SSSC # 2023.06.19 JUNETEENTH (Sometimes Sarcastic Sermonettes for Christianettes and other wandering wonderers)

 Jesus strolled into the church in his hometown and was welcomed to come up front and read. He chose this passage, which is a quote from Isaiah:​

Lk 4: 18, 19

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,   
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

John 8:32

"...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Paul, the great preacher who had to be struck blind for awhile in order for the Lord to get his attention, ​​later expands on this theme, reminding us that we are all enslaved, whether to personal comfort, political or business power, work or play or whatever... which is not exactly focusing on eternity, Paul would say. 

Ouch.

Jesus spread his arms wide and said, "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That offer is still good for today...we can join with Paul and all those who have gone on before us, and be set free. The chains that bind us, like those unfortunate souls in Texas up 'til 1865, have been formally broken and only wait for us to step out of them into God's glorious freedom!

May I suggest reading the short book of The Gospel of John. ​Read it as a chapter a day or all in one sitting. Either way, let me know, and I will be happy to read along with you and discuss.

.

SSSC--Works: Jas 2 (On FB today, 05.22.21)

 WORKS 2.0

Forgive us, Lord, for we have loved the institution more than the people who ARE your church; Forgive us, Lord, for we have cared more about doctrine and correctness than your people round the world; Forgive us Lord, for we have sought our own comfort more than compassion for the poor in our midst;

Forgive us, Lord, for we proclaim the profundities of our faith while our works are feeble and vain; Forgive us, Lord, for we have loved Netflix

and phones more than you we are idolators and unworthy-- Lord, have mercy upon us: open our ears and soften our hearts to love and live your way...Amen.

It was a refreshing wind...

It is one of those beautiful summer evenings, when the moon is almost full, way up in the sky, highlighting a few clouds. Thunderstorms just rolled through, windy and loud and full of flash and flare--there are still a few distant jags of lightning in the south. The humidity has not all been washed out of the air, but the air still feels cooler and refreshed.

For some reason, my mind wandered in the direction of Pentecost, when the fresh wind of the spirit blew over the gathered disciples. While I doubt that the breeze that day was cooling, I suspect that the gathering was refreshed and energized in a manner never before experienced by any one of them!

Thinking of breezes, when Elijah was in the wilderness, before God manifested as the little whispering voice, an earthquake and a rock-crushing wind were the opening acts.

Jesus told his audience that while they can feel the effect of the wind, the wind remains an invisible force...
I wonder if the wind of the spirit has had any visible effects in your life, or in my life, lately? The simple answer is, of course. And you're reading it right now.

Lord, blow through our lives, blow away the chaff, and instill fresh air within us. To your glory, amen.

Top-Heavy Musings for 4/18/2020, or, day 25 of Shelter in Place.

I am enjoying the irony of rain falling here in Portland, Maine, as it's snowing south of us in Massachusetts, but, Lord, they really need the snow in Greenland and so forth, as the ice melt is at record levels there! 

As is true for most weekends,one of the Icelandic container ships is in port. This weekend it's the Lagerfoss--I love this about Iceland: they name their ships after waterfalls, and their airplanes with the names of Icelandic glaciers! Sitting here at my desk, I enjoy the movement of the containers from the yard on to the container ship. I wonder what might be in all those containers: most all of them simply arrived on the back of a truck or are transferred from the rail spur, but occasionally I see them loading automobiles into a container. Sometimes, tightly veiled objects that look like vats for a brewery, or shrink-wrapped, oddly shaped components that are too big to fit inside a container are loaded on top, strapped to a flatbed, along with the occasional boat.

I wonder just who knows the contents of the myriad, mostly uniform containers? Do the various equipment operators and deckhands ponder these mysteries? Do they wonder just how many dead bodies, or kilos of methamphetamine are headed for Europe? (Or, am I reading too many thrillers and mysteries?) 

Did you know that container ships have a deck that, like a bifold closet door, opens up to allow several layers of containers to be stowed below decks? Having (mis-)perceived container ships as ungainly, top-heavy waddlers through the waves, my own sense of equilibrium was improved in seeing that a fair bit of the load was serving as ballast, below decks. 

And how true of life...we all need some ballast to rely on, as we negotiate the heavier seas of life. Faith, faith in something vastly bigger and more permanent than myself, outside of myself, helps give me a sense of stability.

May fair seas, following winds, and stable ballast be yours!

D.

Ask, Seek, Knock.

ASK, SEEK KNOCK.

It sounds so simple, doesn't it? But it doesn't take a lot of time to arrive at the notion that merely asking or seeking or knocking once is enough. I'm reminded of the woman who wouldn't give up on bringing her case before the judge...and he finally give in to her demands for a fair hearing because she didn't give up.

Simple to say, "Don't give up. Never say never. Persevere." The trouble is in actually persevering! Tolerating disappointment, day after day, feeling discouraged yet aware that the emotions don't alter the need to put the willpower in gear.

How often do your emotions keep you from persevering?

One of my favorite quotes about writing came from a British writer, who said that the most important ingredient in being a successful writer was, "bum glue." In short, you glue your bum to the chair and write. Don't feel like it? Tough, keep writing. Uninspired. Just keep writing and fix it, add sparks and fuel and fire later, just keep at it.

Jesus wants us to hang in there, fight the good fight, to remember Churchill's fiery speech every day, and "Never give up!"

"Fight the good fight of the faith to which you were called...." Paul told Timothy. "Never give up."