Worship » Sermons

Like most stories of sexual violence, we never hear this story— not just in context of worship, but in Bible study, in theological tomes. It is glossed over, hidden from view. Sexual violence is the most under-reported crime. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, only 63% of rapes are reported, despite happening to one in five women and one in 71…

…history has chosen to not believe Bathsheba. She is painted as a temptress, an adulterer who tricks David so she could get out of an unhappy marriage. She is accused of “asking for it” because of what she was—or wasn’t wearing— how she was bathing on the roof, so, apparently, not where she was supposed…

Beloved, if you are feeling lost today— if the weight of the juggle, the expectations, the balance, inflation,demands at work, caring for your flock, estrangement from those you love— if you are feeling lost, I want you to know this: you are right where you belong. This is not a place for the people who…

Ruminating on the state of our planet, Barry Lopez asks, “Is it still possible to face the gathering darkness and say to the physical Earth, and to all its creatures, including ourselves, fiercely and without embarrassment, I love you, and to embrace fearlessly the burning world?” Look, Jesus holds on his lap a child, perhaps…

It is an easy thing, that careless shrug. We’ve seen it on the global scale: Russia invades Ukraine and East Africa starves. Psychologist Dacher Keltner, from UC Berkley, calls this the “power paradox.” Keltner observes that“while people usually gain power through traits and actions that advance the interests of others, such as empathy, collaboration, openness, fairness, and sharing; when…

Jesus’s instruction is about discerning consequence. It’s about looking for the effect instead of trying to judge the cause. “You will know them by their fruits.” Jesus is telling his disciples not to get caught up in outward appearances to try to perceive inward substance. Those are connected to the cause. That won’t help us figure…

The script is still being acted out. And yet, the death of Goliath opens to Israel a new kind of kingship. Not one like the other nations, but one headed by a rot-gut, self-absorbed sinner who somehow still pines for the heart of God. Not a kingship where the king leads the people in battle, that the nation will derive its meaning…

That is what we really want religion to be: we want it to be the magic by which tragedy makes sense. That we see the better things God had in store for us, the reason for which everything happens, the window opening because this door has closed. We want to know that everything will be…

But the truth is, a calling, a vocation is not really about how it ends. It isn’t about how successful you were, or how your measurements of effectiveness stack against your colleagues. It isn’t about how many books or articles you wrote to achieve tenure or get a positive review, how many patients you healed this year, how clean your house…

 Lutherans believe the civil government is a gift from God, called to “protect and coordinate the well-being of individuals, communities, and creation.” And we, too, are called not to abdicate responsibility of our neighbor’s, community’s, and creation’s well-being, but to call on government to function well for the sake of our neighbor, community, and all of creation.

Whether or not we miss it altogether or ignore it completely, we participate in this problem by becoming so busy self-justifying, saying to ourselves that we’re not that bad in the grand scheme of things, that we fail to notice our complicity in systems that oppress our neighbor. It is the work of a faithful life to wake up to this…

But what do you desire? This may feel like a strange question to consider in church because, like Lola, many of us were taught that our desires cannot be trusted. Somehow in learning to honor God and place God above all else, we learned that our hearts cannot be trusted, but they will only lead us…

Humiliation is used to expose people as outside of the norms of society—norms that benefit power and maintain oppressive systems—and, at its worse, humiliation works to render people who are outside invisible. Humiliation removes their stories from the canon, their images from picture books and school library shelves. Humiliation takes away necessary medical care. Humiliation…

At our best, I hope, our weekly proclamation in this place and at this time in the midst of our messy lives is a ride out of a hell on a millenia-long parade with Jesus at its head. That the water poured over the baptized is a key that opens locks. That the music we…

“If only” in all these situations hides the blame that says the hungry are responsible for their hunger. The farmers are responsible for greater cost required for more sustainable agricultural practices and for the government policies that disincentivize them. People of color are responsible for being driven out of farming by centuries of racist practices…