Sermons

“God is my shepherd, I shall not want.” “I am the good shepherd.” I imagine that we each respond a bit differently to these familiar metaphors. For some, it is immensely comforting to think of the Creator of the world caring for us so tenderly. For others, perhaps such an idea seems unrealistically and unhelpfully… Read More

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest; a place of evergreen fir trees, moss, rhododendrons, ferns and yes, rain. It seems appropriate, as we recognize and celebrate Earth Day, to start with a story from nature. When I was a kid, my mom worked as a volunteer naturalist at Tryon Creek State Park. She would… Read More

“Are you going to get the surgery?” “Have you started taking the hormones yet?” “Can I see your scars?” It was my second year of seminary, and a close friend of mine was beginning the long process of transitioning from female to male. Choosing to involve others in his transition, he sent out an email… Read More

“So the women went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” I love that this is how Mark chose to end his entire Gospel. It’s true that later scribes have tried to soften this conclusion, mask its abruptness, smooth over… Read More

“Why did people hate Jesus that much?” Christian Educator Carolyn Brown says that’s one of the big questions children ask about Holy Week. Brown explains: “They simply cannot fit the story [about Jesus’ death] with all the others about Jesus being a friend, a healer, and a helper. In one kindergarten class a boy posed… Read More

Driving around this week, I caught part of a conversation on Minnesota public radio about end of life planning. At the end of the program, Dr. Craig Bowron, hospitalist at Abbot Northwestern, offered an essay. He said: ”there are two demographic factors that feed into our denial of death. First, our nation’s mass exodus away… Read More

Who do you belong to? How would you answer that question? You might name your nation. Or perhaps your family. The community of First Church? For most of us, the defining relationships in our lives began with our families and the people who raised us; the people to whom we were born. It’s interesting to… Read More

What is your image of Jesus? A quick internet search reveals a typical Jesus “look” out there in our culture. Long, flowing hair and beard. Gentle, sad eyes. Holding a lamb or hugging a child. Light emanating from behind his figure. But this “nice” Jesus isn’t the real Jesus. It certainly isn’t the Jesus we… Read More

I was sitting in a committee hearing room at the state capitol, listening to story after story as the public testifiers filed in and out. The bill under consideration would eliminate public assistance benefits for anyone in the state of Minnesota who has had a drug conviction within the last ten years. It is one… Read More

Repentance. How does that word sound in your soul? What memories or feelings does it stir up? Kathleen Norris, in Dakota, explains that her fundamentalist grandmother implanted in her “an unconscious belief in a ‘Monster God’.” “Trust,” she comments, “is something abused children lack and children raised with a Monster God inside them have a… Read More