A Cup of Eau Claire

read the Bible story here  The story of Mary’s encounter with God via the angel Gabriel, and her “Yes”, is very familiar to us. If you read the longer version, Luke 1:5-2:21 , you’ll notice a parallel with last week’s story: the lives of two women are inextricably bound together in this promise of a son to be born, an older and a younger woman receiving the same gift at the same time (healing in Mark’s story last week, pregnancy in Luke this week). Mary lives in Nazareth, in Galilee.  She is engaged to Joseph, who is a descendent of King David (that’s why they’ll go to Bethlehem for the census, remember). Joseph’s credentials are listed at the opening of this episode, while Mary remains unnamed: The angel was sent to a virgin who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, of the house of David . Already in this introduction we’ve been tied back to the covenant in Luke’s name-dropping: Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons—not the one the genealogy passes through, but the one who...

In the story in Mark 5:21-43 two females experience restoration to life. The story of a dead girl who is raised is wrapped around the story of a woman who is healed from her affliction of bleeding for twelve years.   One story sits in the middle of another. The girl’s father is a synagogue leader. Synagogues  in this time were gathering spaces that served numerous functions beyond religious worship. They were schools, places for shared meals, centers to distribute charity, places for communal deliberation, and legal judgments.   Jairus, as a leader of the synagogue, had substantial power in the community life. In a desperate situation he pleads with Jesus to help his daughter who is dying. On the way a person who is poor, unwell, and probably isolated for her unclean state interrupts their journey. She has suffered many things under many physicians, and spent all that she had, and has benefited nothing , but rather is worse .’ What is more, her flow of blood l...

read the Bible story here This is the first of two stories about Hagar (see also Gen. 21:1-21), an Egyptian woman who is enslaved by Abram and Sarai. The story progresses quickly (the focus tends to be on Abram and Sarai, making this an incidental anecdote to many commentators) but the details are brutal. Because they do not trust God to provide the promised descendants, as many as the stars of the sky (Gen. 15:5), Abram and Sarai take things into their own hands, forcing Hagar to become a surrogate, and treating her harshly once she is pregnant. She flees the abuse and ends up in the wilderness, likely headed back to her family in Egypt. Along the way she meets God, an angel of the Lord, and her life is transformed. Photo by  Nicole Geri  on  Unsplash The language and symbolism in the story is rich. Ha-gar means “the foreigner” in Hebrew—from the beginning she is set apart as different from Abram and Sarai. She is Egyptian, female, young, and enslaved—she has no power ...

In light of the fact that we have not been able to gather in our buildings, Pastor Phil and I thought it might be good to focus on Biblical stories that are about people experiencing the presence of God outside of temple, synagogue, and church buildings. Even when we go back to in-building worship, discerning God’s presence in the places where we spend the rest of our lives will be useful. We will be telling the stories by heart and preaching on them as time allows.   Early each week the preaching pastor will post some thoughts on the upcoming story on the church’s blog so that you can read and reflect upon it before participating in the worship service. They will form part of our Youtube worship service; those with * will also be broadcast a week later.   Here are the stories we will engage with Youtube dates (broadcasts a week later):   June 14 (Pastor Lori) Genesis 16:1-16 Hagar meets the God who Sees her in desert desolation   June 21* (Pastor P...

I do not like to be alone (well, never, mostly) but even moreso when I am afraid or sad. And I usually feel both afraid and sad, a little bit, and lonely, on Good Friday. Today all of these are bigger, of course. I’ve already been afraid and sad and lonely for weeks, in this isolation, so there’s a cumulative effect. And they’re bigger because on a “normal” Good Friday the fear and sadness are related to Jesus, and only Jesus, for me. I feel things deeply, and the sadness of the story of Jesus’ Last Supper, betrayal, trial, torture, and crucifixion hit me hard. Disciples running away to hide in a room because they are afraid makes perfect sense for me. I don’t feel sad very often, but on these days I feel all the feels, and I’m grateful for the space and permission these days give me to do the feeling. Of course, I know what comes next; if I didn’t, I’m not sure I could bear it. But this year? Fear and sadness and loneliness, oh yes. Here they are, as they have been loite...

Sunday I began worship by having the congregation create "God's Bucket List" (*) -- with the caveat that I do NOT mean to suggest that God is going to kick the bucket. Ever. But, what's on that list? What are God's hopes and dreams for the world? The list is referred to later in the sermon.  In chapter 9, Daniel gets a vision about how long  Jerusalem’s punishment (exile) will last. Remembering the sinfulness of the people,  the ways they turned from God and did not live according to God’s instruction in Torah,  he prays, confessing and repenting. Throughout the Bible, people sin, confess, repent, repeat. Sometimes they are punished for their sin, either the natural consequences of their actions, or God intervenes and takes away God’s favor. Remember it was very common in ancient times to give God (or the gods) all the credit and blame for what happened in life: if God was happy with you, you were blessed, profitable, fortunate; if...

                                                                                                             So I’m sitting around the house one afternoon a few weeks ago and the phone rings. It’s Pastor Lori. She explains that she is going to a conference over the weekend of August 4 th and asks if I would be available to preach that day. I looked at the calendar: nothing going on.   She’s asked me so many times in the past and I have alway...