Bailing Buckets

June 17, 2012 By 5 Comments

Sometimes Jesus gets grouchy.

by Mike Baughman

Gospel Reading:  Mark 4:35-41

For Sunday, June 24, 2012: Year B—Ordinary 12

For most pastors, this is an easy Sunday. They flip open to Mark 4, see that this is the story of God calming the storm. They think of the metaphorical storms in congregants’ lives and tweak up their best “Jesus can calm the storm in your life” sermon.

It’s a good sermon and a good message. If that’s the sermon you want to preach, go for it. Feel free to ignore what I write below.

Jesus is Kind of a Jerk

I’ve spent some time sailing—I’ve been trapped in the midst of a sudden storm with swells as big as the boat I was in. It’s scary…like I’m glad I was wearing a bathing suit scary because it makes the pee a lot less noticeable. If my sailing partner had been napping at the time, I sure as hell would have woken her up!

Still, I’m not bagging on Jesus. I can relate. The disciples might have just been waking up Jesus to grab a bucket and start bailing water from the boat. I get pretty grouchy when people wake me up and want something from me, but I’m not sure the disciples deserve this kind of treatment.

“All hands on deck,” as they say!

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Is there Wisdom in Fearing God?

January 22, 2012 By 16 Comments

What can we learn from this ancient understanding of our divine relationship?

by Carol Howard Merritt

Psalm Reading: Psalm 111

For Sunday, Jan. 29, Year B − Epiphany 4

In the midst of premarital counseling, I spoke to a young couple about the plethora of things that cause hardship in marriages—trying to discern and mark the bumps that might be in the road ahead.

Filled with Fear

We covered family of origin and attitudes toward money. We talked about children. Did they plan to have them? What if they weren’t able to have kids? What sort of parenting styles made sense to them? How would they discipline their child?

The groom-to-be looked at me steadily and said, “I was afraid of my dad. All he had to do was walk in the room and I was filled with fear. I never want my child to look at me the way that I looked at my father.”

When I had my own precious daughter, each time I looked at her sweet face, I felt consumed by my love for her. As she got older, and I noticed slight pangs of fear in her eyes, I hated them as much as I thought that I would.

God Had Teeth

I remember these moments when I read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The words make me wince. I grew up as a

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Bad Dad?

November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Is our “fear of the Lord” more philosophical, or more guttural?

by Mike Stavlund

Psalm Reading: Psalm 95:1-7a; Psalm 100

For Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011: Year A—Christ the King Sunday

Like most Psalms, the 95th is a call to worship. God’s people are encouraged to sing for joy and to shout about God’s goodness, to kneel down in worship, because, like sheep, God’s people are cared for and protected in God’s pasture. It is a beautiful, inspiring scene set before us. But then things take a turn.

Fast Forward

What the Lectionarians hurry right past is a bit less comforting. They clip off the end of Psalm 95 and offer, as a semi-continuous option, the similarly pastoral imagery in Psalm 100. But between them we are left wondering if we’re collectively ignoring some uncomfortable family secret.

What gets skipped over in Psalm 95 is God’s seething, 40-year long anger—a lifetime of bitterness, really. God’s bad side. Anger at his people’s hard hearts, divine loathing at human waywardness, and indigence that people ‘tested’ God. The Lord, carrying a grudge over from father to son. It’s a God-sized grievance against an entire generation of people, and it doesn’t seem to subside until every last one of them finally dies.

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“How long to sing this song?”

August 22, 2011 By 3 Comments

Following, and being followed by, the cross.

by Unvirtuous Abbey

Gospel Reading: Matthew 16: 21-28

For Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011: Year A – Ordinary 22

 The last time I was “taken aside” was on a trip to Minneapolis, MN. As I stood before the airport scanner, I was told to empty my pockets, take off my shoes, take off my ring and watch, and remove my belt. Being patted down can be a humiliating experience.

But that was the point of being taken aside: being rebuked; to be reprimanded; to be disapproved of.

Shown the Way

This story is a teaching moment. Jesus is showing his disciples what being a disciple means: going to the centre of power, confronting the leaders of the day (and yes, suffering because of it), and then ultimately dying to protect others. “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples…”

For the rest of his life on earth, Jesus shows them (and us) what is divine in this world: words, healing, stories, transforming, walking, holding, breaking bread, lifting up, and yes, confronting empire.

And he shows them what is human: oppression, mistrust, marginalization, stoning, ethnocentrism, and eventually, ultimately, crucifixion.

What’s scarier is that Jesus reveals that there is a fine line between what is divine and what is human.

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Salvation and Fear and Jesus’ Ghost

July 31, 2011 By 19 Comments

How Can We Preach this Tired Story in a Way That People Can Hear it?

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

For Sunday, August 7 , 2011: Year A—Ordinary 19

This story is about, well, life and death and who Jesus is and what that means when Jesus is coming toward us walking toward us.

It is a ghost story.

It is hard for me to feel the fear in this story. I think it’s simply the amount of times I have heard it.

Jesus walking on the water. Peter walks on the water and then takes his eyes of Jesus and starts to sink and yells, to Jesus “Save me!” and Jesus reaches out to him pulls him up and they get back in the boat. Jesus spanks him a little—“Ye of little faith—Why did you doubt?” The rest of the disciples look up into Jesus’ eyes with Peter and confess in unison “Truly you are the Son of God,”

Lessons that tell themselves.

It is hard to think of it as real, because I know it so well. I have heard so many sermons and songs and lessons about it. When I read the story those lessons just start telling themselves to me.

You know, you have to keep your eyes on Jesus—or you know there were eleven other people that didn’t get out of the boat—get out of the boat, Russell.

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Confidence and Cowardice in a Time of Fear

January 17, 2011 By 3 Comments

Is an understanding of our fear necessary for confession?

by Russell Rathbun

Psalm Reading: Psalm 27

For Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011: Year A – Epiphany 3

What are you afraid of? Spiders, the dark, heights, closed in spaces, wild animals, a violent attack, the government? With the exception of the last two, these are among the most common fears, along with swimming in the ocean, flying, death and going to the dentist; but according to an article by American Demographics the most overwhelming fears of people are speaking in public (number one at 56 percent) and getting fat (46 percent). One should never have speakers sit up on the platform and eat before a presentation. That is just cruel; it is speaking in public while you are getting fat.

Processing Fear

Psalm 27 is a study in the human reaction to fear. The two distinct sections of this Psalm display a stunning pre-scientific understanding of how the brain processes fear. The brain processes fear two ways simultaneously. There is a so-called, low road and a high road (my apologies to anyone that actually knows anything about this subject).

The low road is the fight or flight response. This response is instantaneous, developed to keep you from being eaten by lions or hit by a car, it is triggered, you react. The high road takes longer, but is more rational. The brain analyzes the treat and compares it to other similar circumstances, determines what the actual threat might be and then responds accordingly.

One definition of anxiety is that it is a prolonged, low-grade continuation of the fight or flight response. It keeps your heart rate elevated and your muscle tensed, but most importantly does not engage rational thought.

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