessarily at distinct times and settings.  The work of the monasteries often varied – some teach, some heal, some make things.  They made chocolate, beer, wine, candles….and bread.  The money made from the sale of these things helped support the monastery so that they could help others.  As we measure and mix, fold and bake, we tap into this ancient heritage of work and prayer, of prayer in action.  We pray for our neighbors, our neighborhood, the homes this bread will go to, and the fellowship that each loaf will foster. 

 Our rustic loaves are made with organic flour, left to rise and rest, then baked up fresh to be sold at the oldest organic co-op in town (the Central City Co-op), which is conveniently located in our fellowship hall.  The money earned supports the work of the church in building community and providing good food to those in need, while a portion of our loaves go to fill hungry bellies, to the neighbor who just had a baby, or to those who often go un-thanked. You can pre-order your loaf by Sunday night and pick them up on Wednesday every week.  From our table to yours…taste and see that God is good!

LIFE TOGETHER - Equality

Isaiah 61

61The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
   because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
   to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and release to the prisoners; 
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
   and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn; 
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
   to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. 
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins,
   they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
   the devastations of many generations. 

5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
   foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; 
6 but you shall be called priests of the Lord,
   you shall be named ministers of our God;
you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations,
   and in their riches you shall glory. 
7 Because their* shame was double,
   and dishonour was proclaimed as their lot,
therefore they shall possess a double portion;
   everlasting joy shall be theirs. 

8 For I the Lord love justice,
   I hate robbery and wrongdoing;*
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
   and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 
9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
   and their offspring among the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge
   that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. 
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
   my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
   he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
   and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
   to spring up before all the nations. 

You need to know two things today and all days.  You are a child of God, and so is everyone else. You ARE a child of God, and so is EVERYONE else. Glennon Doyle Merton, a wonderful woman with a blog called Momastery, says it this way, “I am confident because I believe that I am a child of God. I am humble because I believe that everyone else is, too.” You are a child of God, just as you are, right now, and so is the person sitting next to you, and so is the person who will never darken the door of this sanctuary. You are a child of God.  There’s no caveat, no reservation, no asterix, no “if”s or “but”s. You are a child of God, and so is everyone else. When Christ died on the cross, what was put to death was every thing that would separate us from God and from one another.  Every. Thing. What rose from the grave was a new way of life, an entirely new world where that wholeness is experienced in full. You are a child of God, right here, right now, just was you are and don’t let anyone ever tell you different. This is our identity, the foundation of who we are in addition to all our unique diversity.

We have forgotten our identity, we have allowed others to make us forget. I know that we have forgotten because…

Because when I gathered with the LGBTQ community Sunday night, my neighbor was sure he had all the candles and lighters we needed because, he said “I have a vigil bag ready.”

50 empty places at the table for all those lost to hate at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando

Because jail sentences are awarded by considering their potential negative impact on the affluent and athletic rapist and not the victim.

Because it was only 153 years ago that black slaves were declared free in this country, because it took 2 years after that before anyone told the slaves in Texas, and because in all this time, and one year after the shooting of the Charleston 9, almost a year after the death of Sandra Bland…we still struggle to honor their humanity fully.

Because slavery is not a thing of the past, and our city is one of the largest hubs for human trafficking in the nation.

Because mass shootings have increased exponentially, but we continue to make an idol of assault rifle ownership.

Because we still try excuse ourselves and distance ourselves from our contributions, both subtle and overt, to the systems that support our forgetfulness.

But God does not abandon us here.  God’s vision and hope for humanity is not a life of despair and oppression, but joy and liberation. That is our true identity, to be a part of God’s work of restoration.

When God’s people lose sight of their identity and how that identity calls them to live – to love god and love people, especially the vulnerable people in their society – the widow, the orphan, the slave, the foreigner, the prisoner, the sick, the leper, those cast outside of the mainstream societal walls….when god’s people lose sight of their invitation to love these people…God raises up prophets in their midst.  Prophets emerge, they raise their voices, to remind the people of who they really are and to name to the ways the people are missing that mark.  You are a child of God, and so is everyone else.  Let us Love God and Love one another.  In Christ, you are a part of this redeeming and prophetic work. We are the ones who get to show up, speak up, and act up.

We pray that love might find root in our hearts, in our world. We pray for love to outrun hate in our inward souls and in our outward bodies. The prophet calls the people to love. Love, not in word alone…not in some overly sentimental rose-colored glasses way, but embodied – inviting the stranger, the foreigner, into their homes; giving the thirsty a cold cup of water to drink.

We are called to comfort those who mourn. It is no comfort to say “I’m really sorry this happened, but there’s just nothing we can do about it.”  “When the church of Jesus Christ is known only for its prayers and its limp expressions of sympathy for the oppressed rather than its speaking up and acting out in Jesus’ name, we have decided to be a bit of honey to sweeten the world’s evil rather than to be what Jesus commanded us to be: salt, light and agents of a new age… Jesus did not say, “Light a candle for me,” or “Every now and then when there’s a spectacular criminal act, pray to me.” You know what Jesus said. “Follow me.”” We are children of God. It’s who we are.  It’s who you are.  You are a child of God, and so is everybody else. That identity is already secured, so how does it shape us to follow?

Today, you are invited to follow with prayer, anointing, and action.

There is a station for prayer, where 50 candles wait for you to light them in memory of all those who were lost to hate in the shooting of the LGBTQ nightclub, Pulse in Orlando. There are additional candles there for you to light in honor of others who suffer hate and mourning.

I will be standing at a station over there for any who wish to be anointed with the oil of gladness and receive a blessing.

Finally, if you have not contacted your elected officials to plead for equality, safety, and justice…it’s time.  If you haven’t registered to vote….it’s time. There’s a table with your representative’s contact info and scripts you can make use of and adapt.  You can write them, call them, tweet them. 

Let us now enter these stations of prayer, anointing, and action.

As we head out from this place, we find rest in the promises of God.  The promise is that these hopes of equality and justice are not pie-in-the-sky, but they are promised by God. This reality, this promise WILL be fulfilled.  This dream is not impossible. The promises Isaiah declares may not have been fully realized in his lifetime, not until almost a millennia later when the Messiah, the Christ, broke through to redeem all of creation, but he was a part of it. Perhaps the most powerful moment for me this past week, was at Monday night’s interfaith vigil, where I held hands with my Baptist siblings, my Buddhist siblings, police officers and transgender veterans, people of all colors, and we sang We Shall Overcome….someday.  We will overcome.  We are the children of God.  This is our inheritance, our hope and our empowerment.  You are a child of God, and so is everyone else.  And absolutely nothing can take that away.