A letter for you...

This morning I preached a sermon that had been re-written on Friday because the movie theater shootings in Aurora had also shot down the festive tone of my sermon for Mary Magdalene's Feast Day as well as any other sermons being planned around town.  A completely minor consequence to be sure but one that affected preachers across area nonetheless.  People coming to church today collectively needed a deeper word in light of the horror and despair of so many people murdered and so many more wounded physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Today I am grateful for the many people sharing comfort and hope as we care for each other.  But I am especially grateful for Pastor Meghan Johnston Aelabouni's open letter to all who suffer from the shootings in Aurora.  Her words are heartfelt, insightful and elegant.  I quoted her in my sermon today because her way of speaking about, "...how God is able to reach into sin and death and pull out healing and life..." is simply stunning.  I encourage you to check out her full letter as she, like Mary Magdalene, points us to the "indestructible love of God."

May the Spirit of God fill you and hold you in grace and peace.
Caitlin

[Click on Pastor Meghan's name to link you to her letter.]

 

To faith or not to faith...

I recently sat with a new friend who invited me to coffee by first asking, "How do you feel about disagreement?"  Mind you, his question came just a few minutes after I preached a sermon that included John 3:16 so I was utterly intrigued.  The next thing I knew, we were chatting over coffee and disagreeing about preaching.  What he asked, "Why don't Lutheran preachers exhort to faith?"  What I heard, "Why don't Lutheran preachers ask people to agree with an orderly list of theological ideas that equal faith?"  My response to his question is as simple as it is complicated.  "Preaching evokes faith," I said.

What's the difference?  The difference is a distinction about where faith comes from.  If I say that I agree with a list of ideas about God then faith is an intellectual "yes" that I dredge up from inside of myself.  However, faith generated by God, by the shattering of me in the shadow of the cross, comes from outside of myself.  [More about the cross in future posts].  In this light, a preacher points me to the cross and it is from there that faith is evoked, pulled, generated, etc., as a mystery of God's work in me.

Why does it matter?  Because it's about what God is doing, not what I am doing.  I can never do enough, say enough or be enough to make my way to God.  God is then the one who evokes faith.