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Scripture:  Romans 12:14 – 13:10

Dear Church,

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.”

Paul writes these words in his letter to the church in Rome.  They are terrifyingly absolute.  But if you’ve read other parts of scripture you have to wonder…

Really, Paul?

So–the Hebrew midwives Shiprah & Puah should have followed the law and thrown baby boys in the Nile at  the moment of their birth? Moses should have told Pharaoh, God says Let my people Go! But when Pharaoh refused, he should have shrugged and walked away?  Shadrack, Meshach & Abednego should have obeyed King Nebuchadnezzer’s command and bowed before his idol three times a day? Nabaoth should have sold King Ahab his vineyard in Jezreel?  Jeremiah should have joined the ranks of the court prophets and told Kings what they wanted to hear instead of God’s truth? Should Esther have watched her people be hanged on Hamen’s gallows, Paul? Should Peter and John have obeyed authority and stopped preaching the Gospel? What about the apocalyptic vision of resisting the authority of Babylon in Revelation?

I could go on and on and on and on (and usually do–I said it so you don’t have to!). The point is, scripture is full of stories celebrating the faithfulness and courage of God’s people when they resist, rebel and defy authority. 

So is Paul really saying that all Christians should be blindly obedient to all authorities in all times and places because every human institution is a perfect instrument of God’s will?

I know you’ve probably sat through some sermons arguing exactly that interpretation of these verses but–guess what?

You heard it wrong.

I hope you’ll join me as we examine this teaching in the context of Paul’s whole letter to the Christian community in Rome and discover that it doesn’t mean what a lot of folks think it means.

Peace,
Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Mark 14:1-10

Dear Church,

This Sunday we launch into a new worship series called, ‘You Heard It Wrong: the holy art of unlearning.’  Because it is a good and holy thing to regularly lay our own faith upon the altar and ask the Lord to show us what is gold and what is dross, what is real and what is not.

It is important to stop and wonder occasionally, do I read scripture for revelation or confirmation?

So throughout these weeks are we are going to be looking at verses that are often cited by believers and asking the question–do these words mean what we think they mean?

First up, Jesus’ words in the 14th chapter of the gospel of Mark, ‘The poor you will always have with you.’  What was Jesus telling us then and how are we supposed to respond?

I hope to worship with you this Sunday at 10am, on the livestream or in the sanctuary.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Hebrews 11:32-40,  2 Peter 1:2-8

Dear Church,

This Sunday we conclude our worship series ‘How to Faith’ by turning to the final portion of the roll call of faith found in Hebrews 11.  The preacher brings his sermon to a crescendo by calling out all the stories of faith he doesn’t have time to tell

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

Who wouldn’t want faith like that? A life full of conquering, vanquishing evil, flame-quenching, lion-taming, narrow escape, powerful victory, and resurrection?  Who doesn’t want to sign on for that kind of life, no matter what the cost?

But the preacher goes on…

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

Now these are not such attractive stories.  What’s the point of a life of faith if it leads to torture, powerlessness, shame, persecution, homelessness, and violent death?  What could possibly be worth risking outcomes like that?

The preacher tells us ‘these were all commended for their faith.’ 

People who faith have lives full of victory, and people who faith have lives full of pain and defeat.  From the preacher’s view, all of the lives on his list are faith-filled lives.

And the preacher goes on to say that all of these faithful ones, named and unnamed, the ones who achieved victories and the ones who suffered defeats, all of them were merely waiting for the promise that we have received: Jesus. 

And Jesus offers us one thing, and one thing only.

I hope you’ll join me for worship.  I’ll tell you the one thing Jesus promises us.  Then you can decide if it’s worth risking everything to receive it.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
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Scripture:  Hebrews 11:17-31

Dear Church,

This Sunday we turn again to the famous ‘roll call’ of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 as we continue to explore ‘How to Faith.’  According to Jesus, faith in him as Lord and Savior leads us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow him–we’re calling this the L9:23 principle (because you can find this teaching in Luke chapter 9, verse 23, get it?)

But what does that look like?  Well, the preacher in Hebrews helps us imagine our future by looking back to the lives of our spiritual ancestors.  This week, he asks us to consider the time Abraham agreed to sacrifice his only son Issac, Moses’ parents put him in a basket and launched him out onto the Nile River in a desperate attempt to save his life and Rahab preserved the lives of enemy spies by sheltering them in her home.

Here’s the truth the preacher refuses to hide from us:

     Faith in Jesus requires real risk taking.

     At times, trusting God is terrifying.

     The gospel is clear about this,

     We must know, expect and embrace this risk if we truly desire to follow Jesus.

This is a sober and unsettling truth–come and see why it is, indeed, the narrow path that leads to wholeness and salvation.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture:  Hebrews 11:1-16  (Faith in Action)

Dear Church,

Faith is a verb. 

Faith is not what we believe or know, it’s not how much we love or are loved by God, though it grows out of those things.  Faith is the choices we make, the actions we take on the basis of how we know and love God.  As Biblical scholar T.C. Smith puts it, “Faith is the way by which invisible realities become real for people…faith is the complete reliance on God by trusting in his purpose, power, wisdom and mercy.  It is the movement of finite life toward the infinite promise of God.  There is a depth to faith which we in our conventional piety have failed to comprehend.”

In other words, as the preacher says in Hebrews, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It’s not simply how we feel or what we know. It’s believing Jesus when he says the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you and then beginning to act accordingly.

We’ve been told that the evidence of faith is well-behaved, widely admired people living exceptionally desirable lives.

That’s a lie.

(Sells a lot of books and conference tickets though…)

In Hebrews famous roll-call of faith, we find a list of folks with outrageous faith expressed in strange choices that led to shortened lives, persecution, wild adventures, suffering, frustration and… the approval of God.  If we believe God is the source of all goodness and true wisdom, if we love God more than all else, shouldn’t that last one be more than enough?

God is calling us out of one life and into another–a new life that is holy and wholly new.  Faith is answering that call, one foolish step at a time.  I hope you’ll join me for worship this week. A life of faith is a wild, beautiful, weird ride and, like any good road trip, it’s a journey best made with your friends.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)

This week we are thrilled to welcome the Rev. Daniel Heath to the pulpit! Daniel serves as associate Chaplain at Davidson College and is a long-time friend to the Grove.

Daniel will be sharing a message about Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, a tree-climbing tax collector despised by his neighbors.  Zacchaeus wasn’t called by Jesus to be a disciple.  He wasn’t sick or demon possessed. He didn’t need to leave home and follow.  He didn’t need to be healed.  He needed to be redeemed.

So Jesus singled him out with a special invitation, telling everyone that he’d come to town specifically to dine at Zacchaeus’ home. This confused and offended the crowd who hated Zacchaeus and held him responsible for much of their suffering.

There’s much more to this story that a ‘wee-little man’ and a sycamore tree.

Then and now, Jesus persists in going out of his way to center and include those we are desperate to leave out.  If the Grove really is a community gathered by Christ, and not by us, you should be prepared.   You’re going to find some folks here you wish weren’t. Our enemies aren’t Jesus’ enemies.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Genesis 50:15-21

Dear Church,

There’s a song we sing sometimes at the Grove called “Blessings Everywhere.”  In these days, I am finding solace and rest in the words of the chorus: Blessings in the highs, blessings in the lows, blessings everywhere I go.  Blessings in the yes, blessings in the no, blessings everywhere I go,

Christians like to talk about blessings, but not like this.  We want to believe that because we love Jesus the bad things that happen to other people won’t happen to us.  We hope that blessings everywhere I go means that from the moment we ‘decide’ for Jesus, there will be nothing but pleasure and comfort for us.  We twist the Bible to make it say that our faith in Jesus will shield us from the setbacks, the disappointments, the losses and the injustices other people experience. 

But everything that has ever happened anywhere in the world happened to someone Jesus loves.  When we follow Jesus we will discover blessings everywhere we go–but we will go some places we wouldn’t choose for ourselves.  It’s easy to see and celebrate the goodness of God when things go our way.  It’s obvious to label it a blessing when we get what we want and think we deserve–when we hear ‘yes’ or are on a spiritual ‘high.’

But a deep rich spiritual life on the narrow way shows us that, while not everything is good, God is with us in everything–and wherever God is, there is blessing.  So to our surprise, we find there is also blessing in the ‘no,’ and in the low points of our lives.  There is blessing buried in the grief and losses of our past, especially in the parts that we’d rather leave behind unexamined.

Maybe the song has been on my mind because we’ve been re-learning the story of Joseph along with the children and youth in VBS this week.  If there’s anything we see in Joseph’s story, it’s that God is faithful to us in the midst of horrible circumstances and that we can find blessings–and be blessings–anywhere.

I hope you’ll join me for worship this week.  I especially hope you’ll join us if you’ve had a week full of lows and noes.   That song I was talking about ends with the words Come now Sunrise, open my eyes.  May the Risen Son open our eyes to the blessings around us even now.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

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Scripture: Genesis 37:1-28

Dear Church,

One of the things I find so comforting about scripture is how much familiarity is there.  Of course, you find the unbelievable miracles–instant healings, never-ending feasts, walking on water.  You find the sublime poetry of the psalms and the prophets.  You find declarations of God’s limitless love and unending mercy. These are all wonder-filled revelations.

But you also open this sacred book and find the all too familiar–stories of funding families, devastating choices with painful consequences, failure, betrayal and tragedy.  And these moments, painful as they are to read, are what make the other moments matter so much.  Finding evidence that the folks we meet in scripture are as flawed and faithless as we are gives me great hope.  It’s what lets me know that the miracles and beautiful promises are for folks like us too.

God works out salvation in the messy lives of real people.  Always has, always will.  And if you need reminding of that, I hope you’ll join us this week, as we begin a two-part worship series on The Life of Joseph–full of promise and problems, set-backs and celebrations, faithfulness and failure.  In other words, a life just like ours.

Peace,
Pastor Kate

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