Tag Archives: Christ

“Challenging ourselves to follow Christ beyond the boundaries of our world”

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Proper 18C (Luke 14:25-33)  09-05-2010

When my family and I moved from the Chicago area to Alexandria, VA, we searched for the familiar among the unfamiliar of our new surroundings to soften the transition. As we thought about our new home, we realized that Alexandria is the home of T.C. Williams High School, which was familiar to us from the movie “Remember the Titans.” The movie was released approximately 10 years ago and is a popular sports movie about a high school football team. The story deals with the racial integration of the team and the challenges faced by the coaches and the young players. The players and coaches face the difficult road of coming together as a team, both on the field and off, yet they must live among the pressures associated with the society of Alexandria, VA in 1971…a society with the cultural norms that had yet to fully embrace the idea of racial integration.

This morning in our Gospel lesson we hear of the large crowds following Jesus as he slowly makes his way toward Jerusalem. The large crowds prove the popularity that Jesus has attained, making him as popular and as well known as a modern day sports figure of our time. And as is often the cause with famous people, the people have made some assumptions about Jesus and have formed their own opinions of him and what their life should be like as one of his followers. However, Jesus takes some time to address the large crowd and tell them his understanding of what their lives have in store for them: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:26) Continue reading →

“There are no boundaries to the one we call neighbor – love with great mercy”

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Proper 10C (Lk 10:25-37)  07-11-2010

“Who is my neighbor?” An important question for us to consider and, as we hear this morning, the answer has consequences for our actions. Last weekend, Carol and I spent the first part of the long July 4th weekend in our yard, pulling up weeds and putting down mulch. A lot of hard work, especially in the heat, but our yard looks much better and hopefully our neighbors are happy with the improvements. Who is my neighbor – in this case, the people who live in the area near our house. After working in the yard, we spent the remainder of our weekend at the beach and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the annual festivities of the July 4th weekend. During our visit to the beach we met many of the same people who are there year after year, but we also saw many new people – visitors we had never met before. For the duration of the weekend, we enjoyed some rest and had the opportunity to share fun and fellowship with others – and all of these people were our beach neighbors. But as the weekend came to an end and many of the visitors began to go home, the focus of attention along the beach turned to a rather large tree. Continue reading →

“Through Christ, we find redemption”

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Pentecost 2C (1 Kings 17:8-24; Lk 7:11-17)  06/06/2010

This morning, we appear to have a single story to consider as we listen to our Scripture lessons. And the story is this: a poor widow is met at the gate of the city by a man who is busy fulfilling the mission of God. The widow, living with very little to her name (other than her only son), eventually loses her child…her last great treasure. Through the divine will of God, the dead son is brought back to life. And the man who has acted on God’s behalf to bring about this miraculous event is proclaimed to be a great prophet and God’s favor is believed to be with the people. Surely, this story is an amazing story to tell and retell throughout the generations. A story that exemplifies the power and authority of God, but when we hear this story from Luke’s Gospel account, the meaning of the story expands beyond the power and authority of God and speaks of Christ’s particular mission of redemption…and as a people redeemed through the saving grace of Jesus, the redemptive power of this Gospel lesson holds special meaning and is a lesson for how we might live our lives with each other. Continue reading →

“The Spirit of God leads us on a journey of unfolding truth”

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Trinity Sunday Yr C (Jn 16:12-15)  05/30/2010

During this season of school graduations, I am reminded that shortly after my college graduation I moved to Florida to attend the Navy’s Nuclear Power School. The school was an intensive 6-month training course designed to teach the details of nuclear power plant operations. The course work kept everyone very busy, with 40 hours of classroom time and usually 30-40 additional hours of study time each week. After several weeks of this rigorous routine, nearly everyone was exhausted. And although we were exhausted, as new Naval Officers we tried to keep a low profile and quietly maintain the demanding study routine…with the exception of one particular student. The one member of the student body that was not a young officer hoping to make it through school and report to their first ship was a Navy pilot – a Captain who had been selected to serve as commanding officer of an aircraft carrier. As the future commanding officer of a nuclear powered ship, he needed to understand how the nuclear power plant worked, so he was sent to school…much to his dismay. One day the Captain raised his hand and said to the instructor, “All of this information is very interesting, but I would like you to teach us only what we really need to know.” Perplexed, the instructor replied, “Captain, this is all important information.” “Oh, I’m sure it is,” replied the Captain, “but the information on the test is probably the most important information, so why don’t you take special care to highlight that information for us.” The instructor, a young junior officer himself, stood speechless in front of the room, wondering how to respond to the Captain’s rather direct request.

Difficult topics require the very best we have to offer. The complexities of our lives and our relationships can demand our very best thinking; demand that we live through moments of uncertainty; demand our patience as we live into the unfolding truth as that truth is revealed. Continue reading →

“Following Christ beyond our boundaries”

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Fifth Sunday of Easter YR C (Acts 11:1-18)  05-02-2010

Boundaries. The order of our lives is often maintained by boundaries. We create boundaries by establishing laws, drawing lines, and setting limitations. Much of my recent vacation was defined by various boundaries, beginning with my airline boarding pass, which told me I had a seat on the Southwest plane and the order in which I was to stand in line. There were lines for the boundaries of the baggage check line; lines for the roller coaster rides at the amusement park, and nearly every restaurant required that you place your name on a list so they could establish the boundaries of when you would eat and the table that was most appropriate for the size of your party. Boundaries followed me throughout my vacation…and as we were ending our vacation, standing in the very long baggage check line at the Tampa airport, an employee of Southwest airlines came forward to pass along some news about the boundaries of the baggage check line. She told us that it is not permitted to check bags prior to 4 hours in advance of your flight time. She then requested anyone whose flight was more than 4 hours from the current time to please leave the baggage check line. For those people, their time had not yet come…and the established boundaries did not permit their participation. Continue reading →

“Renewed and reconciled by the resurrected Christ”

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Easter Morning Yr C (Jn 20:1-18)  04-04-2010

Among the many learning opportunities that are required of someone going through seminary training, I found that the 10 weeks I spent serving as a Chaplain intern especially rewarding. I spent the summer with some wonderful people at a continuing care retirement center in VA. After some introductory training, I was told to spend some time visiting folks in the assisted living and nursing care areas of the center. The vast majority of my visits were made to folks who lived alone, but there was one couple who lived together in one double room. This couple had been married for more than 60 years and I was looking forward to meeting them. I was told that they both suffered from varying degrees of dementia, in addition to other physical challenges, but I would be welcomed to visit them and the nurses were sure I would have a nice visit. As I entered the room, the man warmly greeted me as the woman slept in her bed next to him. He invited me to sit down and we started a nice conversation about many different topics…and throughout our conversation I noticed the room was full of many beautiful and interesting pictures and works of art. I suppose when you condense 60 years of life together in one room, only the most memorable pieces are selected. I asked the gentleman about one particularly beautiful wood carving of a Native American Chief riding on a stallion. He looked at the carving, agreed it was beautiful and then nodded his head toward his sleeping wife. He said, “I guess the carving his hers, I don’t know where she got it from.” I said, “Oh, your wife bought the carving.” He replied, “My wife, oh no, that’s not my wife. I have never seen her before they put us together in this room. I don’t know where my wife is right now.” I was struck by his reply: not because he couldn’t recognize his wife of 60 years – that was caused by the dementia. I was struck by his comment because this man and woman, after more than 60 years together, now lay in this room together, and he had lost his wife. Continue reading →