“Fierce Love: Abundant Life;” John 10:1-18; May 11, 2014, FPC Jesup

“Fierce Love: Abundant Life”
John 10:1-18
May 11, 2014, First Presbyterian Church of Jesup

Mother’s day as many holidays in our household growing up meant breakfast in bed. My sister and I would conspire with our Dad to pick out some breakfast treat, perhaps pick some flowers from the garden, then put them all on a tray and carry them to my parents room. Nowadays, Mother’s day has taken on a different meaning for me as I have grown up and had so many dear friends become mothers themselves. I delight in the joy of my friends’ parenting, the milestones of walking, talking, and being called “Aunt Kafleen.”

At the same time, I have a number of friends and family, for whom desires of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood have brought many struggles, frustrations, and pain. Perhaps you have experienced similar struggles. If so, know that especially on this day of the celebration of mothers, your pain is known by God, upheld by our God who knows the birth pains of creation and the deep loss of the death of a child.

For some this day is a day that is a sharp reminder of being single. A day lifting up motherhood as if it is the absolute highest calling for everyone can be frustrating, possibly even belittling for those who long to be mothers and are not as well as for those who do not feel called to be a mother. If this is so for you, know that God has a call for each of us in every place of our lives, every family configuration, every life stage. God has a call for you.

For some this day stings as a reminder of strained or absent relationships with mothers or grandmothers. Know in this day and all days that you have been adopted into the family of God, and surrounded with God’s unfathomably deep love.

As a pastor, my task is to bring God’s Word to you all, to invite the Holy Spirit into my words so that they may be transformed into something that will draw you closer to God, challenge or strengthen you in your walk of faith. With that goal in mind I struggle with how to address Mother’s day, not wanting to hurt or alienate anyone in the varied ways this day can effect us all. Some preacher just avoid speaking about the day at all together, after all it’s not a day on the church calendar, but rather it’s a national holiday. I too was tempted to avoid it, until I came across the 1870 Mother’s Day Proclamation.

Did you know that Mother’s Day was originally started after the Civil War, as a protest to the carnage of that war, by women who had lost their sons? I had no idea, but I was inspired by the place of vulnerability and strength from which this day arose. I will read to you the original Mother’s Day Proclamation from 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, who is also known as the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”:

“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says “Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God. In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”[1]

 What a change this is from how Mother’s day is celebrated today. While I am certainly not opposed to honoring our mothers with cards, flowers, brunches, and presents, I was amazed that the sweet feminine holiday we now celebrate today originally came from such activist and feminist roots.

What would it be like to reclaim this sort of unification and message of peace that this mother’s day originally symbolized? What if we were to honor our mothers through compassion for the weak and support for the disenfranchised?

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 68:5-6a: “Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God gives the desolate a home to live in.” In fact, ten different times throughout the Bible there is a pleading appeal for the care of widows and orphans. God cares deeply for those who are marginalized.

Jesus offers his own image of what this sort of care for those in need can look like.  In Matthew 23:27b Jesus’ care for us is described as a mother hen, saying, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” I know a number of you have witnessed this sort of care firsthand, a hen with chicks beneath her, covering them with her warmth and any protection. Hens are not known for any notable amount of strength or intelligence, but in the face of trouble, they will protect their chicks with all they have, which is their wings, their warmth, their own lives.

In our passage we read today we hear another example of what God’s bold and vulnerable love looks like, a good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep. When I was working with a youth ministry while in seminary I had an experience where a boy of another group was cruel towards a girl from my group. I would not put up with this. I immediately snapped to attention, stopped him right there, alerted his counselors and my supervisor.  This intense mothering reaction towards this girl from my group earned me the nickname “momma bear” among the youth with whom I was working. And though I am not a parent I get what it means when Jesus says “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” It doesn’t even seem like a choice, but rather an inevitability, that love propels us towards protection, and if need be, sacrifice.

What would it be like to take up our role in bringing about God’s kingdom; to reflect the great and good shepherding passion of Christ?

 A real and jarring image of those lost and in the grasp of wolves is the story of the over two hundred girls who were kidnapped in Nigeria. It is a heart-breaking story, made even more troubling in how the media for largely ignored it for over two weeks before it enter the public consciousness.

Knowing that our good shepherd cares about each and every one of us and knows by name does not mean that we’re off the hook for knowing and caring for one another. These girls are quite exceptional and it is important that we know their story, that we share in the international outcry to bring them back to their community, to their lives.

 In a part of Nigeria where 72% of the population never attends elementary school, these girls were in high school, living in a boarding home so that they could pursue an education. They have goals and desires for a brighter future for themselves and for their country. [2]

 I saw an interview this week with the family of a girl who was taken. Her mother pleaded, “Let them release these girls…. probably one of them was born a president or a doctor or a pastor or a lawyer who will be helpful to the country. Please let him release them.”[3]

I can’t even imagine the ache of this mother’s heart, the ache of this whole region. Imagine then, the ache of God’s heart at such a great many people around the world who are hurting, oppressed, and separated from loving community.

So what can we do, half a world away from this tragedy? We can take up the cries of the women of that original mother’s day proclamation. We can strive to reclaim peace in our world through seeking reconciliation in our personal relationships, action in our government, and prayer in our communities.

We can take seriously the worth of all people around the world, seeking to know their stories and bring injustice into the light. We can shed the docility with which we treat our mothers and women at large and seek to support them in empowering ways. We are called to bring peace to this world but not hide in docility. May God reveal your role in transforming this world into God’s kingdom. Amen.

 

[1] http://www.peace.ca/mothersdayproclamation.htm

[2] http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2014/05/why-girls-in-nigeria-should-matter-to.html#ixzz31HHjIfM5

[3] http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/07/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

“Taking Your Worship to the Next Level: A Seminar on the Meaning & Practice of Christian Worship”

Yesterday I attended a seminar put on by the Presbytery of North Central Iowa called “Taking Your Worship to the Next Level: A Seminar on the Meaning & Practice of Christian Worship” led by Rev. Dr. Thomas K. Tewell & Rev. Dr. Gray Norsworthy. Here are some of the highlights:

“Passionate Worship is not restricted to any particular style; it can be highly formal, with robes, acolytes, stained glass, organ music orchestral accompaniment, and hardwood pews with hymnals on the rack in front. Or, Passionate Worship can take place in an auditorium, gym, or storefront, with casually dressed leaders, images on screens, folding chairs, and the supporting beat of a praise team. Authentic, engaging, life-changing worship derives from the experience of God’s presence, the desire of worshippers for God’s word, and the changed heart people deliberately seek when they encounter Christ in the presence of other Christians. Worship leaves people challenged, sustained, and led by the Spirit of God, and it changes how they view themselves and their neighbors. An hour of Passionate Worship changes all the other hours of the week.” Robert Schanse, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Pg. 39

Worship is not about style it is about connecting with God. Worship is about remembering what God has done (Deuteronomy 6:4-12). Worship is about experiencing forgiveness and being transformed (Isaiah 6:1-8).

Three Spiritual Principles of Worship

1. People are starving for authentic experiences of the worship of God. Our worship should connect to the lives of people.
2. Worship is the central act of the people of God, everything else flows from worship. We need to take time and effort to prepare for worship because it impacts all in the worshiping community.
3. In worship, we remember that God is sovereign and we are not. Worship is not about us it’s about God. Worship is about getting our will in tune with God’s will. The point is not to evaluate, it’s to be transformed. When we experience God our world becomes bigger

“People have a point of view, God has view” – Madeleine L’Engle

“We need to remind ourselves that even when Christian worship is at its best… it is always the work of amateurs, people who do this for love” – Thomas Long, “Beyond the Worships Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship”

Quotations from The Dangerous Act of Worship, Mark Labberton, 2007

“Worship names what matters most: the way human beings are created to reflect God’s glory by embodying God’s character in lives that seek righteousness and do justice. Such comprehensive worship redefines all we call ordinary. Worship turns out to be the dangerous act of waking up to God and to the purposes of God in the world, and then living lives that actually show it.”

Bibliography of References at Seminar

Mark Labberton, “The Dangerous Act of Worship”

Thomas Long, “Beyond the Worships Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship”

Robert Schanse, “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations”

Craig Barnes, Sermons at Princeton Seminary

Shannon Kerschner, Sermons at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church

Gray Norsworthy, Sermons at Johns Creek Presbyterian Church

“God’s Words, Our Mouths”; Jeremiah 1:4-10; August 25, 2013; FPC Jesup

“God’s Words, Our Mouths”
Jeremiah 1:4-10
August 25, 2013, First Presbyterian Church of Jesup

Sometimes when I preach it’s hard to find a unique word to bring to you. The texts that form our Bible as we know it know were formed over hundreds of years, and all along and ever since hundreds upon thousands upon millions of preachers, prophets, humorists, poets, and lyricists have all thrown in their two cents about what God’s word has to say to us today, and then again this day, and now at this very moment. In this buzz of conversation we can get lost in trying to stay current with prevailing theories on authorship of the different texts or which translation is the most accurate or which pastor has the best things to say about all of it.

Like ocean waves we keep pushing off from shore and getting pulled back towards the constant promises of God. The nature of God’s promises is this persistent repetition, this lapping of waves on sand. Over and over in scripture we hear: “I created you,” “I will deliver you,” “I am with you;” “I created you,” “I will deliver you,” “I am with you;” “I created you,” “I will deliver you,” “I am with you.”

In fact, these very promises of God form our understanding of the triune functions of God: “I created you”: God the creator, God the father, God the beginning; “I will deliver you,” God the redeemer, God the son, God the present; “I am with you,” God the sustainer, God the Holy Spirit, God the always.

In our scripture today we hear this formula in the context of Jeremiah’s call. In verse 5 we read “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” This is the call of God the creator, God who knows us intimately, even beyond our own consciousness or our own decision-making. There’s something God knows about Jeremiah from his very beginning fibers of being-ness. God has designed Jeremiah for God’s own purposes and needs Jeremiah’s heart, mind, and voice to bring about God’s kingdom on earth.

In verse 8 we read, “I will deliver you.” This is the promise of Jesus Christ, who came to earth and lived among us God’s people to save us from the consequences of sin. More than 600 years before Christ came to this earth for the first time through the person of Jesus, Jeremiah carried this promise of God’s deliverance with him to the people of God. God knew that the life of a prophet would not be easy for Jeremiah, and that he would receive much opposition. In verse 10 he was tasked with “plucking up and pulling down, destroying and overthrowing, building and planting.” By repeatedly pointing out the foolish and harmful ways of God’s people, he was able to bring correction and redemption. Jeremiah went into all circumstances with confidence of God’s power to save him from his current opponents as well from the pain of earthly life.

Again in verse 8 we read, “I am with you,” this is the promise of God through the Holy Spirit, the divine surrounding presence of God. God promised direct inspiration by putting out a hand and touching Jeremiah’s mouth and saying, “Now I have put my words in your mouth.” The Holy Spirit speaks through Jeremiah, using Jeremiah as a conduit for enabling God’s work on earth.

Beyond the familiar themes, this passage also has familiar phrases, echoing a scriptural foundation. The phrase “before I formed you in the womb” comes from Psalm 139. Let us read this together, from verses 13-18

“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.”

By referencing this passage while describing Jeremiah’s call we see how scripture comes to life in personal story. Even while we strive to understand this passage in its’ particularities, we can feel comfort from the familiarity of these words. Coming to know God through a familiarity with scripture’s promises and words equips us to speak those words of God into the world.

In verse 9 we read, “Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.’”

Through knowledge of scripture we have God’s words in our mouths. When we hear these familiar phrases it reminds of how God’s word seeps into our lives.

Biblical commentary writer John T. Debevoise wrote “Scripture is written over time on our hearts and in our consciousness…this familiarity becomes a part of the heritage of faith, indeed, the treasury of faith shaping our lives.”

In Hebrew 8:10 we hear God’s promise that God’s word is put in our minds and written on our hearts. We come to know God through familiarity with scripture, through the many repetitions of God’s promises. And as we learn them in both our minds and in our hearts, we become equipped to speak them to others. Through the reading of scripture and the preaching and teaching of fellow Christians, God’s words are put in our mouths and we too are tasked with speaking God’s promises. God gives us the role of Word bearers, tasking us with speaking God’s word into this world.

But as Jeremiah will quickly reveal, the word of God is not simply a calming and joyous presence, it also challenges us. Martin Luther said that the word of God comes to us as “law and gospel,” and that both need to be held together for God’s word to be fulfilled, saying that the Bible speaks words that accuse and condemn us, revealing our human brokenness and showing us our sin. AND that the Bible reveals words that comfort and save us, healing our brokenness and conveying God’s grace. While our sin pulls us away from God we are ever brought close by the dependability of God’s promises.

It is all too easy to skip ahead to the promises of God and forget that we are in need of correction as well. This is a harsh word to have put in our mouths as well. It is bitter to the taste, being tasked with confronting the injustices and problems of this world. Bitter as God’s confronting and correcting word is, and reluctant as we may be to offer it, our hesitation or even outright refusal does not exempt us from speaking the words God places in our mouths.

We can find all sorts of reasons why not to follow God. Moses doubted his ability to speak God’s word, four times over in Exodus, beginning in verses 3:11-14: “Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”  But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Continuing in Exodus 4:1-3: “Then Moses answered, “But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake”

Then in verses 10-12 we read: “But Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the LORD said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.”

In a last ditch effort, in verse 13 Moses says, “O my Lord, please send someone else.”

Even Isaiah, known for his willingness to follow God’s call, doubts his worthiness in light of such a mission. While in the midst of angels and in the presence of the Lord he cries out, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

In our scripture today we heard of Jeremiah’s reluctance to speak this word, saying, “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”

It can be a daunting thing to be tasked with bringing God into this world, yet that is what we are called to do. Martin Luther once said, “truth is more powerful than eloquence.” When we work to speak God’s word into this world we needn’t worry so much about having the perfect words, only about whether or not we are willing. May we forever open our hearts to receiving God’s promises and our mouths to speaking God’s truth. Amen

“Praise for the Singing” and “Everything That Has Breath” Psalm 150; June 9, 2013, FPC Jesup

Sunday June 9th was a special Sunday in the life of our church with a Hymn Sing in the morning service and a special 6 pm Worship in the Park (that ended up being inside because of a forecasted thunderstorm).

Here are some of the resources I found helpful for these services:

Call to Worship on Psalm 92 and 92

Prayer of Confession for a Music Sunday

I adopted this music based communion liturgy into an Affirmation of Faith utilizing the form of the Apostle’s Creed:

Affirmation of Faith

One: Together let us confess our faith. Do you believe in God, our creator?

All: I believe in God, creator of all things, whose heavenly song sent the planets into motion. Even when we go astray, God calls us back, showing us the fullness of life and giving us new songs of praise for each and every day.

One: Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

All: I believe in Jesus Christ who lived for us and among us, healing the sick, easing the burdens of all people, and teaching us the new song of God’s kingdom. He showed His love for all God’s children in His death and the hope for eternal life in His resurrection.

One: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?

All: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of life who sings God’s grace through all time and space. I listen for the Holy Spirit through the history of songs sung by all the communion of saints and through the unwritten songs of all who are to come in the future. I believe that God has a song for my life as well. Amen.

Here are the short reflections on Psalm 150 that I shared in each service:

“Praise for the Singing”
Psalm 150
Kathleen Sheets
June 9, 2013 at 10 am, First Presbyterian Church of Jesup

What a joy it is to sing with you this morning in worship. Singing has been a part of the history of our faith from the very beginning, with the Psalms as the original hymnbook. Our faith is a faith of stories, often sung as a way to pass them on to the next generation.

There’s a great beauty in the comfort of old hymns, the songs that don’t really require the use of a hymnal. About once a month I lead a service at the Nursing Care centers in Independence and I love seeing how so many of the residents know all of those songs by heart. The hymns of our faith sink into us in a way that even the scriptures do not, reminding us of the larger community faith, over many many years.

Our opening song “Morning has Broken” has been one of my favorite hymns for a long time. When my sister was little, and I was even littler, she danced to it in a ballet recital. I remember her costume red and white with a red tutu.

One of my favorite parts is the line “Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden, Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.” I love how the very ground itself becomes complete through it’s interaction with Jesus’ feet. I can picture the dew. I can picture the flowers coming into bloom opening to the light of God’s own Son. It makes me think of the ways we become sprung in completeness by living a life of interaction with Jesus.

Mainline Protestant traditions have a bad reputation as being the “frozen chosen” for our love of tradition, our desire for everything to be “decent and in order,” and the value we place on everyone being an informed participant in the “priesthood of all believers.” Somehow in the midst of this we have forgotten the call of Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Loving God with our heart, soul, and might is allowing ourselves to be enveloped in God’s goodness, to be bathed in the light of God’s joy. How might we become complete in sharing in God’s presence? How might we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might? How might our lives spring into completeness?

One of the ways is through revealing the joy God brings us, through our own sort of blooming, our own sort of springing into completeness. One way to discover the potential for blooming is to think about the places you feel incomplete. Are there relationships that need mending? Forgiveness that needs to be offered or received? When others are telling the stories of faith, do you stay silent? Is there a family member or neighbor you could share God’s love with?

For me, I feel like I bloom best when I am able to share the stories of our faith, sometimes through preaching, sometimes through singing, sometimes simply by being in relationship. As we continue to sing together today and go out into the world singing our faith, may each of us prayerfully consider how God is calling us to spring in completeness. Amen.

“Everything That Has Breath”
Psalm 150
Kathleen Sheets
June 9, 2013 at 6 pm, First Presbyterian Church of Jesup

When I was in seminary I led a children’s choir called the “Joyful Noise” choir. Each week I would get together with this group of 10 to 15 elementary age kids and we would sing songs, play instruments, do dances, and hand motions. We had a blast and it was a wonderfully exhausting worship filled time. While I can’t always say that we made music per say, we always made very joyful noise.

At some point in our life we stop being willing to make these joyful noises. Our noises get squelched out by others. Self-doubt creeps in about our abilities. Desire to blend in makes us quiet our voices. This is not what God call us to. God calls us to praise, to make loud noises, to lift a joyful noise.

Our Psalm today tells us that everything that has breath, all created beings are called to worship. It also lists many different ways to offer praise, through trumpet sound, lute and harp, tambourine and dance; strings and pipe, clanging and clashing cymbals.

When I look at that list I see that each instrument requires a different sort of skill. Though I can goofily make fake harp noises with my mouth I’d have a tricky time of trying to play a harp. And I’ve tried to play a bagpipe before and could only get it to squawk. We are not all called to play each of these instruments, but we are called to praise God.

When we join in with the heavenly chorus you will likely be picking up a different instrument than the one I pick up, but each of us can use whatever instrument we have to worship God. When we use these instruments in the spirit of love of God we are making a very joyful noise indeed

In the Hebrew Bible the Spirit of God is called Ruach. It can also mean breath or a rushing wind. This breath of God swept over the chaotic waters at the very beginning of creation. This breath was breathed into our lungs and pumps through our veins. We are filled with the very breath of God, that powerful, awe-inspiring, amazing breath. And as long as we have air in our lungs, we are called to breathe it out in praise.

So what is your instrument? How does God harness your breath into a joyful noise?

The way that we live and work in the world can be acts of worship. Perhaps your instrument is an ability to create a legal brief, which allows justice and care to be shown towards someone in a complicated legal situation. Your instrument may be plumbing for a house: whereby you allow a family to live comfortably. Your instrument may be your ability to teach, managing a classroom, creating curriculum. When we are able to use the instruments God has given us, it is a worshipful response to our Creator. Creativity is the language with which we can speak to God who created us.

You, in your life, in your abilities are called to make a joyful noise. To breathe God’s breath into this world. May we do so with great joy! Amen.

Fireworks: A lived out prayer of illumination

Two weeks ago today I was in Nashville for the Festival of Homiletics. It was an incredible week, made all the more incredible by the experiences of reuniting with seminary friends, meeting my cousin’s children for the first time, and seeing my dear friend Sarah preach in her new church. I met with my spiritual director on Wednesday of this week and was trying to explain to her this amazing feeling of spiritual wholeness that I felt that week.

Meeting Evan

Meme and Me! (wearing the cupcake hat I knit for her)

The best I could explain to her was by sharing with her the story of coming into the city of Chattanooga with Patricia after meeting my cousin’s children: We were rounding a corner downtown and I was telling her how extremely blessed and full of joy I felt after such a week and then there in the sky all of a sudden were fireworks bursting across the sky. Though I know they were for the baseball game that had finished a few minutes prior, they felt like a physical manifestation of my own joy. Fireworks. Bright, unignorably celebratory lights flashing across the sky. A monumental sort of thing that must be experienced and cannot be contained.

Then, also on Wednesday I received the latest installment of the Atlas Project from my favorite band, Sleeping at Last. As they so often speak to my heart and experience, I was only slightly surprised by a new song on there called, “In the Embers,” about fireworks:

We live and we die
Like fireworks,
Our legacies hide
in the embers.
May our stories catch fire
and burn bright enough to catch God’s eye.
we live and we die

Like fireworks we pull apart the dark,
Compete against the stars with all of our hearts.
‘Til our temporary brilliance turns to ash,
We pull apart the darkness while we can.

May we live and die
A valorous life,
May we write it all down
In cursive light,
So we pray we were made
in the image of a figure eight,
May we life and die

Like fireworks we pull apart the dark,
Compete against the stars with all of our hearts.
‘Til our temporary brilliance turns to ash,
We pull apart the darkness while we can.

This Festival of Homiletics, this time of great speakers and deep worship for me felt like an experience of “stories catch[ing] fire and burn[ing] bright enough to catch God’s eye.”

It is my prayer that this might be the experience of all worship of all preaching. Perhaps my prayers of illumination should revise Psalm 19:14 to say, “may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts catch fire and burn bright enough to catch God’s eye.” Amen.

Festival of Homiletics Tweets

I just returned from a wonderful week in Nashville for the Festival of Homiletics. It was such an incredible time I’m having trouble summarizing all of it, so I have decided to share some of the highlights from my tweets from the week. Please feel free to read more of them on my twitter page.