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I\u2019m telling you this because I\u2019m going to share some themes here from our weekly messages. I\u2019ll also try and post some scripture notes, discussion questions, and (if we\u2019re really on our game) pictures of what we\u2019re doing with the worship space.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also telling you because I hope we can have some ongoing conversation about this in the weeks to come. I know that I\u2019m not the only theology nerd out there who totally ruins\u00a0The Hunger Games\u00a0<\/em>by turning Katniss into a biblical prophet; or who can\u2019t just, for the love, enjoy\u00a0Harry Potter\u00a0<\/em>without extrapolating the themes of sacrificial atonement. Who\u2019s with me? Nerd up, and let\u2019s talk.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s talk, for instance, about how Kirk and Spock are like Moses and Aaron; how Wonder Woman is like the Woman at the Well; or how hard it is to distinguish a Yoda quote from Proverbs.<\/p>\n We might be kicking our series off with a study in\u00a0Avengers\u00a0<\/em>discipleship (talk about #SquadGoals) but I\u2019m aware not all heroes come with capes. I want to hear about what my church people are doing, out there in their neighborhoods and work places and schools and statehouses, to make our world a more just place. I want to hear what you and your people are doing too: tell me about some justice heroes you know. Talk to me about the real powers of transformation at work all around us.<\/p>\n On the one hand, I\u2019m shamelessly asking you to preach this thing for me, because I know many voices together are more powerful than any one. But more than that, I recognize that we are living through a critical time of transition right now. We are bearing witness to seismic shifts in our collective identity. We\u2019re struggling with ideas of what it is to be Americans, what it means to be Christian, and how we live faithfully at the intersection of those values. We are revisiting some basic human rights that we thought to be self-evident; and finding that we might still need to fight for these things after all.<\/p>\n In light of all these turnings, it seems like a good time to offer each other some practical inspiration, and share some good stories for the journey. In the preaching life, I always deeply value the thin lines between what is sacred and secular, and how we draw meaning from each. Some narratives, though not entirely based in reality, can be deeply true. The more we can identify and dwell in those places, the more fully we live; and the more faithfully we can lead our own justice movements, in real time.<\/p>\n