Faith, Grace, and Hope

On a drive this past Saturday, my daughter and I were playing the game, "Fortunately, Unfortunately". This is an improvisational story-telling game where you build a tale, line by line, with one person starting with "Unfortunately..." and the other saying, "Fortunately..." My daughter loves to be "Unfortunately". I was coaching her in the concept of "yes, and" and in how to make the story broad and to consider all the options open to the characters. My character, Esmerelda, was taking a walk on a beautiful day when, unfortunately, a storm blew in. Fortunately, her friend, Bob, saw her and offered her a ride. Unfortunately, Bob's "check engine" light began flashing. And so forth... At one point, when Esmerelda and Bob were floating down a flooded stream on her porch with three cats in a one cat-carrier, I commented that my daughter was being kind of rough on our friends. She said, "I'm Unfortunately. That's my ...

Isaiah 45:1–7; Psalm 96:1–9; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10; Matthew 22:15–22 Once upon a time, there were two groups of people. Both held a lot of power, and they struggled against each other constantly. People grew tired of hearing them complain about one another because it seemed nothing ever changed. One group was fiercely protective of their home territory—very interested in national security, if you will. They were deeply concerned with both the private and public lives of the people around them. This group was considered devoutly religious, though their strict focus sometimes kept them from seeing the forest for the trees. The second group was known for aligning themselves with foreign powers. Their idea of peace came through surrendering authority to leaders far away. They were major proponents of heavy taxation. Even though they weren’t typically viewed as religious, they developed a sudden interest in religious leaders and theological issues whenever it became politically expedient. ...

Synod Sermon – Pentecost 19, Lectionary 27, Year A Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-15; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 D ear Friends in Christ, Grace and peace to you on this celebration of the Lord’s Day. I thank God for you and for all the Spirit is doing in and through you. Remember, beloveds, that the work of God is not only what   we   can name with our traditional spiritual frameworks, but also the gifts of the seasons, life-giving weather patterns, and the wonder of wild things. In the shifting sounds of autumn, I would like you to take a moment to reflect on the idea of walk-up music. Almost always, walk-up music is associated with baseball. It is the snippet of a song that comes over the loudspeaker as a player approaches the batter’s box. The music is both for the player and the fans. It hypes up the player and lets the crowd join in on the excitement of who is up next. Walk-up music makes an appearance in other arenas. Some large public-speaking events have adapted t...