Here is the link to the reflection on the first sermon, Salvation by Faith
I have launched into a new blogging project that will be hosted on another site, Strangely Warm: Subversive Wesleyan Theology. Each week for a year I will read one of John Wesley's sermons and post a summary and reflection. I will share links to my posts on this blog so that folks can follow along. I would also invite you to read the posts from other author's that will live on the site. I imagine that there will be some theology that goes over the head of the average reader, but most of it should be fairly accessible. My series and the site in general could be a good opportunity to learn more about the theology of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.
Here is the link to the reflection on the first sermon, Salvation by Faith
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Isaiah 11:1-10In the sermon recap, we already took a brief look at this week's passage from Isaiah. Now, I would like to look into it a bit deeper. In this passage we encounter some familiar poetic language: 6The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. 9They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Once again, just as we have been encountering throughout Advent, Isaiah is pointing to a future time to come. This poetic language tells us that it will be a time of peace where even the most dangerous of animals live in harmony with one another and with humans. Violence and destruction will be no more. Well, this all sounds great, but how do we get there?
The verses leading up to this poetic passage speak of someone who will come and usher in this coming time of peace and harmony. This person will be a shoot coming out of the stump of Jesse, who will judge with righteousness and faithfulness. So, there are a couple of things going on here for us to think about. 1. What on earth is the shoot out of the stump of Jesse and 2. What is this judgement all about? First, the shoot coming out of the stump of Jesse is an heir to the kingly line of David. Jesse was King David's father, so the tree of Jesse would represent the line of David. That leaves us with the question, why is it a stump and not a full tree? The line of David was no longer ruling in Israel. If the tree is a symbol of the royal family, then the tree being cut down to a stump symbolically represents that the line of David no longer is in power. (This might seem like a small detail to spend time on here, but it will become more important when we turn to the passage from Matthew later in the week.) So, the shoot coming out of the stump of Jesse is a renewal of the rule of the line of David. A new king from the line of David will usher in this time of peace and harmony. So, now we come to the major theme for the week; justice and judgement. This time of peace will come about when the coming one judges with righteousness and faithfulness. This all seems pretty straightforward, but there is one line that really stands out as a radical interpretation of justice, "but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth." The judgement that this coming king will bring will be a lifting up of the poor and the lowly. It is not often that kings are associated with bringing equity to the poor and oppressed. This judgement for the poor is a radical sign up the upside down kingdom that is to come. Isaiah is pointing to a time when economic systems are overturned and the poor are treated with fairness. This king from the line of David, whose coming Isaiah says will bring about a time of peace, does not look like any king as the world to that point had understood it. Something new was coming; a new shoot coming out from the stump of Jesse. Scripture: |
12 Marks of New Monasticism1) Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire. | The Simple Way and many other communities like them are choosing to live out the vision that Isaiah described in a very specific way. Although we will not all choose to live with others in intentional community, we can learn a lot from them about how we might be able to further live into the kingdom of God. Check out these videos that show how The Simple Way teamed up with a group of blacksmiths to literally beat weapons into tools. It is really cool:
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Scripture:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 24:36-44
This Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. This means that it also marked the first day of the year in our Christian calendar. With this first week of Advent, we begin looking ahead and preparing for what is to come. The word "Advent" comes from the Latin ad- (to) and venire (come), so it's literally meaning is "to come". Throughout this Advent season, I will be blogging every Monday-Friday. Mondays I will send out a sermon recap along with the audio of the sermon. Tuesdays-Fridays I will be reflecting on the four readings for the week.
So, what is it that is coming? What is it that we are preparing for? Well, we don't really know. We think we know. We think we are preparing for Christmas, for the coming of the Christ-child, for the light to come into the world..., but we don't really know what that all looks like this year. That is the nature of the "to come". It hasn't come yet, so we don't know.
We do have clues, though. Our scripture reading from Isaiah speaks of a coming time of peace.
So, what is it that is coming? What is it that we are preparing for? Well, we don't really know. We think we know. We think we are preparing for Christmas, for the coming of the Christ-child, for the light to come into the world..., but we don't really know what that all looks like this year. That is the nature of the "to come". It hasn't come yet, so we don't know.
We do have clues, though. Our scripture reading from Isaiah speaks of a coming time of peace.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
While we understand Isaiah to be pointing to the coming of Jesus, we also know that, although Jesus came, the world we live in does not look like Isaiah's vision. Is that because Isaiah was wrong or because Jesus failed? Perhaps not. Perhaps that vision was begun by Jesus and the way that we prepare for it is to live into it; to participate in the "to come".
How do we do that? How do we participate in the "to come"? Isaiah says to walk in the light of the Lord. Jesus tells us to be ready; to stay awake. Over the next few days, I will be reflecting on each of the scripture readings for the week and exploring what they tell us about how to be prepared and how to live into the "to come".
How do we do that? How do we participate in the "to come"? Isaiah says to walk in the light of the Lord. Jesus tells us to be ready; to stay awake. Over the next few days, I will be reflecting on each of the scripture readings for the week and exploring what they tell us about how to be prepared and how to live into the "to come".
Or listen right from the player on the home page. |
Scripture:
Luke 16:19-31
The scripture passage we looked at this week was a parable that Jesus told about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. I will give a quick summary here, but you can click above to go right to the scripture if you would like to read it yourself. So, the rich man and Lazarus both die. The rich man goes to Hades (hell) and Lazarus goes to be with father Abraham (heaven). The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to him to save him. When that fails, he asks that somebody be sent to his brothers so that they don't end up in the same situation.
Here are my thoughts:
-The parable is not intended to be a description of what the afterlife is actually like. The parable is not about the afterlife any more than other parables are about sheep, coins, business, fields, etc...
-The rich man was not in Hades because he was rich. Instead, he is there because he lived life too self absorbed to pay any attention to the least of God's children like Lazarus. He was so focused on himself and his wealth that he failed to recognize and love others.
-When the rich man asks Abraham to send someone from the dead to warn his brothers, Abraham tells him that they have already been told how to live by Moses and the prophets. If they didn't listen to them, they will not listen even if someone rises from the dead to tell them.
What does this mean for us:
-We have been told by Moses, the prophets, and yes someone even rose from the dead to tell us how to live. Will we listen? Will we hear that since the very beginning of our history with God, the message has been to love others. Heal the sick, feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, care for the widow, welcome the stranger, etc... This is what we have been told from the very beginning. Will we hear it?
-Loving others begins with recognizing and encountering others. The rich man did not take the time to recognize and form a relationship with Lazarus. Who is Lazarus to you? Who is Lazarus to me? Who are we overlooking because we are too wrapped up in ourselves?
Practical Action Step (homework):
This week, open yourself to meeting one new person. If there is someone who you regularly encounter in your daily life, but have never met; meet them. If there is not someone who comes to mind, be open throughout the week for an opportunity to meet someone new. Engage someone you don't know in conversation and learn their name. If you learn their name, there is a good chance you have made a real connection. If you will be worshipping at Community or People's this coming Sunday, you will have the opportunity to lift up and celebrate stories about the new connection you made during worship. If you will not be worshipping with us (or even if you will be), please share your stories of new connections in the comments of this post.
Here are my thoughts:
-The parable is not intended to be a description of what the afterlife is actually like. The parable is not about the afterlife any more than other parables are about sheep, coins, business, fields, etc...
-The rich man was not in Hades because he was rich. Instead, he is there because he lived life too self absorbed to pay any attention to the least of God's children like Lazarus. He was so focused on himself and his wealth that he failed to recognize and love others.
-When the rich man asks Abraham to send someone from the dead to warn his brothers, Abraham tells him that they have already been told how to live by Moses and the prophets. If they didn't listen to them, they will not listen even if someone rises from the dead to tell them.
What does this mean for us:
-We have been told by Moses, the prophets, and yes someone even rose from the dead to tell us how to live. Will we listen? Will we hear that since the very beginning of our history with God, the message has been to love others. Heal the sick, feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, care for the widow, welcome the stranger, etc... This is what we have been told from the very beginning. Will we hear it?
-Loving others begins with recognizing and encountering others. The rich man did not take the time to recognize and form a relationship with Lazarus. Who is Lazarus to you? Who is Lazarus to me? Who are we overlooking because we are too wrapped up in ourselves?
Practical Action Step (homework):
This week, open yourself to meeting one new person. If there is someone who you regularly encounter in your daily life, but have never met; meet them. If there is not someone who comes to mind, be open throughout the week for an opportunity to meet someone new. Engage someone you don't know in conversation and learn their name. If you learn their name, there is a good chance you have made a real connection. If you will be worshipping at Community or People's this coming Sunday, you will have the opportunity to lift up and celebrate stories about the new connection you made during worship. If you will not be worshipping with us (or even if you will be), please share your stories of new connections in the comments of this post.
Or listen right from the player on the home page. |
Note: there are two different recordings of the sermon this week. One is from Community, and the other is from Peoples. They both deal with the same theme.
This is the first entry in a series on spiritual practices. I will be introducing a different spiritual practice each week and reflecting a bit on what it means and how to incorporate it into our lives.
It wasn't difficult to choose which spiritual practice to begin with. In order to adopt many new spiritual practices, we must find ways to open space in our lives for them. Simplicity is an obvious starting point for this series, because it is a spiritual practice that helps us to open space in our lives.
There are no doubt many definitions of what simplicity is. I will define it as this: practice of letting go of anything that clutters our lives. I realize this is a very vague definition, so let's break it down a bit. There are two main areas that we can simplify in our lives: external and internal.
The more obvious way of practicing simplicity is letting go of the clutter of physical objects in our lives. This clutter is external to us. It is outside of us. We live in a materialist, consumerist society. We are trained from the day we come into the world to be consumers. We collect stuff. Through commercials, print advertisement, billboards, etc... we are told that our lives will be made better by all the stuff. Advertisements often times use very spiritual language to tell us all the wonderful things that this stuff will do for us. Unfortunately, physical objects cannot fulfill the promises that are made by marketing campaigns. So, what can we do? One way to practice simplicity is by literally removing the clutter. We can go through our physical stuff and get rid of the things that we do not need. This literally opens space in our homes and our lives. We can also learn to let go to our attachment to physical things. I have a car in order to get around, but that car is not my life. It brings no deep meaning. It is a tool, an object. The practice of simplicity involves letting go of the meaning attached to objects that give them more power in our lives than they should have.
Here is a good step towards practicing simplicity: Pick one room in your house. Take some time to go through everything in that room. Literally remove things that are not being used or are not helpful to have in the room. If you find yourself thinking, "Well, I am not using it now, but I might need it someday," that means you should get rid of it. Maybe, might, perhaps; these are triggers that you are not allowing yourself to let go. Now that you have gone through the room and removed the stuff, find a place to send it off to. Donate it to charity or put it in the trash. Do not put the stuff in a box and stick it in another room. Now that the room is less cluttered, organize the things that are there. Take some time to reflect on how the room feels. Does it feel more open, more useful, more life-giving, more simple? Hopefully it does, and hopefully this will inspire you to extend your practice of simplicity to other physical areas and more internal aspects of your life.
(My next post will deal with the internal practice of simplicity, a scriptural reflection on the practice, and resources.)
It wasn't difficult to choose which spiritual practice to begin with. In order to adopt many new spiritual practices, we must find ways to open space in our lives for them. Simplicity is an obvious starting point for this series, because it is a spiritual practice that helps us to open space in our lives.
There are no doubt many definitions of what simplicity is. I will define it as this: practice of letting go of anything that clutters our lives. I realize this is a very vague definition, so let's break it down a bit. There are two main areas that we can simplify in our lives: external and internal.
The more obvious way of practicing simplicity is letting go of the clutter of physical objects in our lives. This clutter is external to us. It is outside of us. We live in a materialist, consumerist society. We are trained from the day we come into the world to be consumers. We collect stuff. Through commercials, print advertisement, billboards, etc... we are told that our lives will be made better by all the stuff. Advertisements often times use very spiritual language to tell us all the wonderful things that this stuff will do for us. Unfortunately, physical objects cannot fulfill the promises that are made by marketing campaigns. So, what can we do? One way to practice simplicity is by literally removing the clutter. We can go through our physical stuff and get rid of the things that we do not need. This literally opens space in our homes and our lives. We can also learn to let go to our attachment to physical things. I have a car in order to get around, but that car is not my life. It brings no deep meaning. It is a tool, an object. The practice of simplicity involves letting go of the meaning attached to objects that give them more power in our lives than they should have.
Here is a good step towards practicing simplicity: Pick one room in your house. Take some time to go through everything in that room. Literally remove things that are not being used or are not helpful to have in the room. If you find yourself thinking, "Well, I am not using it now, but I might need it someday," that means you should get rid of it. Maybe, might, perhaps; these are triggers that you are not allowing yourself to let go. Now that you have gone through the room and removed the stuff, find a place to send it off to. Donate it to charity or put it in the trash. Do not put the stuff in a box and stick it in another room. Now that the room is less cluttered, organize the things that are there. Take some time to reflect on how the room feels. Does it feel more open, more useful, more life-giving, more simple? Hopefully it does, and hopefully this will inspire you to extend your practice of simplicity to other physical areas and more internal aspects of your life.
(My next post will deal with the internal practice of simplicity, a scriptural reflection on the practice, and resources.)
Author
Matt Willis-Goode is the pastor of Merrimacport UMC in Merrimac, MA & People's UMC in Newburyport, MA.
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