Today's sermon is a beautiful counterpoint to last week's. Both deal with losses, of very different sorts.
Last week addressed ubiquitous grief in this time of pandemic, loss of those we love, dear experiences and times that were wrenched from us and God's grace to help us through and heal. The message was encapsulated in a beautiful poem on when to listen, not to sing, thanks to Patricia McKernon Runkle and Emily Dickinson.
This week involves the loss of what we won't be needing, of Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world helping us to discard zero-sum games, violence and struggles for supremacy. It also has some powerful capsules: Otto Pankok's image of Christ breaking the gun, the passage in Phillipians 2 about our king emptying Himself and the sonnet by Malcom Guite showing that, as we "stand and sing the praises of our hidden Lord and King" we fail to see that He is hidden to us because we neglect to hear His call .
So much can be enfolded in these works of art and poetry.
"To be citizens of his kingdom is to have an identity and a value and a peace that is unthreatenable." When I act as a citizen of His kingdom, my peace is unending. When I act as a citizen in this world, there is no peace.
That is just what I need to hear right now, thank you for your gift of expressing it so well.
I wonder if some of the more hyper-competitive people I know would turn away from Christianity if this was explained to them this way. "You mean I'm going to have sit next to them and TALK to them and LISTEN to them?????!?"
The other thing is, though, competitiveness is hard wired into all of us, some of us more than others, by natural selection as described by St Charles of Darwin. The cosmological question...I don't know the right theology word for study of creation...did God assemble the machinery, hit the "on" switch of creation, and natural selection just happened? Natural selection is the force that creates the diversity of creation; is our tendency to hurt and best each other just a nasty side effect? What is the relationship between God and the mechanics of God's creation?
Thank you for the critical antidote to my anger and combativeness over the Kyle Rittenhouse "not guilty" verdict this week. xoxo
Today's sermon is a beautiful counterpoint to last week's. Both deal with losses, of very different sorts.
Last week addressed ubiquitous grief in this time of pandemic, loss of those we love, dear experiences and times that were wrenched from us and God's grace to help us through and heal. The message was encapsulated in a beautiful poem on when to listen, not to sing, thanks to Patricia McKernon Runkle and Emily Dickinson.
This week involves the loss of what we won't be needing, of Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world helping us to discard zero-sum games, violence and struggles for supremacy. It also has some powerful capsules: Otto Pankok's image of Christ breaking the gun, the passage in Phillipians 2 about our king emptying Himself and the sonnet by Malcom Guite showing that, as we "stand and sing the praises of our hidden Lord and King" we fail to see that He is hidden to us because we neglect to hear His call .
So much can be enfolded in these works of art and poetry.
I love how you say my belongingness! I know that even when I don’t feel it!!! Thank you!
"To be citizens of his kingdom is to have an identity and a value and a peace that is unthreatenable." When I act as a citizen of His kingdom, my peace is unending. When I act as a citizen in this world, there is no peace.
"The point of love is not that it wins, but that it loves."
—Street, as quoted in The Epistle to the Arkansans
I really needed this. Thank you.
This is wonderful.
Thanks
That is just what I need to hear right now, thank you for your gift of expressing it so well.
I wonder if some of the more hyper-competitive people I know would turn away from Christianity if this was explained to them this way. "You mean I'm going to have sit next to them and TALK to them and LISTEN to them?????!?"
The other thing is, though, competitiveness is hard wired into all of us, some of us more than others, by natural selection as described by St Charles of Darwin. The cosmological question...I don't know the right theology word for study of creation...did God assemble the machinery, hit the "on" switch of creation, and natural selection just happened? Natural selection is the force that creates the diversity of creation; is our tendency to hurt and best each other just a nasty side effect? What is the relationship between God and the mechanics of God's creation?
Thank you, Nadia, the way of nonviolence and love is the way, someday I hope to manifest it in my life, as Jesus did.
" Jesus is a threat to violence itself "--(NBW) thank you for this whole thing