Waxing Theological

World Communion Sunday, 2018 Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Mark 10:2-16 Peace and Foolishness A few years ago, I shared about the history of World Communion Sunday - that it was a time when the world was in a bit of turmoil after World War Two and the Shadyside Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh wanted to bring people together across denominational lines and across the borders of countries and seas. It seems that today we again seem to be in a similar situation, where we need to remember that we are not Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Green, but that we are instead beloved children of God. It seems that we as a country have always sort of been in turmoil. From fighting the British for our Independence, to fighting Native Americans and the atrocities that went along with displacing millions of people, to the Civil War to the women’s suffrage movement, to the civil rights movement, to both world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Even today w...

9/30/18 (Proper 21/Ordinary 26 B, Semi-Continuous) James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 For and Against “If you’re not for us, then you’re against us.” This is the phrase we’re more familiar with, and we see it lived out all around us.  For example, there are quite a few folks in this sanctuary right now who have been very gracious with this pastor for being a fan of my Pittsburgh professional sports teams… but if I were to walk in next Sunday wearing Jayhawks apparel, I’d be sent home and told not to come back until I could find something more appropriate to wear. This last week, we have been inundated , even overwhelmed, with this kind of “for or against” messaging and tribalism, and as we move closer and closer to November, that messaging is only bound to intensify.  So it was both provoking and refreshing this week to come across this passage in Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus turns that idea on its head.  As we pick up immediately where we left off from...

9-23-18 (Proper 20/Ordinary 25 B, Semi-Continuous) James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 Drawing Near to God In seven years of parenting, I’d like to think that my “trouble-sense” is starting to become more finely tuned.  Some situations are easier to anticipate than others, sure… but there are usually some clues that we can rely on to tell us that something’s fishy.  In our house, we tend to start getting nervous when we hear one of two things: repeated laughter or unexpected silence.  I can see the familiarity out there for some folks as you picture that moment - it’s been a busy day, the kids are home from school, homework is done and you’re starting to work on getting dinner ready when you start to hear giggling.  Perhaps you think nothing of it - after all, it’s normal for kids to giggle while they play.  But then there’s a moment of quiet, and then the giggling starts up again.  And that’s when your gut realizes: something’s fishy.  You ...

9-9-18 (Proper 18/Ordinary 23 B, Semi-Continuous) James 2:1-17; Mark 7:24-37 The Straw Letter Last October, we spent a good portion of the month celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation.  We explored many of the ideas that fueled Luther’s movement to reform the Catholic church in his time, celebrated our own heritage as Presbyterians, and explored how we as the church are “always reformed, ever reforming according to the word of God.” One of the things that we didn’t explore very much during that Reformation month was the relationship that Martin Luther had with the letter of James.  Of all the books of the Bible, all the letters in the New Testament, all the myriad works that make up the canon of our scriptures… James was the one that Luther disliked most.  Luther didn’t mince words when it came to this epistle - he called it “the epistle of straw,” suggested removing it from study in Wittenberg...

9-2-18 (Proper 17/Ordinary 22 B, Semi-Continous) James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-23 Just Do It How many things are there in our lives that we do just because “it’s the way we’ve always done it?”  or because “that’s how I was taught to do it?”  How many of these things do we even stop for a moment to think about why we do them the way we do?  And how often have we used that same reasoning to explain why any other method of doing something is just simply wrong ? One of the best examples of this is sitting right in front of us right now - just about every time we celebrate communion in this church, the bread is nicely, carefully wrapped up in a linen napkin.  You’ll see this setup in many churches, though it sometimes has some variations - for example, some churches cover the whole table in a white cloth - but the general idea is the same.  Have you ever stopped and asked yourselves why that cloth is there?  Why do we cover the communion bread or ...

8-26-18 (Proper 16/Ordinary 21 B, Semi-Continuous) Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:59-69 Putting On the Armor of God Today is a special day in our church - a day in which we will be officially welcoming Grayson and Reid into our church family as we celebrate their baptisms.  I have to admit - I always get excited over being able to baptize people.  The sacrament of baptism always awes me, whether it’s an infant, a child, or an adult being baptized - it’s a sign of new beginnings, a reminder of God’s love and God’s promises to us.  It’s the opportunity for us as a community of believers to affirm the promises that God has already made to each of us, the grace that we have been given before we could even understand what grace was, as we witness those promises, those blessings of God enacted and represented in the pouring of water. Baptism, for all it represents, is a truly holy, truly sacred moment - and the more I thought about it in preparation for this Sunday...

8-19-18 (Proper 15/Ordinary 20 B, Semi-Continuous) 2 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-20 Living Wisely It’s officially the start of a new school year.  We’ve packed our backpacks up, prepped our classrooms, gone to the open-houses, taken those first day of school pictures, welcomed our students and started back into the routines of homework, reading, art projects and math problems.  Some of our students have already been hard at work at sports practices before they even started their classes, and the first games are already underway.  In another week or so, we’ll have gotten back into the swing of things - you’ll have familiarized yourselves with the class schedules, get that morning routine locked in so you don’t miss the bus, and have a pretty solid idea finally of who needs to be where and when.  It’s a time of transition - not just in your schedules and routines, but also in the season itself.  The state fair is coming to an end today and a ...