Holy Trinity

Sing of Grief, Sing of Rejoicing

Sing of Grief, Sing of Rejoicing

God is able, my friends. God is able to breathe life into the dry bones of our world’s current situation. God is able to bring life out of death.

We grieve death after death after death. Yet even at the grave we make our song.

We weep at Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday and we also sing “Holy God, holy and living one, life that never ends, you show your love by dying, dying for your friends, and we behold you living.” (Susan Briehl)

Death and resurrection are inextricably bound. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning. We will weep and we will rejoice.

The death cries of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” may seem the loudest right now, but the sweet alleluias of Easter are the distant triumph song that will never let us go.

, ,

Sermon: Mothers of God

, ,
Sermon: Mothers of God

The 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart said that “we are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.”

Indeed we live in a world desperate for God to be born anew. Will we echo Mary’s yes and become mothers of God’s new creation? The good news is that we don’t have to do this work of birthing God’s new creation alone. No, it is God who will do the work through us. And we will do the work together.

This very evening God’s word will take flesh in us as we gather around this table and partake of the holy meal of thanksgiving. And nourished by God’s very body, we will be sent forth to be mothers of God in the world.

,

Broken, but still good.

,
Broken, but still good.

One of the metaphors for the church is the “family of God.” In baptism we are adopted into this family, this Body of Christ. At baptism we promise to care for others and the world God made and to work for justice and peace. You might say these are our “family values” (to use a very loaded phrase). Yet we often fail to live up to these promises. In big and small ways we, each of us and together) often dismiss others instead of caring for them, we damage the world God made instead of repairing it, and we look away when the most vulnerable among us cry out for justice.

, ,

Houses of God, Each of Us

, ,
Houses of God, Each of Us

Here in this holy house where we worship and praise, where we come to rest and to pray, where we come away to receive nourishment…here in this holy house, as beautiful and wonderful as it is, as much as we desperately need what we find here, this holy house is not where we’re meant to stay.

No, like God, we are called to move about in tent and tabernacle, a nomadic…a pilgrim people called to go out to dwell with God’s people in the world, to feed, to teach, to heal.

,

Signs of God's Abundance

,

This was the eNews opener I wrote the week I began serving Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicago. 6bc6eff2-8f13-40dd-98d9-c8b5ee6a4000These are days when I feel like signs of God's abundance are all around. Just yesterday, as of this writing, I began my time serving as Administrator for Communications, Worship, and Community Life (the longest title ever, I know) here at Holy Trinity. This is, for me, a sign of God's abundance because I am getting to worship, serve, sing, play, coordinate, facilitate, and more, with a vibrant community that I've followed and loved from afar for years. You all (Y'all, where I come from), the community of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, are a sign of God's abundance for me.In this weekend's Gospel reading  we'll hear the story of the loaves and fishes. When Jesus told the disciples to feed the gathered crowds and they realize that they have only five loaves and two fish, God's abundance was, I imagine, the furthest thing from their minds. But Jesus did a curious thing, he took, blessed and broke the loaves, and somehow, all who were gathered ate and were well-filled...there were even leftovers.There are times in our lives when what we are given seems anything but abundant. Sometimes the only thing that seems abundant is our brokenness. But what did Jesus do before he broke those loaves? He blessed them. Just as we are blessed by God even in our brokenness. And as we gather in our blessed brokenness, we are somehow re-membered as the body of Christ: broken, yet whole; one body, though many members. And then all are fed: "The Body of Christ, broken for you." "The Blood of Christ, shed for you." And miracle of miracles: there are leftovers (and sometimes aren't the leftovers the best of all?) !  God's abundance overflows in us so that we become like those twelve baskets full. We become a sign of God's abundance: food and drink, broken and poured out for the life of the world.What are some signs of God's abundance in your life?How have you experienced God's abundance in the midst of brokenness?How might your experience of God's abundance overflow beyond yourself?