“If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.” Thus says Herman Cain to the unemployed Wall Street protestors. I understand why he said it. He wants to live in a world where the American Dream works, where being optimistic and entrepreneurial and hard-working guarantees success. Cain wants for blame to be something that is distributed neatly and perfectly between individual people. This could be described as an ethic of individual responsibility. (more…) Read more
Sermon preached at Burke UMC LifeSign service 10/8/2011 Text: Deuteronomy 10:12-22 Many of you know that I have been coaching my son’s soccer team this fall. Not only do I not know what I’m doing, but my son is often uninterested in kicking the ball or even staying on the field. Our game last Saturday was cold and rainy. The other team’s coach and I decided to play anyway since we’ve had so many games rescheduled because of weather. One... Read more
Nine years ago, I was a very different person. I remember one weekend marching in a protest in Manhattan. I think there was some kind of world economic forum up there and the Afghanistan war had been going on for a while so I guess it was a combination anti-war, anti-globalization protest that I’m sure the media ridiculed for having “unclear messaging.” It was really colorful and exciting. I was banging on my African drum which echoed like thunder across... Read more
Christian Piatt recently posted on Red Letter Christians about the problem of “trolls” in the Christian blogosphere. For those of you who are unfamiliar, “troll” is a term that’s used for people who enter into Internet discussions for the purpose of heckling and sabotage rather than genuine dialogue. As you might imagine, calling someone out as a troll is a very subjective assessment that is often unfairly deployed. Sometimes people are wrongly accused of being trolls but other times people... Read more
Your words’ opening brings light; making the simple understand. Psalm 119:130 God’s word is a word that opens, and in that opening, light comes forth. Think about what that means. A word that closes is a word whose purpose is to preemptively stifle a response. “Because I said so!” is a good example of a word that closes. There is no light brought forth with a phrase like that. When a child hears that kind of phrase from a parent,... Read more
I have a problem that perhaps you can relate to. I’m very good at taking sides according to the lines that the world draws for me rather than taking Jesus’ side. Right now, we are living in the midst of a struggle for Christian identity at least in the self-important Christian blogosphere between those who might be called Teavangelicals and “social justice” Christians. It’s the latest configuration of the century-old debate between the social gospel and fundamentalism in American Christianity... Read more
Sermon preached at Burke UMC LifeSign service 10/1/2011 Text: Luke 14:15-24 What if God threw a party and nobody came? What if he sent out messengers a month ahead of time to make sure that everybody saved the date and didn’t make other plans? What if the people he invited checked with each other and figured out that nobody else wanted to go to God’s party since it was going to be lame so when God’s messengers came back to... Read more
Psalm 119:121-128 I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors. Guarantee your servant’s well-being; do not let the godless oppress me. My eyes fail from watching for your salvation, and for the fulfilment of your righteous promise. (more…) Read more
When I visited my grandfather’s church in Corpus Christi, Texas a few years back, there was a pastor named Bubba who announced one day from the pulpit that he’d had a dream from God. He described this dream in way more detail than any dreams I ever remembering having. He then laid out a plan for an elaborate outreach and prayer ministry. This public unveiling of Bubba’s vision from God was the first communication about it that he had made... Read more
Sermon preached at Burke UMC Lifesign contemporary service 9/24/2011 Text: Luke 7:36-50 Simon had a hospitality problem. He had invited a group of rabbis to an intimate gathering to hear this fascinating street prophet from Galilee. They had been waiting all week to pick his brain about the theological issues of their day. Some were skeptical. This Jesus character hung out with tax collectors and illiterate fishermen. But his connection with the masses was so electrifying. Simon had heard him... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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