Way up at the north of the land we now call Scotland, there are islands that lie in the North Sea. At one time they belonged to the King of Norway, a Viking King. He split the rule of these islands, called the Orkneys, between two cousins, Earl Hakon, a mighty warrior, and Earl Magnus, also mighty in battle but gifted in peacemaking. Together they ruled peacefully for seven years until evil men gained the ear of Hakon and turned him against Magnus. There were great arguments until other men, good men, persuaded the two earls to work out their difference diplomatically. It was agreed that they would meet on a small island during Holy Week to make their peace. They were each to be accompanied by just enough men to fill two small boats. Magnus and his companions arrived first. He went into the small church on the island to pray. When he returned he to the beach to wait for Hakon he saw that there were not two boats approaching but an entire fleet. He had been tricked. He knew his men were out-numbered. Again he knelt in prayer. He sent his men back to the small church and waited alone for Hakon in the sparse and rocky field in front of the church. When Hakon arrived he saw Magnus waiting for him with his arms outstretched in peaceful welcome. “Come, cousin,” said Magnus. “Let us sit together and talk out our differences. Do not break our oath of peace. I will give you three choices to protect you from doing wrong and breaking your oath. First, if you will keep the peace I will go to Jerusalem and pray for us both there. I will never return to the Orkney Islands.” Hakon did not agree. “What if you change your mind?” he grumbled. Magnus said, “Then I will turn myself over to the King of Scotland who is your friend and he can keep me imprisoned for life.” Hakon replied, “He might change his mind and set you free!” Magnus sighed and said, “Then I give you a final choice. You can blind me and keep me imprisoned in your own dungeon.” “And make you a hero in the eyes of the people?” roared Hakon. And with that he beheaded his cousin Magnus on that very spot. Magnus’ men sorrowfully buried their leader in that sparse, rocky field which was full of moss and not good for any kind of farming. It was the kind of field that fostered very little life. However, that spring the field grew lush and green with grass. People came there to pray and sheep came there to graze. It was said that the field turned green with grassy new life because not only was it the spot where Magnus, remembered now as St. Magnus the Peacemaker, died and was buried, it was also the place where his soul was lifted up to be with the Holy One in Paradise. And so God returned the favor and granted the Orkney Islands a bit of Paradise. Magnus died with God and rose with God. And the field is the witness. [Orkney Travel Tales, Robert Bela Wilhelm, Ibooks.] We entered Holy Week this past Sunday with all its pageantry and music and story. Church tradition is ripe with ritual to celebrate the passion story of Jesus through this central week of our faith. I hope you will join us for our Plymouth traditions. (See the box below for a reminder of all our events for this week!) We have many events for participation. Yet I think that each year we have a choice at Holy Week. We can through the liturgical motions vaguely remembering the stories. Or we have the choice to participate letting the tangible and intangible power of resurrection sink deeper into our bones as we go through the week. As in the story above, Hakon came to participate in reconciliation and peacemaking, yet he had not chosen those things in his heart as Magnus had. So he was not willingly to let the power of making peace take root deep down. Will you choose God’s power of resurrection this year despite the evidence in our world that conspires against it? External political and social circumstances in our world may rarely give us direct and factual cause to hope for resurrection. Will we choose fear or will we choose compassion and life? The usual stresses of daily life, family concerns and friends who are in need are never ending. Will we choose peace or further engagement in the surface turmoil? The traditional lectionary scripture texts for Easter Sunday urge us toward hope in the midst of tragedy and despair. In the face of our “realities” we can choose to trust and affirm that God is “about to create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). Choose to trust and affirm that “the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). We can choose with Paul to affirm the testimony of good news handed to him by the first disciples, testimony that he has handed on to us in I Corinthians 15. Christ died, was buried and was raised on the third day, appearing first to his closest disciples, then five hundred other followers and lastly to Paul on the road to Damascus. Ironically the Gospel of Luke tells us that the first twelve disciples did not believe when the women who experienced the empty tomb returned and proclaimed the good news. The men thought it was “idle tales,” make-believe. Crazy emotional women! But then Peter, who just thirty-six hours before Easter morning, denied that he even knew Jesus, decided in his inimitable style to choose ACTION in response to the news. In spite of his disbelief and despair he chooses to run to the tomb to see for himself. Will we respond like those first disciples and not take the news of resurrection to heart? Or will we allow the power of God to cultivate our lives and like the sparse, rocky, lifeless soil of the Orkneys become rich, fertile soil full of prayers and promise for Paradise? This year I challenge us all to take Peter’s choice to heart, to act on the news of resurrection. To go and see for ourselves. To let the deep roots of God’s salvation sink deep within our souls. May we choose to trust the biggest story of our faith. It is not a choice to take lightly. And it is not the safest choice. But it is the resurrection choice. And just as that ancient man, Magnus, following the example of Jesus, chose life in the face of betrayal, God will also work through us and our choice. May your Holy Week be blessed as you walk the road into Jerusalem, find the upper room and then the garden, follow to the cross and finally to the joy of the empty tomb. We walk together with God’s presence step by step! Jane Anne
AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, I did not grow up with the tradition of Lent. I came to it when I moved into the United Church of Christ in the 1980s. Since then I have learned layers of meaning for the season and traditions of Lent. Lent – derived from the Old English word meaning “spring season” and the Old German word meaning “lengthening of days. Lent – a penitential season of 40 days in the Christian liturgical calendar; in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th century church, a time of final examination and catechesis for those wishing to join the faith at the Easter Vigil. Lent – a time of fasting, study and penitence; also a season to explore new avenues of prayer. Lent – a faith journey from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday; a time to travel wilderness paths of spiritual reflection; a time to go deeper putting our faith roots down into the soil of God’s love. Lent – a time .... To pray you open your whole self To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon To one whole voice that is you. And know there is more That you can’t see, can’t hear; Can’t know except in moments Steadily growing, and in languages That aren’t always sound but other Circles of motion. ... From “Eagle Poem” by Joy Harjo The proverbial Lenten journey is what we make of it each year. It can be a time to add a spiritual discipline to your life in a search for spiritual renewal. It can be a time to abstain from an activity in order to have more time for just Being. It can be a preparation time for the new life of spring, a time to plant seeds literally and metaphorically. A time to till the earth, spread compost and start the garden as a spiritual action. It’s a time for listening in new ways to our souls, to God’s wisdom that lives within us as well as in scripture and tradition. I invite you to plunge into Lent this year through Plymouth’s worship services, through spiritual growth classes and retreats, through deepening relationships in Christian fellowship. Check out:
Above all this Lent find a way to call your spirit back from aimless wandering. Call your spirit to an intentional journey following Jesus the pioneer and model of our faith in God. ... Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control. Open the door, then close it behind you. Take a breath offered by friendly winds. ... Give it back with gratitude. ... Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse. You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return. Speak to it as you would to a beloved child. Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. ... From “Calling Your Spirit Back From Wandering the Earth in Human Feet” by Joy Harjo With you all on the journey, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, Spring and Lent are coming! Even though as I write this to you it is snowy and 21 degrees according to the thermometer on our deck! Still deep under the frozen ground, the roots of our trees and perennials are growing and the seeds we scattered in the fall are germinating. There is life deep down! Life is always stirring deep in our souls as well, no matter the outer state of our lives. This Lenten season (which begins Ash Wednesday, March 6, with our annual 6:15 p.m. soup supper and Ash Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m.) we are “Going Deeper.” As a faith community, I invite you to join with me and with one another as we put the roots of our faith deeper within the soil of God’s love in all our worship, formation, outreach and fellowship activities. To further your Lenten journey, please join your Plymouth family in a time of reflection, creativity and fellowship at our first Plymouth intergenerational art and spiritual retreat, Going Deeper: Putting Down Soul Roots, March 8-10. We will explore and follow the life of trees through art projects for ALL ages and ALL art experience levels, reflection on poetry and scripture, prayer, fun and fellowship. Friday evening, 3/8, from 6:30-8:30 and Saturday, 3/9, 9:30-11:45 and 1:00-3:00, led by our artist/theologian-in-residence, the Rev. Dr. Linda Privitera. Do you know what trees and people have in common? The “giveaway” answer is that both function much better in community. The recent NY Times best-seller, The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, tells us that isolated or solitary trees do not live as long as those in a forest. Sustenance comes from a network now being studied by researchers about how trees communicate, warn of danger, feed, sustain and nurture even the weaker members of the forest. With this background knowledge from the science of creation, our retreat time with Linda will function on the assumption that making art is an intuitive and concrete way of knowing. Engaging in a variety of art experiences around the theme of trees, all designed for fun, we will also engage reflective processes to help us listen to the journey of the soul, deepening our understanding of how God’s Spirit is working within us individually and communally. Our artistic and spiritual retreat journey this weekend will be grounded in Jesus’ time in the “wilderness,” which is the traditional gospel lesson for the beginning of Lent. Expanding on the traditional view of wilderness time as a time of trial, we will journey with Jesus in a soul-enriching time, thinking about what he might have gained from his time in nature. It is no surprise to us here in Colorado and particularly in our community, rich in environmental scientists, that God’s creation has so much to teach us about what really matters in this world. Our artistic and spiritual work will culminate with an Lenten art installation of trees, roots, and connections created by YOU under Linda’s leadership and direction. The plan is that together, adults, youth and children, will create a network of roots connecting our individual art pieces of trees and roots, and linking it all to the base of the cross in the sanctuary which will “grow” a large system of roots joining everything together. Come and see what you can create with zip ties, twisty wires, braided heavy twine and raffia! How will hot glue guns, stencils highlighting the work of Gustav Klimt, rocks, and your own creativity shape a forest of spiritual connections that deepen the roots of our faith community? Come and find out! Sign up now by clicking this link.........or registering at the “Going Deeper” Art Weekend table in Fellowship Hall, February 23 and March 3 before and after worship times. College students, youth, and kids are free! (But please register so we know you’re coming.) Adults, $35.00 and Families with two adults, $60.00. Don’t let finances get in the way...assistance is available...just talk to me or send me an email. Blessings on our journey together deeper into God’s love, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, I confess that each morning one of the first things I do is look at the News app on my phone to see what is happening. Yesterday the most useful and uplifting thing I found was a new recipe for dinner. The news which is dominating the headlines is about governmental discord and the mistreatment of American people, as well as those waiting at our border, by the officials who are supposed to be serving the people. It’s discouraging and overwhelming, isn’t it? Should I just ignore the news for my own peace of mind? That doesn’t seem to be right. Where is the wisdom I need to read the news with any kind of equilibrium? The definition of “wisdom” from the online etymological dictionary is: "knowledge, learning, experience.” The word descends from Old English, German and Norse. The Greek word for wisdom, “sophia,” is a bit broader in meaning: "skill, knowledge of, acquaintance with; sound judgment, practical wisdom; cunning, shrewdness; philosophy." When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek early in Christian history, “sophia” became the word for wisdom as it was personified in a female form in the book of Proverbs and the Book of Wisdom. Where in these definitions do we find the “wisdom” to look at our world, our country, in these times? We can be well-informed with knowledge about events. We can learn about policies and points of view we do not understand. We can consider this information with shrewdness, sound judgment, practical sense, philosophical reasoning and maybe, even some cunning. We can measure all this against our own experiences. And still we can be overwhelmed by all that is happening! I need more solid ground. The female form of wisdom in the ancient Hebrew scriptures, “Sophia,” became synonymous with “divine or holy wisdom.” Is there a clue here? Is wisdom truly found when we include a spiritual component to our search? In her book, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and Its Meaning for You, Joan Chittester investigates the five major faith traditions of the world to discover the meaning of wisdom in a sacred and holy context. She asks the question of what it means to be a “holy person” and concludes that the essence of holiness and maturity lies in the cultivation of spiritual consciousness. Holy people throughout the ages in all faiths “sought to grow beyond the husk to the core of life, beyond the manuals of spiritual life to the essence of the spiritual life.”[i] Chittester relates a story from the Islamic Sufi tradition to illustrate this. “’Tell us what you got from enlightenment,’ the seeker said. ‘Did you become divine?’ ‘No, not divine,’ the holy one said. ‘Did you become a saint?’ ‘Oh, dear, no,’ the holy one said. ‘Then what did your become?’, the seeker asked. And the holy one answered, “I became awake.’”[ii] This is my prayer for myself and for Plymouth this year as we continue in all of our ministries of worship, study, learning, outreach, social justice and fellowship. May we become awake in ways we have yet to experience to the Divine presence within us, shaping us, nurturing and challenging us! May we become awake as we seek to respond in love to our overwhelming times rather than react in fear or anger! May we become awake to life moment by moment as we breathe in the joy of creation, as we love even our enemies, as we seek circles of community rather than levels of rigid hierarchy! May we become awake to the life of Jesus that lives in each of us! Blessings and prayers, Jane Anne [i]Chittester, Joan, Welcome to the Wisdom of the Word and Its Meaning for You; Universal Spiritual Insights Distilled From Five Religious Traditions, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Erdmans Publishing Company, 2007), xiv). [ii]Ibid., xv. AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. This is the irrational season when love blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason there’d have been no room for the child. By Madeleine L’Engle, from A Cry Like a Bell, 1987. As we all prepare for the holidays in this last week before Christmas, I am thinking of the Song of Mary, The Magnificat, that we will hear in song and scripture this Sunday. Mary sings this song of praise in Luke 1 after she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. It is a song of abundance and of justice for the marginalized. As the story goes Mary said, “Yes” to the angel who proclaims she will bear the Son of God. And we know it was not a rational answer. It caused her problems as she was technically an “unwed” mother. She had not known a man though she was betrothed to Joseph. Why would she put herself in this compromising situation as a young, vulnerable woman? Why does she say “yes?” It seems to be the irrationality and joy of deep faith rather than the rationality of a “what’s in it for me” attitude. Mary seems to understand L’Engle’s poem. She understands about love blooming “bright and wild.” The writer of Luke puts the psalm we know as The Magnificat in Mary’s mouth to prompt and challenge our understanding of God’s irrational ways of love in the world. Sending the child, Jesus, Emmanuel, God-With-Us, was not a rational solution to the world’s problems in the 1stcentury Roman empire. It is still not rational in the 21stcentury. Yet it is the exact miracle we need year after year after year. “First Coming” He did not wait till the world was ready, till men and nations were at peace. He came when the Heavens were unsteady, and prisoners cried out for release. He did not wait for the perfect time. He came when the need was deep and great. He dined with sinners in all their grime, turned water into wine. He did not wait till hearts were pure. In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt, to a world like ours, of anguished shame he came, and his Light would not go out. He came to a world which did not mesh, to heal its tangles, shield its scorn. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh the Maker of the stars was born. We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice, for to share our grief, to touch our pain, He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice! By Madeleine L’Engle. From A Cry Like a Bell, 1987 I hope you will join us this last Sunday in Advent at 9 or 11 a.m. or 6 p.m. to celebrate the Song of Mary and its relevance for our world today. And join us on Christmas Eve at all our family friendly services, 3 p.m. for our “instant” Nativity Pageant service or at 5 and 7 p.m. for our services of Lessons and Carols! At 4:40 and 6:40 there will also be pre-service choral performances of the Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint-Saëns. Blessings for Advent and Christmas, Jane Anne * Image Credit Visitation, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56718 [retrieved December 17, 2018]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johndonaghy/22885862/ - John Donaghy. AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Each week at Plymouth we welcome children and youth in the name of Christ. This is part of our mission and ministry, our programming, our duty and our privilege. And it is an important part of our budgeting each year. We have a highly qualified and dedicated staff of nine childcare workers who welcome and care for our youngest ones during all our worship services and certain special events during the year. They are hired and trained by the Rev. Mandy Hall, our Director of Christian Formation for Children and Youth. You may occasionally see them in their sky blue childcare team t-shirts as they come and go from the north wing to the kitchen in their cleaning duties. (After every shift all the toys used are washed as well as the rooms cleaned by these staff members.) I always find them cheerful and upbeat and I am trying to learn all their names in order to welcome them personally to their workplace. They are a hidden, but VERY important part of our community and ministry. I encourage you to greet them, learn their names, make them feel welcome because they are welcoming our children in Jesus’ name! After a resolution by our 2017 UCC General Synod on equity in pay and minimum wage requirements, Plymouth’s Leadership Council and Budget and Finance Committee made a commitment to raise our pay for contract workers at Plymouth to the national minimum wage goal of $15/hr by 2019. This goes into effect in January. This is right and just to do. It also ensures that we get and keep the best caregivers for our children. Your pledge to Plymouth will empower this justice action of fair pay and this ministry action of welcoming and caring for our youngest children. Please bring your pledge card to church this coming Sunday to celebrate Consecration Sunday! (You can also send it in the mail, or pledge online with a form here, or pledge using the F1Go app right on your smartphone or tablet!) "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” says Jesus. Having children is one of the most humbling experiences in this life. You are suddenly responsible for these ones who are so fragile and yet so resilient. Who soak up love and learning, yet teach us so much about ourselves. May we remember that we are all children of God. May we treat each other as beloved children in need of love, respect and care even as we humble ourselves to receive love, respect and care from one another. May we remember to humble ourselves before God, giving back to God from the abundance we have been given. May we remember that whoever welcomes one such child in Jesus’ name welcomes Jesus who came to reveal to us the face of God. Blessings on the journey, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. In her book, The Soul of Money: Reclaiming the Wealth of Our Inner Resources, author Lynne Twist, writes, “The word wealthy has its roots in well-being and is meant to connote not only large amounts of money but also a rich and satisfying life.” With this in mind, we do not have to be financially rich by the definition of our consumer culture to be wealthy. With basic needs met, we can be wealthy in friendship, in the beauty of nature, in the smells from a home-cooked meal. With basic needs met, we can be wealthy in sharing what we have with our neighbors. Our lives can be rich and satisfying. Those of us who have more than our basic needs met are wealthy as we remember that well-being is not all about money. In our sharing we discover again and again that we are part of God’s beloved people to whom God has given all creation and all manner of grace, abundance, love and forgiveness. It is easy to talk about the wealth we have been given in sunsets, in friends and loved ones, in the joy of community. It is tough to talk about the wealth we have been given in money. When we introduce the word “money,” along comes the emotions of competition, scarcity thinking, shame, not being enough. I urge you this stewardship campaign season to let these emotions go as quickly as you can when you consider money and your generosity. Let them simply drain away, knowing that is you really need them they will always return. Instead think of your money as soul power. Let it stand for who you are, what you believe, and what you hold most dear. Money, like water, has the power to create, sustain, and nourish when it flows freely from one to another. It stagnates when it is hoarded. As Lynne Twist writes, “Money becomes a currency of love and commitment , expressing the best of who you are, rather than a currency of consumption driven by emptiness and lack and the allure of external messages.” Money grounds us and puts power behind our commitments. It can be the great translator of intention to reality, vision to fulfillment. Jesus said it and it is still true, “Our hearts follow our money: where your treasure is there is your heart also.” No matter whether your bank account covers basic needs, just a bit more, or a whole lot more, you are wealthy in the love of God in Christ, in the beauty of creation, in the sustenance of this church community. As you consider your pledge to the 2019 budget that will fund our ministry for God in the coming year, let your money be a source of soul power for you. Give the few pennies, dollars that you can as a way to join with God in making God’s intentions reality in the world through Plymouth. Jesus treasured the widow’s mite. If you are so blessed, give the many dollars that you can to join with God and your fellow Christians in making God’s intentions reality in the world through Plymouth. May our money not be a source of anxiety, may it be a source joyful power through which we give thanks to God by living the most generous lives of well-being possible. Blessings on the journey, Jane Anne P.S If you missed "Grateful: A Love Song to the World" (the video Stewardship showed during worship on Sunday, October 14), or if you just want to dance to it again, you can view it here. AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, Since my sermon for September 9, “What’s So Full About Being Empty?”, on the spiritual practice of emptying in order to be filled with the spirit of Christ, I have continued to ponder my personal practice. It is not necessarily easy. My mind can be the poster child for the term “monkey mind.” I am very conscious of the way it jumps through tasks and concerns and worries at top speed. Too fast at times to make a constructive list. How to let go of the attitude of anxiety in order to focus on real tasks and meet the needs of real people? to be truly present in the moment? At times I work too hard to make sure I am really letting go. This is a conundrum. Working too hard to let go is counter-productive. It produces more anxiety! Anyone else have monkey-mind exacerbated by anxiety that gets in the way of your true concern to be efficient, to be focused on following God, to be joyful and in the moment with yourself and others? As a continuation of my own practice and an offering for yours, I give you Denise Levertov’s poem, "The Avowal." When it is hard to empty your mind, your heart, your soul, your body of obsessive ego thoughts, of over-active anxiety and perfectionism, of too much worry, of unproductive anger and resentment, may we remember to breathe into “Creator Spirit’s deep embrace.” May we remember that we are already surrounded by God’s abundant and overflowing grace. As swimmers dare to lie face to the sky and water bears them, as hawks rest upon air and air sustains them, so would I learn to attain free fall, and float into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace, knowing no effort earns that all-surrounding grace. Blessings on your journey this week, Jane Anne We Apologize! We apologize for the confusion on Sunday regarding our parking! For those who were not present, notes were distributed to cars in our parking lot as warnings about the possibility of being towed. On Sundays our parking lot is open to ALL our members, friends, and visitors! Let us say that again! On Sundays our parking lot is open to ALL our members, friends and visitors. Here is some additional information about our current parking system at Plymouth:
AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. This Sunday is Jubilee Sunday, i.e. “Welcome back after summer” Sunday! To kick off the program year the ministers will be doing a sermon series on “Thorny Theological Themes” at all three services, starting this Sunday with discipleship.* As progressive Christians we may “balk” at the word discipleship. It may have rigid, rule-based, unimaginative connotations. Join us for worship and the Involvement Fair at Jubilee Sunday this week as we open up the parameters of discipleship. Consider this story from our Jewish sisters and brothers. How does it open the concept of discipleship? The Rebbe’s Melody (adapted by Jane Anne from Yiddish Folktales, ed. Beatrice Silverman Weinrich, trans. Leonard Wolf) Tradition had it that whenever the rabbi sat down to his studies he would sing: “All the angels, all the seraphim Ask who God may be. Ah woe, what can we reply? ‘No thought can be attached to Him.’ All the people – every nation – Ask where God may be. Ah, woe, what can we reply? ‘No place is without Him.’” One day as the Reb Zalman was teaching the Torah he noticed a new student in the midst of all his disciples. The man was older. He face was fierce with a frown of concentration. Yet it was full of grief in not understanding. After the lesson the Reb sent for the new student. The man came to his study and the rabbi asked what he had understood that day. With that the man broke down into tears. “Nothing!” he cried. He explained that he came from a poor family that did not have the money for synagogue school when he was a child. And his father had died when he was young leaving him as the eldest child to help his mother provide for the family. So he worked hard all his life. He married and had a family and provided well for them so he did not have time for Torah study. The man said, “All I can do is recite the Psalms and even though I do so daily, I do not understand them well. Now my children are grown and on their own. I have time to study the Torah, but I fear it is too late. Most scholars laugh at my misunderstandings but I heard that you turn no one away from your table of study. So I came to you. Please, help me. Is it too late to learn Torah?” And once again the man began to cry. Reb Zalmon looked at him kindly and placing a hand on his shoulder he said ”No tears today for today is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of joy in God’s presence. You have made a wise and humble choice my friend to study Torah. Today I was explaining the great Rabbi Baal Shem Tov’s understanding of Hasidism. If you did not understand listen to this melody for all his wisdom and the wisdom of God are hidden in it.” The rabbi began to sing to the man, a sweet, sweet melody. The man listened with rapt and perfect attention. He found his soul caught up in the sound. After a time a light began to dawn in the man’s face and suddenly he smiled and then he laughed through tears. When the rabbi finished singing, he cried out, “I understand, I understand! Oh, Rabbi, thank you. Now I feel worthy to be your student and to study Torah in God’s presence.” So it became a custom for Reb Schneur Zalman to always finish his lessons with the singing of that simple, profound and sweet melody. Just in case there was someone at the table who had not fully understood the teaching that day. And the melody became known as the Rebbe’s Melody. Blessings on your journey into our new Plymouth worship and program year, Jane Anne *Thorny Theological Themes schedule: August 26 DISCIPLESHIP - The Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson September 2 GRACE - The Rev. Hal Chorpenning September 9 SURRENDER & EMPTYING - The Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson September 16 LIVING IN EXILE - The Rev. Dr. David Petersen September 23 SALVATION - The Rev. Jake Joseph September 30 ECCLESIOLOGY: BEING THE CHURCH - The Rev. Hal Chorpenning AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, Three weeks ago it was my privilege to preach on the story from Mark 5 of Jesus healing the woman with the flow of blood and Jairus’ daughter. It is a long-loved, deeply felt Biblical text for me. I have told the Luke 8 version of this story (which is virtually identical to the Mark passage) for over twenty five years in worship and workshops. It was the first biblical story I internalized and committed to memory when I began studying the art of Biblical storytelling with the Network of Biblical Storytellers. It’s images of desperate pleas for healing, of risky acts, of skeptical disciples and neighbors, of pressing crowds, of Jesus’ compassion and vulnerable women have been working on me for many years. If you were with us in worship and heard the sermon at 10 a.m., or dialogued with me about the text at 6 p.m., you know that the image from the story that was driving my preaching that day was the image of telling the whole truth, telling the whole story of grief. The images of the hidden woman who came forward to tell the whole truth and the distinguished leader of the synagogue who bravely spills his whole truth at the feet of Jesus in front of a crowd are powerful. Telling their stories initiated and catalyzed healing, of self, of a loved one, of the community. Healing happens when we tell our stories. And if you were there you know that I briefly (and tearfully in the morning) shared part of my grief story and the healing journey I am on after the death of my son, Colin. (If you would like to read the sermon on our Plymouth website, click here.) Thank you for the graceful, heartfelt reception of my vulnerability that day! You all stood by me as faithful companions on the journey and I was very moved by that. You are my faith community and while I will not wear my grief on my sleeve, lest it hinder my ability to be with you as one of your ministers, I also want to and need to be vulnerable with you where it is appropriate. Its important for the healing of us all. So I urge us all to be more vulnerable in telling our faith stories of grief, of joy, of struggle with one another in safe and appropriate situations. And I want to make it clear that telling your story does not mean standing in front of a crowd! Crowds are not necessary. Tell your story to one trusted person. (Hal and Jake and I are available for story listening! We also have trained calling and caring visitors who are good listeners!) Tell your story in a small group, in a Christian formation class, at a fellowship event with a few trusted folks. Listen to your heart as well as your head and you will know when it is appropriate, when it is safe. Do not force yourself to share if you do not feel safe! With some stories confidentiality is very important. Share brief parts first and see how it goes for you if the thought of being vulnerable with your story is frightening. When you need to share more the opportunity will arise. It’s a learning process. God will lead you. And don’t be afraid to cry. In telling the story or in simply sitting with it in worship, tears can come. Heidi Haverkamp, author and Episcopal priest, writes of an experience when she was allowed to sit in the pew rather than lead worship during a time of crisis and cry. “What else is church for, if you can’t sit there and cry?...At Christmas we call Jesus Emmanuel, or “God with us.” To sit in my pew, tears and all, was a chance to bring my whole self and whole life into church with me and to feel part of the “us of “God with us,” instead of just crying alone at my house. I wonder if this could be a blessing for others, too, at the holidays or on any Sunday of the year, to sit and cry in church when we need to , to be God’s people all together, with all the joys and sorrow, smiles and tears, of human life, before the one who love us so much.” (Click here to read Heidi’s entire article in Christian Century, “Church is the perfect place to cry.”) What else is church for if it is not a community where we can safely be vulnerable? Where we can tell our stories to one another. Where we can shed tears of joy and sorrow. Let’s be church together. Blessings on the journey, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and the disciples woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. - Mark 4:37-39 Have you ever had that feeling that God is with you, but perhaps asleep at the wheel, or at the very least distracted? I have. It is not a comfortable feeling. I work so hard to have a good intentions for life, to steer clear of storms, to think ahead about all necessities. But then trouble comes, despite our best laid plans. At these times I am reminded of a favorite song from the 90’s written by Emily Saliers, one of the Indigo Girls. It is titled “The Wood Song” and begins: the thin horizon of a plan is almost clear my friends and i have had a tough time bruising our brains hard up against change all the old dogs and the magician It is hard to think with bruised brains. It is hard to out-think “the old dogs and the magicians” of culture, of politics. We can feel very helpless as we try to be the change we want to see in the world. Will the plan for meaningful change every become clear, every be attainable? I remember the story from Mark 4. Being in the boat with the disciples and Jesus when a sudden storm comes up. God, are you paying attention? Do you not care that we are perishing? Here is what the disciples forget for a moment. They are not in the boat alone. Jesus is with them. And Emily’s song returns to my mind: now i see we're in the boat in two by twos only the heart that we have for a tool we could use and the very close quarters are hard to get used to love weighs the hull down with its weight Even in the close quarters of a church community we can panic, forget that we have our hearts for tools and our hearts keep us close to God. We can forget how love weights our communal ship with the right ballast to keep us from sinking. In the midst of the storms of life we might wail at one another: but the wood is tired and the wood is old and we'll make it fine if the weather holds Yet the weather never holds, does it? Storms come. Children are separated from parents in tragic, needless suffering. Our heart-felt plans for making the world more just, more loving, more peaceful seem thwarted at every turn. We are overwhelmed. It seems the waves are beating into our boat and we will drown. Or others will drown. How can any of us be saved? God, do you not care? but if the weather holds we'll have missed the point that's where i need to go, Emily sings in “The Wood Song.” God is with us in the midst of the storm even when our “Just Peace, Open and Affirming, Immigrant Welcoming” beloved body of Christ may seem old and tired, battered by too many huge waves. But God is with us in the boat. And we might not fully realize it until we are overwhelmed and forced to rely only on the voice of Jesus, "Peace! Be still!" This coming Sunday in worship we will sit together with the story of Jesus stilling the storm from Mark 4. Before and after worship we will have the opportunity to be the Body of Christ in the midst of the storms of injustice in our world by writing letters to our government officials about the plight of hungry people and the plight of immigrant children separated from their parents on our borders. As we join in worship and in letter writing we are in the boat in two by twos using the tools of our hearts, hands and voices to help our world hear Jesus’ voice, "Peace! Be still!” God is with us always! Blessings on the journey through your week, Jane Anne PS. If you would like to hear the Indigo Girls sing “The Wood Song” click here. AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. Dear Plymouth, Recently I came across the poem below in my quarterly Yale Divinity School magazine, Reflections. I found it quite moving and shared it with the Stewardship Board. They found it moving as well as worthy of consideration and conversation. It speaks of the complexity of giving in our lives, of giving as a way of life. It speaks of giving and receiving gifts of all kinds, of the joy and sorrow of giving. WHEN GIVING IS ALL WE HAVE One river gives its journey to the next. We give because someone gave to us. We give because nobody gave to us. We give because giving has changed us. We give because giving could have changed us. We have been better for it, We have been wounded by it –- Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet, Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails. Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too, But we read this book, anyway, over and again: Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand, Mine to yours, yours to mine. You gave me blue and I gave you yellow. Together we are simple green. You gave me What you did not have, and I gave you What I had to give -– together, we made Something greater from the difference. from A Small Story About the Sky by Albert Rios It is the season of giving gifts to graduates and to teachers. We will be honoring those among us at Plymouth who are teachers this coming Sunday. I have a number of family birthdays this month. Perhaps you know of upcoming weddings or wedding anniversaries in May and June. We have just honored mothers with gifts and the day for fathers is coming soon. Spring is giving us its bounty of beauty daily. God is the Mystery of Love that generates giving of every kind. We are able to give love because we are first loved by God through family, friends, community. There is abundance for all in the world if we as human beings learn to share, to give to one another. May we be grateful that as human beings we are created to be giving beings. May we be more aware of all we have been given that we can share. May we remember and recognize that giving makes a difference. Blessings on the journey, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. We know love by this, that [Christ] laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. I John 3:16-18 This past Sunday was Plymouth’s celebration of Environmental Sabbath and this coming Sunday is the day celebrated nationally as Earth Day. Spring is “springing” here in Colorado with daffodils, trees budding, warmer temps on many days – though we know the reality of spring snow storms here! In my sermon this past Sunday I shared a quote from 8th century theologian, John of Damascus. “The whole earth is a living icon of [a window onto] the face of God." Taking this to heart we open our hearts to glimpse the face of God in the daffodils, the budding leaves and even in the snow. Taking this to heart is challenging, as well as inspiring. How to see the face of God in hurricanes and floods, as well as in sunny beaches and rolling streams? It is a challenge worth the endeavor as we care for creation as well as enjoy it. Recently I ran across some advice for human communities in a meditation on the communities of geese. A flock of geese as a “living icon” of the communal, three-in-one, face of God. See what you think: Why Geese Fly in Formation Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. People who share common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another. When a goose falls out of formation, she suddenly feels the draft and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going. When the lead goose gets tired, she rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It pays to take turns doing hard jobs. The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. An encouraging word goes a long way. Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a gun shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow her until she is either able to fly or until she is dead, then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with the group. If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. Friends of God at Plymouth, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action, following the example of our brother and sister geese. Blessings this week on your journey into community with God, Jane Anne AuthorThe Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson, Associate, Minister, is a writer, storyteller, and contributor to Feasting on the Word, a popular biblical commentary. She is also the writer of sermon-stories.com, a lectionary-based story-commentary series. Learn more about Jane Ann here. |
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