Waxing Theological

Over the last few months, I've gotten some feedback from some of the members of my congregation on a strange growth that they've noticed coming out on the back of my head. Normally, when I hear concerns like that, I might schedule an appointment with a doctor and see whether I should be concerned, as well.  Fortunately, the only appointment I'd really need to schedule is with a barber.  You see... my hair is starting to get long - it's been almost a year since I've had a haircut. Let me pause for a second and say this: I understand why people have mentioned this to me.  In rural Missouri, it's not exactly the "norm" for a Presbyterian pastor to look like a Nazirite.  And I did get my hair cut pretty short before I started interviewing with the churches in the Small Church Residency Program - mainly because I knew it would look better and give a better first impression.  To be honest, I've put a lot of thought into getting my hair cut anyway as

6-29-14 (13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Proper 8A, Semi-Continuous) Genesis 22:1-14; Matthew 10:40-42                                                                   The Cost of Obedience     As I’ve read and studied through the Scriptures, I don’t think that there’s any one passage that I’ve found perhaps more perplexing, challenging, and just generally hard to deal with as this passage we commonly know as “the binding of Isaac.”  Everything in me wants to push back against this passage as I read it, especially when I hear the kinds of messages people take away from it - “Oh, we have to have unwavering faith.  If God tells you to do something, don’t ask questions: just do it!  Abraham was willing to give up his own son because God asked him to do so; where’s our faith and trust?”     But the more I hear things like that, the more I wonder to myself: is that really how we should act?  If God told me this afternoon to take Caleb and tie him to the train tracks, I’m pretty sure that I’

This is one of those random posts where I talk about something that's not a sermon or theology - feel free to read it, or just ignore the rambling as I fly my nerd flag high. When I first heard the announcement sometime last year that the Disney channel was going to launch a long -awaited new "Boy Meets World" spinoff, I joined the throngs of people in my generation who had grown up with Corey, Topanga, Shawn, Eric, and the rest of the gang in a collective bit of excitement.  Of course, the initial shout of "YES!" quickly became a "wait a minute..." as I heard more information and started to think beyond the gut reactions. First, some information: "Girl Meets World" is a followup series to "Boy Meets World" - Corey and Topanga have grown up and have children of their own: Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and Auggie (August Maturo).  Riley is the main character, the girl who will be meeting the world.  Much like Corey had his Shawn, Rile

6-22-14 (Proper 7A/Ordinary 12A, Semi-Continuous) Genesis 21:8-21; Matthew 10:24-39                                                       Where Do We Go From Here?     As Hagar was trudging through the desert, as she stopped to take a drink and felt the last bit of water trickle into her mouth from the skin Abraham had laid over her shoulder, as she looked at her precious child, Ishmael, and saw his own parched face looking back up at her, she must have asked the question: Where do we go from here?  Where do we go when the water is gone, when the desert is harsh and unforgiving?  What are we supposed to do when we have no home, no shade, no hope?  She prayed to God - the same God who had told her to go back to Sarah on pleading knees only such a short time ago, the same God who had promised her that Ishmael would be the first of a great multitude - and her prayer wasn’t “Why?” It wasn’t “Please get us out of this.”  She didn’t know what else to pray, except, “Please don’t let me watch

First of all - I want to say that I'm sorry. As I've caught up with the decisions made this week during GA in Detroit, I've seen a mixed bag of responses from my fellow colleagues and friends. To those who feel betrayed, hurt, and discouraged by the GA's decision to amend the Directory of Worship and to give the Authoritative Interpretation - I'm sorry.  I respect you and honor you as members together in this body of Christ, and I pray that we can still find peace and fellowship through this body together.  I pray that we can still maintain unity in our denomination and that we can still work together always to the glory of God. To those who are celebrating this week - I'm sorry, too.  I'm sorry that it has taken our church so long to recognize and acknowledge the need for justice and inclusion among a community that has been ostracized over and over again.  I'm sorry that even as you celebrate this victory together, you still see the angry faces an

6-15-14 (Trinity Sunday, Year A) Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Matthew 28:16-20                                                          The Paradoxical Power of Three     The beginning of the Bible and the end of a Gospel.  It seems like a strange pairing - even more so, perhaps, when we consider that in the calendar of the liturgical year, today is Trinity Sunday - a Sunday in which we specifically lift up the mystery of One God existing as Three persons, each distinct and each in relationship with the other, but also still One, Almighty God.  And yet, the odd placement of these two texts together is perhaps only made sensible in the context of the Trinity.     We talk about the Trinity in our weekly worship as we recite the words of our confessions, our creeds, and even as we sing the hymns that make up so much of the backbone of how we express our faith.  We’re no strangers to the ideas of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  But at the same time, we don’t tend to spend all that much ti

6-8-14 (Pentecost A) Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39                                                                  Great Tongues of Fire!     They gathered together that day as disciples; followers of Christ; men and women who had witnessed great things.  They gathered that day, much like they had gathered since they’d watched Christ ascend to heaven.  They gathered to worship God in the name of their risen Lord, Jesus Christ.  And God was present with them.  God had always been present with them, but this day, this time, God was doing something different.  God was showing up in a whole new way.  Suddenly, like a hurricane from heaven, the Holy Spirit rushes upon these gathered people.  The Spirit fills the temple; it engulfs it like a match thrown on gasoline.  And these followers of Christ begin to preach.  The power of the Spirit alights over their heads like great tongues of fire.  They start talking in all different languages.  And people start to hear what they’re saying.    It doe

6-1-14 (Easter 7A, Ascension Sunday) Acts 1:6-14; Luke 24:44-53                                                                    Ascending Expectations     This Sunday is the last Sunday of the Easter Season.  In some churches on Thursday, people gathered together to celebrate the Day of Christ’s Ascension.  Many other churches, including ours today, may choose to recognize the Ascension during Sunday worship and to focus on that in their exploration of the readings for the week.     It’s easy to skip over the Ascension, in a lot of ways.  We move through this entire season of Easter simply marking time and making sure we have our red outfits chosen and laid out to be ready for Pentecost.  We have a pretty good understanding of the Resurrection at Easter; we know the thrill of celebrating the very birth of the church through the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost.  But there’s a crucial step in the middle that really ties these two events together - and that’s the Ascension.  Wit