Prepare Ye

From Rabbi  Jonah Pesner : We share that common text in our tradition. The most often repeated command in our tradition, for Jews, but shared with you, our Christian family. ‘You were slaves in Egypt, and therefore you are to love stranger.’ Thirty-six different times it is repeated in the Torah. Thirty-six, which is the Jewish number for life. One time, it says, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ Thirty-six times it says love the stranger because it is thirty-six times harder, but thirty-six times more important. Together, Lutherans and Jews, and Christians and Muslims, and people of all faiths, and people of no faith must at this moment in history do justice to that phrase that the most sacred act is to love the person who is not like us.  at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Milwaukee, WI; August 8, 2019.

This Sunday's (June 17, 2018) lessons for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost were: Ezekiel 17:22-24 ; Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 ; 2 Corinthians 5:6-17; and 4:26-34 . This continues a sermon series on 2nd Corinthians, but wanders into current events. I am trying PodBean as a source to archive sermon recordings, and so today's messages can be listened to or downloaded below, or through PodBean . Audio Recordings are here:   We also remember that three years ago today, nine people were murdered during a Bible study at Mother Emmanuel in Charleston. And we remember that things have not gotten any better. Lord, have mercy. Please join me in prayer. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night. Amen . I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, to those who are father figures, and for those who wish to be fathers. ...

For all of my friends in the ministry or trying to get into the ministry, I offer a cautionary tale: You take your first call in a town about two or three hours away from your home town. Things are going well in your first few months. You are getting settled in; you like the congregation and the congregation likes you. You develop friendships with your colleagues at other churches in the community. On the third month anniversary of your arrival at your new call, a woman, who is not a member of your congregation, is arrested. It is on an illegitimate charge. Five days later, on the day the woman is convicted of the charge, you are elected to be the leader of a new community group that will lead a community boycott in response to the arrest. That night you give an unscripted speech to a community assembly larger than any group you have ever spoken to before. On the eve of your fifth month in your call, your home is bombed. After a year, the protest is successful, and the city'...

I just spent a week in Atlanta and Birmingham learning more about Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, especially how the Christian vocation of so many of its leaders played into how the movement was formed. Right now, I'm too tired from the trip, and can't adequately process what I've learned, realized and how it is changing my views on ministry. There are some Scriptural passages I will never hear the same way again. There are some attitudes I cannot tolerate. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. U2 - Pride (in the Name of Love)