"All I know is that a shared alienation can bond people like a shared privilege can never do." Wow, there are so many gems in this piece. I will be noodling on it and praying about it for days. This one statement will have me thinking the most. Thank you for cracking open scripture for us to fully see.
Lordie Mercy! "Relaxing in the presence of God in the way we do when we are in the presence of someone we are certain is fond of us." I have to remind myself that I can be certain that God is fond of me and really wants my company. In early recovery I found Henri Nowen's book "Beloved" and I copied out the part that said I was God's Beloved and read it everyday. Now, twelve years later, I'll copy out this sermon and believe it. And, apply it to my best and worst neighbor. Thank you, Precious Sister.
Dang it Nadia, stop it. Each week I tell tell myself that i post too much and I need to skip next week but then here you come with another excellent message that unlocks my heart and the words come flying out again.. its all your fault.. thank you
Awesome sermon, Nadia! Thank you! I've often observed that drunks tend to look out for one another better than me and my "good Christian" fellow church members. Rev. Sam Cathy used to say: "The Christian church is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded" and Jacob Glass calls letting go of our holier-than-thou judgements: "freeing the hostages." (The only way to free ourselves.) Thank you for resetting my GPS back to the highlighted route!
Love this so much! I'm picturing myself on my sofa with no makeup, dressed in sweats and just chilling with God - and she's totally cool with that. Talk about taking the pressure off trying to be perfect...
Thanks, Nadia. I always appreciate the way you see biblical texts in such a unique way. I also appreciate your making yourself vulnerable in your sermons and other writing. Between your books and sermons I had the courage to preside over worship and preach the last two Sundays while my pastor was on vacation. I haven't done that in several years. So yeah, thanks for being so honest and vulnerable.
I hung out in a basement apartment too, only I didn't live there. I stayed there until all the cocaine was gone, and all the occupants had gone to bed and the sun was coming up, but I didn't live there. I lived in my own place, apart from the madness of the basement. I was one of them, but not 'of' them...yeah, right...thank you for this beautifully crafted allegory of our contemporary group madness regarding which group is better than the other. Our political system is crippled by this. Our neighborhoods are guarded from it. Our learning institutions are powerfully infected by it, and our prison system is created to contain whatever isn't, or doesn't appear to be, 'right.' What would the world look like is instead of betting on the worst in Us, if we all invested in the best in Us? I'll be thinking--and marveling--on this all day. Thanks be to God...
I love it when God answers a prayer I didn’t know I had. So many questions and conundrums put right by this lovely message of grace. God has gifted you, Nadia, to reach wounded places and point the way to wholeness. I will be reading and re-reading and meditating and hopefully practicing. Thanks be to God.
I love this: "...a shared alienation can bond people like a shared privilege can never do." Wow. Just so very true. Thank you for the new view of this story. Absolutely yes!
This is one of the most beautiful sermons I am in the herd. What a gift! I am humbled by the truth that you have spoken. Thank you! I’ve gotta say that this is my favorite line : “ Healing is knowing that you are God’s image bearer, but so is every asshole who wants to say you’re not so that they can feel that they are.” There’s plenty to chew on here in this sermon for quite some time to come! Thank you!
Your sermons always hit home; however this was out of the park! No one ever talks about the other lepers and the judgements we place. Maybe that really is the lesson here! Thank you! Thank you!
"All I know is that a shared alienation can bond people like a shared privilege can never do." Wow, there are so many gems in this piece. I will be noodling on it and praying about it for days. This one statement will have me thinking the most. Thank you for cracking open scripture for us to fully see.
Lordie Mercy! "Relaxing in the presence of God in the way we do when we are in the presence of someone we are certain is fond of us." I have to remind myself that I can be certain that God is fond of me and really wants my company. In early recovery I found Henri Nowen's book "Beloved" and I copied out the part that said I was God's Beloved and read it everyday. Now, twelve years later, I'll copy out this sermon and believe it. And, apply it to my best and worst neighbor. Thank you, Precious Sister.
Dang it Nadia, stop it. Each week I tell tell myself that i post too much and I need to skip next week but then here you come with another excellent message that unlocks my heart and the words come flying out again.. its all your fault.. thank you
"What we assume about other people says more about us than them." Busted.....thank you.
Awesome sermon, Nadia! Thank you! I've often observed that drunks tend to look out for one another better than me and my "good Christian" fellow church members. Rev. Sam Cathy used to say: "The Christian church is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded" and Jacob Glass calls letting go of our holier-than-thou judgements: "freeing the hostages." (The only way to free ourselves.) Thank you for resetting my GPS back to the highlighted route!
Love this so much! I'm picturing myself on my sofa with no makeup, dressed in sweats and just chilling with God - and she's totally cool with that. Talk about taking the pressure off trying to be perfect...
Thanks, Nadia. I always appreciate the way you see biblical texts in such a unique way. I also appreciate your making yourself vulnerable in your sermons and other writing. Between your books and sermons I had the courage to preside over worship and preach the last two Sundays while my pastor was on vacation. I haven't done that in several years. So yeah, thanks for being so honest and vulnerable.
well done!!
This may be your best sermon yet, for me, at least. I will never read or hear this Gospel story in the same light again. Thank you.
I hung out in a basement apartment too, only I didn't live there. I stayed there until all the cocaine was gone, and all the occupants had gone to bed and the sun was coming up, but I didn't live there. I lived in my own place, apart from the madness of the basement. I was one of them, but not 'of' them...yeah, right...thank you for this beautifully crafted allegory of our contemporary group madness regarding which group is better than the other. Our political system is crippled by this. Our neighborhoods are guarded from it. Our learning institutions are powerfully infected by it, and our prison system is created to contain whatever isn't, or doesn't appear to be, 'right.' What would the world look like is instead of betting on the worst in Us, if we all invested in the best in Us? I'll be thinking--and marveling--on this all day. Thanks be to God...
I love it when God answers a prayer I didn’t know I had. So many questions and conundrums put right by this lovely message of grace. God has gifted you, Nadia, to reach wounded places and point the way to wholeness. I will be reading and re-reading and meditating and hopefully practicing. Thanks be to God.
I love this: "...a shared alienation can bond people like a shared privilege can never do." Wow. Just so very true. Thank you for the new view of this story. Absolutely yes!
One of the best commentaries on anything I've read for some time. Thank you. Deserves a world wide audience.
This is one of the most beautiful sermons I am in the herd. What a gift! I am humbled by the truth that you have spoken. Thank you! I’ve gotta say that this is my favorite line : “ Healing is knowing that you are God’s image bearer, but so is every asshole who wants to say you’re not so that they can feel that they are.” There’s plenty to chew on here in this sermon for quite some time to come! Thank you!
Thank you so much for a beautiful sermon. You make The Corners such a loving presence to be in...
I love you.
Your sermons always hit home; however this was out of the park! No one ever talks about the other lepers and the judgements we place. Maybe that really is the lesson here! Thank you! Thank you!