Preached at Hilltop UMC Mankato, June 25, 2023
Let’s start with a Pop Quiz! This one is called, “Who Said It?” These are all quotes by famous theologians, on the topic of judging others. Ready? Here we go!
Question number one:
Lord,
You’ve indulged me in this liminal space for a while now,
patiently letting me get my bearings
before I step off the threshold between what was and what will be.
Dear Lectionary Preachers,
I’m sorry but I can’t help you with the Gospel this Sunday. There is nothing in my archives. In 2014 I preached the Epistle passage from Romans. In 2017, I was taking the vacation I would otherwise lose. In 2020, I was between appointments. So the files are empty for Matthew 10:24-39. And that’s a shame, because it’s a great text. Maybe someday I will get to preach it.
In the meantime, I will be posting a sermon later this week on Matthew 7:1-6, where Jesus says “Don’t be so judgy!” And the Saturday Prayer will be up as usual. God be with you as you prepare to share the Good News!
In Christ’s Peace,
Jo Anne
Lord, I sometimes wonder how you can bring beauty out of our brokenness, how you can redeem human souls through broken systems. I look at all the women you’ve called to ministry through the centuries, and I marvel at the way you made your voice heard, even in places where what you were speaking into our lives did not match what your Church was saying. And we heard you. We said, “Yes, Lord.”
Sustain us, Lord, with the assurance that we are, indeed, called by You, and none other. Grant us grace to continue in the way you have set before us. Take our own brokenness, and create beauty the way you always do. Lead us in the way everlasting, so we can lead others to you, because of Jesus. Amen.
When you lie awake at night, what is it you worry about?
Your children?
Your parents?
Your ever-growing “To Do” list?
The bills you need to pay?
Whether you have enough to feed and clothe your family, buy gas, pay your taxes, make your car payment, pay the rent or the mortgage? Save for retirement?
We are often preoccupied with the basic question: Do I have enough? And if not, how can I get more, so I will have enough? A recent study shows that most of us worry about money. A lot.
Continue reading
Lord,
here we are again at the end of another week,
and there are still so many things on my list…
so much is left unfinished.
Today we will bury a woman I wish I had known
while she was alive – she accomplished so much!
She served you as a nurse, a wife, a mother, a dairy farmer,
a business owner, a seminary student, a pastor,
and finally a massage therapist. Eschet chayil!
As I think of her, I ponder my ever-growing list of things to do,
and I realize that your list of things to do in me is growing, too.
You aren’t finished with me, either.
So, today, I only ask this: do your good work in me.
Let me rest in the assurance that Unfinished isn’t so much
a frustrating ‘work in progress’
as a promise being fulfilled.
Let me rest in you. Amen.
Holy One in Three
and Three in One,
Let me dance with you.
I may not understand
how you can be three distinct persons living in unity,
how you can sing in unison and harmony at the same time,
But I do not need to understand in order to trust your Presence.
I need not Know in order to Love as you love,
as you open the circle to me
and invite me into your dance,
into your grace,
into your wholeness and holiness,
into your love.
Let it be so. Let me dance with you. Amen.
Always. Be. Reforming.
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