Re-formation

Inspired by Matthew 22:34-40 and 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 

Reformation Sunday, 2020

How boring would it be if we never changed?

    If we never grew or 

    learned new things or 

    never let our interactions 

        and relationships with other people

        make a lasting impression on us?

We feel like the safest thing is to always stay the same,

    to hold on to the principles and lessons taught us from our birth.

But what if those things hold us back?

What if the easy thing is not the best thing?

What if the safe way is not the loving way?

What if we become so rooted in our comfort

   we pass up the chance to become something 

        better and more beloved

        than we ever imagined we could be.

How much courage does it take to welcome re-formation?

How much power are we willing to give up?

How much privilege are we willing to cede to those who have 

    different voices

    different experiences

    different expectations

       than our own?

It takes a lot!

Jesus taught us that over everything else

We should love God and love our neighbor

    with all our heart and mind and soul

    with everything we have and everything we are.

That's it - that's the tweet.

Everything else is static.

Re-formation isn't just a holiday on the Protestant church calendar.

It's also what Jesus calls us to live out every day

    by stepping out of our comfort zones

    by listening to another witness

    by speaking up for those whose voices have been silenced or ignored

    by giving up the microphone to someone else who will say, 

        "Let's think of this a different way."

Re-formation happens when we stop taking the easy way out,

    when we stop taking the path of least resistance

    and start taking the path of excellence

Re-formation happens when we assume the demands and risks of love

    with confidence and courage that come as a gift from God.

Re-formation happens when we seek to please God, not others

    as our first and foremost duty of faith.

Re-formation happens when we share ourselves with others,

    allowing vulnerability to be our default position, 

    instead of something we allow only as a last resort.

And when re-formation happens

    the main thing remains the main thing...

    Love wins!    

    EVERYONE WINS!!!

(C) Deb Luther Teagan - October 25, 2020

Guess what? It all belongs to God!

Some verses in preparation for a sermon on Matthew 15:15-22

Apparently, irony is not dead... Jesus and taxes a few weeks before a US election... 

The scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus with a question:

Should we pay our taxes?

Of course, they didn't really want an answer to that question

You can tell by the way they approach the whole shebang...

Oh, Jesus, you're so awesome...

  so wise...

    so in touch with God...

       Just answer our question and we'll let you go

Of course, that's not what they wanted.

They said it from the top

They were laying a trap for him...

They sent people to ambush him...

Hoping the government would move against him...

They just wanted him out of the way.

Jesus wasn't out there preaching against the government

He was just answering the questions asked him

as faithfully as possible.

Pay to Caesar what Caesar is owed...

  Government at its best uses this money

  to make things better for the people it supports.

But pay to God what is God's... 

That's really the question - right?

What belongs to God?

We spin our wheels, worry our minds, stress our hearts

  with the very questions that arise from this encounter.

Does our money belong to God?

Do our jobs belong to God?

Do our families belong to God?

What about our houses and cars and e-readers and gaming systems?

Or our participation in the election process?

Or writing our members of Congress?

Or protesting injustices we see being brought against us 

or our neighbors (who are anyone not us)?

What about wearing a mask when we go out it public?

Does that belong to God?

Here's a hint

An answer I have deduced from 

  rereading the gospel story

  and pondering on the letters of Paul

  and praying the Psalms

  and reflecting on the story of the Jewish people...

It all belongs to God!

And the sooner we start believing that 

  and living it out

  the better off we all will be.

And it's hard.... 

.

Stand Firm - Find Joy

Inspired by Philippians 4:1-9

I am almost afraid to watch the news 

    or check my phone

    or listen to the radio 

for fear that my anxiety will be ratcheted up

to a level that can only be soothed by

    a hearty loaf of  fresh-baked bread,

    slathered with French Sea Salt butter,

    and devoured in one sitting. 

Or a batch of my favorite home-baked cookies,

    which may or may not even make it into the oven...

        apparently, frozen cookie balls are an up and coming member

        of the comfort food family.

In times of distress and anxiety, Paul's instructions

    mean even more.

And so I ask myself

What are the things that give me joy?

Making soup from scratch - 

    maybe butternut squash or chicken and rice 

    stands next in the queue

        choosing, chopping, seasoning, heating

The sum is always greater than the parts.

Reading a good book again and again - 

    even if I know what's going to happen, it's OK

    well-written words reveal more than the plot

    they capture the essence 

        of striving to live,

        of overcoming obstacles 

        and learning what it means to really be alive.

Making something useful from scraps of yarn and lace -

    my preoccupation with crafting shawls

    must be linked to my desire to feel 

        cozy and comfortable, and even when by myself

        never alone

    Kept for me or given away

        making something from scratch  is interwoven with

        many prayers and a piece of my heart.

Spending time with people who make me feel whole

    whose only expectations are 

        love

        and acceptance

        with an occasional moment of whimsy thrown in 

I work to translate

    these tangible springs of joy

    to my journey of faith.

Stand firm, Paul says

Help others, be gentle, don't worry

Feel God's presence in the midst of these simple,

    yet difficult things.

Pray and give thanks and rest in the peace that comes 

    from trusting in the Holy to define who we are

    rather than letting the world define us

Truth

Honor

Justice

Pleasure

Excellence

All are rooted in God's plan for creation and the created.

Seeking them

Pursuing them

Witnessing them

Doing them

This is the path to oneness with God

This is the path to oneness with each other

This is the path to peace... real peace... God's peace.

Standing firm... finding joy

So simple

So hard

So necessary

No matter what profession or vocation

this is the work we must choose

this is the work that will save the world

this is the work that will save us all

Deb Luther Teagan

(c) October 9, 2020

Gaslighting Us All to Death

I have been told
time and time again
that because I am a person who follows Jesus

I should either have no political views

or they should comport to a narrow bandwidth of opinions 

supported by a mere handful of biblical references.

I have been told

time and time again

that because I am a woman

my value to society is less - 

67 percent, on average - 

and that one day my husband will be able to get me under control.

They say if I just take the bible seriously

it will all become clear.

I have been told

time and time again

that heaven is for those who claim Jesus

and hell is for those who don't

and that I should spend more time

learning about substitutionary atonement

and wait for the Rapture to save us from the wrath to come.

I have been told

time and time again

that there is a small corpus of writers 

who I'm allowed to read and teach

and that any book

or quote

or author

who deviates from "the way it's always been"

will only lead people astray.

And to all of this I say,
"Stop gaslighting me."

Stop trying to make me feel guilty for having questions 

about why the world is the way it is.

Stop trying to make me feel crazy when I see the world in a different way...

one that respects the rights of people

to control their own bodies

to marry the person they love

to have all people enjoy the same protection under the law

to wear a mask in public and stay home when it feels best.

Stop trying to make me unbelieve the things that God has shown me

through my own study and living in the Word - 

that loving God and loving people is the most important thing

that compromise is a biblical principal

that sometimes the answers to our questions only come after the pain

that selling out to power by our leaders will drag us all under.

Jesus came not just to save humankind, but the whole creation.

It's the reason I can believe in the story of creation 

and the reality of climate science.

It's the reason that I can love the people who think like me 

and the ones who don't

It's the reason I can find joy in my mother's good health 

even though I'm not sure she remembers who I am

It's the reason I get up and start every day with a good cup of coffee

and not a flask of whiskey or something else to numb the pain 

I stand as a citizen of a particular country,

living abroad

listening to foreign news 

with the not-so-sudden realization

They are gaslighting us all to death.

And the only question left is

what am I going to do about it?

Deb Luther Teagan

(c) October 6, 2020