Season of Creation Devotional

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and leaders from The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada have prepared a series of devotions to observe the Season of Creation 2020, September 1–October 4.

The season, which begins with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, is a time to join with the global Christian community in renewing, repairing and restoring commitments to God, to one another and to all of creation. For the four churches, it is also a time for strengthening relationships with one another. Through Scripture, hymns, advocacy and action, the weekly devotions, which begin September 6, invite people to live out their vocation as stewards of creation.

"We pray that our actions as stewards of God's good creation will continue to deepen not only in this season, but for all time," said Eaton. "Even as our relations as churches are not bound by national or ecclesiastical borders, neither is our witness to the One who came to redeem all of creation."

In addition to Eaton, the devotions were contributed by the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop and primate, The Episcopal Church; the Rev. Susan C. Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; and the Most Rev. Linda Nicholls, archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

"I pray that these reflections will open hearts and minds to experience our relationship in and with all of creation in new ways," said Nicholls.

In the opening devotion, the leaders stress the significance of a collective responsibility in caring for creation. "Waking up to matters of climate justice and environmental stewardship are among the most important callings people have today. Over many years, through many voices, our churches have come to a growing conviction that loving our neighbour includes loving Mother Earth as a neighbour."

"It is timely, relevant and exciting for our churches to join together in prayer, worship and reflection during the Season of Creation," said Johnson. "With open hearts, minds and souls may we discern new actions and practices to show love for God's creation."

"In this season of activism as we seek God's liberating, life-giving love for all, may these prayers and devotions inspire us to care for a world in which all creation can flourish," said Curry.

The relations among the four churches have moved more closely toward "mutual recognition," bringing into mutual relation the two churches of "Called to Common Mission" in the United States and those of the Waterloo Declaration in Canada. One notable feature of the agreement is that it cites the experience of Indigenous people "not divided by national borders established by colonialist power" as grounds for expanding shared life among the churches. A Memorandum of Mutual Recognition (MMR) was approved by both Canadian churches in July 2019. The 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted constitutional changes embracing the Anglican Church of Canada, and in November 2019 the Church Council adopted the MMR. Once The Episcopal Church acts, the mutual recognition of the four churches will come into full effect.

The Season of Creation devotions are available by clicking here.

Plastic Totes Needed

Due to a water leak in our archive space, any and all plastic totes with lids you are no longer using at home are welcome and greatly appreciated in which to store our archives. If you would like to share funds (memo: Archive Project) or drop off totes, please contact Adrienne in the church office (602-258-3787) or Pastor Sarah (pastorsarah@graceinthecity.com, 602-318-6876) to set up a time.

Phoenix Fusion Opportunities!

Book Study to learn and discuss racism in the US
 What: “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
When: Monday September 21st and Wednesday, September 30th
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Facilitated By: Pastor Kari Williamson – St. Andrew’s
Zoom Information:
  Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84969089361?pwd=eitQV25GOTlYM2xrTGlNU21JZHRlQT09
  Meeting ID: 849 6908 9361
  Passcode: 968981
  Phone Number: 1-253-215-8782
  Reading Schedule:   Monday, September 21st: Introduction – Chapter 9
                                   Wednesday, September 30th: Chapters 10-17
 
Come and join fellow Phoenix Fusion friends as we gather via Zoom to have a conversation about the difficult and relevant issues surrounding race which are facing our communities and nation today.  Oluo’s book will give us a road map to have honest conversation about this important topic that affects every aspect of American life.

 New – “Crowd Sourced” Information 
If you are interested in receiving periodic updates on articles, events, videos etc. on the topic of racial justice, please send your name and email address to PHXFusion.RacialJustice@gmail.com to be added to the distribution list. If you have information you would like to share with others, please send it to the same email address.

LAMA Newsletter

This opportunity is not specific to Phoenix Fusion, but Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA), the advocacy ministry of the Grand Canyon Synod, now has a newsletter. 

You can sign up to receive their newsletter using this link.

Phoenix Fusion
A Collaboration of Lutheran Congregations in Metro Phoenix

All Saints, Ascension, Faith/La Fe, Gloria Dei, Grace, Iglesia Luterana Vida Nueva, Mount of Olives, Native American Urban Ministry, Our Saviour's, Shepherd of the Valley, St. Andrews, Trinity

News from our Missionary

A Missionary in the United States by Rev. Kristin Engstrom

Like many of you, I did not expect COVID to have such a lengthy impact on our lives in the United States. When I left Senegal in late March, I expected to return in a few months. But, it’s now August, and I am still in the United States as are many other ELCA missionaries.

I want to share with you what that means for me as and ELCA missionary.

Due to COVID-19, the 2020-2021 Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) year will be a Jubilee year. We will not host YAGM in our companion countries, but we will continue with ministry. YAGM Country Coordinators, including myself, will focus on a YAGM program evaluation, YAGM specific continuing education, and relationships with our companions.

The YAGM Country Coordinators will also be sharing stories from YAGM alumni and YAGM companions, as well as working to create a program that more intentionally embodies the values of the Kindom of God, especially in the areas of anti-racism and gender justice. In July we began by hosting an Anti-Racist Book Study via social media and zoom. You can follow these program-wide initiatives at the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission social media pages: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ELCAYAGM Instagram: www.instagram.com/elcayagm Twitter: twitter.com/elcayagm

During these past months, I have visited many congregations virtually. I have enjoyed connecting and sharing with you through preaching, participating in meetings, or creating short videos. Thank you to everyone who invited me into your congregation this spring and summer. I hope to return to Senegal soon, but until then, I live and work as a missionary in the United States, alongside of all of you. After all, we are all called to be missionaries of God’s Kindom, no matter where we live.

Accompanying Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM)—Senegal

My work as an ELCA Global Missionary is possible thanks to the generosity of many congregations and individuals in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Thank you! Jerejef! Merci! Jokonjol! Jahram! You can contact me via e-mail at kristin.engstrom@elca.org. You are also invited to support me as an ELCA Global Misionary here. If you would like to see more pictures and stories from YAGM Senegal, please visit our blog at http://yagmsenegal.wixsite.com/blog.

September Celebrations

During the month of September, we celebrate with members & friends of Grace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Rosemary B.

Ray S.

Sara M.

Chris C.

Loraine A.

Haley M.

Molly C.

Betty N.

Jeff J.

Kyle B.

Kassandra C.

Elliot H.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Peter & Beverly

Ann & Jim

Suggested Bible Readings for September

September 6 (Pentecost 14)

First Reading: Romans 13:8-14

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

September 13 (Pentecost 15)

First Reading: Romans 14:1-12

Psalm: Psalm 103:[1-7]8-13

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

September 20 (Pentecost 16)

First Reading: Philippians 1:21-30

Psalm: Psalm 145:1-8

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

September 27 (Pentecost 17)

First Reading: Philippians 2:1-13

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-9

Gospel: Matthew 21:23-32

Reflections on the Life of Cyndy Herrmann

We give thanks to God for Cyndy Herrmann, long-time member of Grace who died in August 2020.  

I first met Cyndy in 1993 when my husband, Nick, and I moved to Phoenix from California! I have been going to Grace since I was in elementary school! Cindy was always interested in people and she was on so many committees at Grace. She was instrumental in making money for Grace in many ways! I alawys enjoyed chatting with her at coffee hour— she was very interesting to speak with. She had a knowledge of the history of Grace. We shall miss her. —Bev Zannos

She was a long time member of our community and always had a smile for everyone. She worked diligently on our financial efforts like our retaining fence in the front yard of our church and our sanctuary organ. She was a real neat person and will be missed. —Judy Baker

Cyndy was as close to a financial wizard as we ever had at Grace. She single handedly pulled the last of our savings out during the meltdown of 2008! If not for her, GLC would have gone down the drain-moneywise, as many churches and businesses did! She was terrified. She told me so. But, she put her trust in God to do what she could. Well done Cyndy, faithful service in action.

She was a great character. Beautiful, humorous, thoughtful and intelligent. She loved jazz and always hoped for a jazz ministry at Grace. I served on the council with Cyndy for many years and will always be grateful for her progressive and visionary stewardship. Her solid ideas about utilizing the church property and facilities to our financial benefit have been around for the last 30 years and have greatly benefited the life and ministry of Grace. I thank God for our friend and sister in Christ, Cyndy Herrmann. —Fran Fry

Cyndy would call the church office a few times each month. The warmth I would feel with each call, each kind request for our pastor and each well wish always brought a thankful smile to my face. I did not speak with Cyndy face-to-face, but I felt her spirit, her patience and her sincerity, and was inspired by just the brief phone communications. Thank you, Cyndy, for all that you shared with Grace. —Adrienne Kaye

I will remember Cyndy Herrmann as a wise leader especially of Grace's finances, a faithful worshiper, an advocate of veterans and current service men and women, and a generous presence in both the Grace community and the Phoenix community at large.  Cyndy loved her daughter Jennifer, her late husband Peter, their dogs, and her neighbors of many years in the Encanto Palmcroft historic neighborhood in addition to the Grace community.  In the last few months, we spoke on the phone regularly, and even while struggling with her health, Cyndy and I had lively conversation about politics, one of her favorite topics.  Despite whatever else was going on in her life, she always asked about the people of Grace and the ministry we share.  Grace will miss her and long remember the impact she made in our community.  —Pastor Sarah  

Did you know Cyndy Herrmann as the smiling woman sitting on the left rear side of the sanctuary or the real Cindy that I knew? Cindy recently passed to life eternal after a service to Grace Lutheran second to none. In the 80's and 90's there were many years that our church had some serious financial struggles. Interest rates were high and people were not buying big ticket items. On the good side return on investments were great. We were fortunate enough to have small amounts of money and the Church Council had Cyndy Herrmann to invest the money very wisely and keep us afloat. How grateful we were to her for her expertise. In the late 90's we ran a campaign to renovate the sanctuary. Cindy named it Sanctuary 2000 because it was our goal to have it completed by the turn of the century. Mission accomplished. We later ran a campaign to renovate the organ. Again Cyndy named it New Notes For Grace. Mission accomplished. Many times when I faced challenges during fundraising, I went to Cindy and she was always the rock that I needed. Thank you Cyndy, you will be missed but Grace Lutheran Church will remember that you were here.  --Jim Spitler

Sermon for Sunday, August 23

Biblical Passage: Matthew 16:21-28

Our question of the day is: Who is Jesus—to you?  Or to echo Jesus’ own question to the disciples: who do you say Jesus is?  There is no “right” answer.  Of course, I can describe the basic historical person of Jesus, and we can both study his words and actions as found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  We can pick up books like Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg or John Dominic Crossan’s Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography and have our expectations of the historical Jesus challenged.  We can read extra-biblical texts to discover what gospels that failed to make it into the Bible say about Jesus.  We can unearth writings of the ancient historian Josephus and learn what non-Jesus followers knew about him.  But finally, after all that reading and study, we still confront Jesus’ question: who do you say that I am?  Notice that, when Jesus and the disciples arrive at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus first asks them: Who do people say that I am?  But he quickly pivots to a far more personal inquiry: who do you say that I am?  When the disciples tell Jesus what other people have said: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, Jesus doesn’t even acknowledge their answers, but when Peter replies, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God,” Jesus breaks into praise.  Jesus breaks into praise, not of Peter but of Peter’s testimony.  Peter’s testimony about Jesus is the rock of the church, and in 2020, the church’s testimony about Jesus is where the authority and power of the church lie.  Not in us, not in our flawed humanity, but in our testimony about Jesus.

Who do you say Jesus is?  Now, maybe you don’t feel qualified to answer the question.  Jesus lived and died and was raised 2,000 years ago, and maybe you haven’t really studied the Bible.  Maybe you are loathe to claim any sort of wisdom or insight into the Messiah, the Son of the living God. 

But I am reminded this morning that the Apostle Paul, the theologian who wrote much of the New Testament, the missionary who built the church, a zealous man of faith never met Jesus except in a vision, in a life-changing experience of light and Jesus’ voice.  But the Apostle Paul did not sit at Jesus’ feet when he preached the Sermon on the Mount, like Peter did.  Paul did not witness Jesus’ miracles and healings.  Paul was not at table with Jesus at the institution of the Lord’s supper, and Jesus did not wash his feet.  Paul wasn’t in the garden of Gethsemane the night of Jesus’ betrayal.  He didn’t glimpse Jesus’ crucifixion from afar, and he never saw the empty tomb.  Paul didn’t even have a New Testament to read about Jesus because none as yet existed.  Yet Paul testified powerfully, in such a way that the church was born from his testimony, from the way he answered Jesus’ question: who do you say that I am?

Not, who do people say that Jesus is?  Who do you say that Jesus is?  It’s not just Peter and the Apostle Paul who testify about Jesus.  It’s not just pastors who testify.  The rock on which Jesus builds the church is our collective testimony, the testimony of the whole church.  I suspect that each of us is here in worship, that each of us gives or prays or reads the Bible, that each of us engages in whatever spiritual practices we do, that each of us serve within the church because we have met Jesus—in some way.  Where and how and when have you met Jesus?

As the daughter of a pastor and a theologically curious child, I have always known a lot about Jesus.  Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, Bible camp and confirmation, then in college: religion classes, campus ministry activities, and endless theological conversation with my college roommate.  I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn’t really meet him until I entered the Lutheran Volunteer Corps.  That year, I worked at a shelter on the west side of Chicago, and I met Jesus in the small library where once or twice a week, I led Morning Prayer and listened with awe as people shared their prayer concerns, mostly prayers of gratitude at a time in their lives when, to my view, nearly all was lost.  I met Jesus in other rooms, such as in the medication room where, each morning, I handed residents their personal drawer of medications so they could take them, the residents greeting me pleasantly like family at a breakfast table.  I met Jesus at Central Desk where I completed intakes on new residents, hearing people’s stories, glimpsing their resilience.  Fast forward five years, and I met Jesus again at the Catholic Worker House in Waterloo, Iowa where the congregation I served at the time provided community dinner once a month for whoever wanted to eat.   Three years after that, I came to Grace.  As you know, I love this community and love serving here.  And it’s because I meet Jesus here—in you.  I have met a humble servant named Jesus, a joyous, loving presence, open arms that embrace the world.   It’s only because I’ve met Jesus that I am able to answer his question: Who do you say that I am? 

And who do we say that Jesus is?  Is there anyone who has shared in the Facebook feed? 

Read the Facebook feed of our live stream worship on August 23, 2020.

Our collective testimony is the rock of the church, the foundation on which all else is laid.  The church, we, proclaim Jesus a humble servant, so we serve God and our neighbor.  The church, again we, proclaim Jesus one who forgives our sin, so we in turn forgive one another.  The church proclaims Jesus the Son of God, and through the waters of baptism, we are named children of God and call one another sisters and brothers.

Peter proclaimed: Jesus, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God.  On this testimony, the church is built.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It with Sheila

Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! We continue a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace is sharing a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.

Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

Seasons of Creation Devotional

Our presiding bishop, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, has partnered with Episcopal and Anglican presiding bishops in the US and Canada to produce a weekly devotional for the month of September entitled Seasons of Creation. The devotional can be downloaded here. Written by wise and thoughtful spiritual leaders, the devotional explores our call to care for all that God has made. Enjoy!

Missionary Musings

For the past several years, Grace has prayerfully and financially supported the missionaries of the ELCA stationed in the Lutheran Church in Senegal which is a country in west Africa. Currently, our missionary is the Rev. Kristin Engstrom who serves as the country coordinator for the Young Adult in Global Mission (YAGM) program in Senegal. Check out a conversation between Rev. Engstrom, Pastor Sarah, and Vicar Beth—recorded at the end of July on Grace’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHNQAY-Iz4

Enjoy these Missionary Musings!

The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It with Renee

Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! We continue a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace is sharing a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.

Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

Sermon from Sunday, August 16

Scripture Passage: Matthew 15:21-28

"It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."  That’s what Jesus says to the woman pleading for Jesus’ mercy on her daughter who is tormented by a demon.  Not one of Jesus’ disciples or any Jewish onlooker is surprised by Jesus’ words for she is a Canaanite woman.  Jewish-Gentile relations in the first century Mediterranean world do not allow Jesus, a Jewish man, to speak to a Gentile, especially a woman.  When Jesus says, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,” he equates Jews to God’s beloved children and Gentiles to dogs, not lovable pets of the home as they are now but wild dogs, animals who get in the way.  When the unnamed woman first calls out to Jesus, he ignores her entirely.  Again, Jesus’ disciples are not surprised by Jesus’ silence for any conversation would violate social boundaries, but the disciples are annoyed by her persistent call for mercy.  When finally Jesus addresses her, he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Right and good, Jesus, the disciples likely think.  She is not an Israelite; she is not a sheep of this shepherd Jesus. 

What do we do with Jesus’ harsh words?  Three times, he insults her, belittles her, demeans her.  This is not the Jesus we know and love.  Even though she respects him.  Even though she calls him “Lord, Son of David.”  Even though she implies he has the power to rid her daughter of a demon, implies he can exert power over natural elements.  Even though, at the end of this story, Jesus recognizes her faith, a declaration that he makes only twice in the gospel of Matthew, the other time when the centurion, also a Gentile, asks for the healing of his servant.

What do we do with Jesus’ harsh words and even harsher silence?  Of course, biblical commentators aplenty provide solutions, suggest Jesus is vocalizing the prejudices of those like him to call our their sin, suggest the point is that Jesus finally heals the Canaanite woman’s daughter and ignore the rest, suggest that Jesus is illustrating his own point from the previous teaching about what comes out of a person’s mouth defiling them.   We seem eager to rescue Jesus from his historical context.  I wonder, truly, if the Canaanite woman helps Jesus understand his own ministry with greater clarity.  Seven chapters earlier, he responds to the Gentile centurion’s request for healing, but perhaps a Gentile woman is just one step too far.  Perhaps she helps him see the limits of his own ministry—and then helps him overcome them.  While I would grieve the limits of Jesus’ own understanding, I would rejoice that Jesus, once called out, recognizes his limits and chooses to grow in openness, love, grace.

This bodes well for us, followers of the one who could grow in his own divine capacity.  If Jesus, Lord, Son of David, can err and then grow and change, so can we. 

But first, we name our errors, what we’d like to do over without trying to explain it away, like the commentators aplenty would like to do. 

In 2001, I served for a year in Lutheran Volunteer Corps and worked at a shelter for people experiencing homelessness and illness on the west side of Chicago.  Entering Interfaith House was like entering a different world, one where my experience of life, instead of normative, was the exception.  Me, a little white girl from small town Minnesota who had just graduated from an expensive liberal arts college.  Most of my co-workers, black folks from the south and west sides of Chicago who joked that they were nearly homeless, the shelter paid so poorly.  One day, I ended up in the office of the program director.  I was there because I had been accused of being racist, wanted to report the ugly words of my co-workers, and be assured that I was just fine.  The program director asked me, “Do you think you’re racist?”  I told her no, but I had that uncomfortable feeling that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, the feeling that seemed to indicate I was wrong. 

We all have things we’d like to do over.  For me, at that moment with the program director in 2001, I wanted to take back the racist things I said and still to this day, I wish I could see and understand more fully my white privilege.

This morning, our errors, our areas of growth, personally or systemically may feel overwhelming, but the good news demonstrated by Jesus is a capacity to grow, to grow in openness, love, and grace.  We are not forever stuck in the place where we currently stand.  We get to have do-overs.  We get to change our minds.  We get to let go of old, unhealthy patterns.  We get to believe new things about ourselves, our neighbors, and the world.  We get to wash our face each morning and remember our baptism, remember that we are God’s beloved.  And even if we would rather stubbornly hang onto the things that trip us up and make our lives harder, if we won’t allow ourselves to be helped or listened to, the really good news is that God in Christ meets us with dignity, compassion, and grace.  For Jesus grows through his encounter with the Canaanite woman.  She helps him understand the height and width and depth of his mission that included not just people like him, Jewish people, but Gentiles as well, women bold enough to cry out for mercy on behalf of their daughters.  And it’s not that he deigns to heal her daughter, not that he shows her pity.  He not only preserves her dignity and shows her grace, in the end, Jesus praises her faith. 

Jesus met a woman who needed him, and he met her where she was.  They both walked away changed.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

The City of Phoenix Needs Your Feedback on Strategic Plan for Homelessness

The City of Phoenix is seeking feedback on the proposed Homelessness Strategies Plan that will focus on service priorities and strategies for individuals experiencing homelessness.

With your feedback, they will be able to reduce the impact the changes will make on the surrounding communities and neighborhoods.

Please visit the website to learn more, register for an upcoming virtual meeting or to respond to the survey regarding this topic: Phoenix.gov/HomelessHelp.

Diakonia Class Information

The Grand Canyon Synod Diakonia program is a means to prepare lay leaders in changing times to support the mission of the church with wisdom and understanding in accordance with our Lutheran understanding of who God is and how God works. Diakonia is also a Faith Formation program designed to help lay people in congregations develop and grow their individual faith.  The program also helps student to discern what God is calling them to do personally as members of the body of Christ. Like many educational institutions, we are planning on a lot of remote learning this school year, which also means remote information sessions. 

There are three different Zoom information night sessions scheduled that anyone can attend.  This is a great opportunity to receive more information about the Diakonia program and ask questions. They are: 

Monday, August 17 at 6:00 pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83812651427?pwd=d2RvN0JzVXVXazFnR0psRFIvYlNrUT0

Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86877805856?pwd=WUpJMEZqTDNMcnkxYncrbnp2WDJqZz09

Wednesday, August 19 at 6:30 pm

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85988092111?pwd=bVNWTmVQdDM5UklNUzNZQnJBUUNKQT09

CALL Registration

CALL (Confirmation Among Local Lutherans) is a joint confirmation experience for 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students with a community of ELCA Phoenix churches! This fall, CALL will be conducted online on Sundays from 2:00 until 2:30 pm. It is going to be a fun year as we explore our favorite stories about Jesus!

Parent and Student Informational Meeting is on Sunday, August 30 at 2:00 pm. Register online here.

Please check on the CALL website (www.phoenixconfirmation.weebly.com) as we get closer to the date for log in information.

Phoenix Fusion Presents: Conversation on Racism

Come join fellow Phoenix Fusion friends as we gather together via Zoom on Monday, August 17 @ 6:30 pm to discuss the movie: “The Hate U Give” (PG-13) based on Angie Thomas’ novel. The movie follows Starr Carter, a 16 year old girl who lives in the fictional, black neighborhood of Garden Heights, but attends a predominantly white private school and the fallout that ensues after she witnesses a police shooting. You are encouraged to watch the movie (which is on most digital platforms now) prior to attending the Discussion Group. Pastor Brent Maxwell from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church will be leading the discussion that will touch on difficult but relevant issues facing our communities right now. Below is the zoom link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsd-6vqz8sE9U2cCKnDidn_y9LMtx2QrDy

In September, we look forward to a two-night book discussion on “So you Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo. The event will be facilitated by Pastor Kari Williamson of St. Andrews and take place on September 21 and 28.

If you would like to be a part of the team working to bring these events to Phoenix Fusion, please send an email to phoenixfusionelca@gmail.com.

The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It with Dana

Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! We continue a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace is sharing a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.

Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!

Sermon for Sunday, August 9

Scripture Passage: Matthew 14:22-33

Storms on the Sea of Galilee are common, and Jesus’ disciples are fishermen.  Like other ancient people living in the Mediterranean, they likely do not know how to swim, but they still get in boats every working day of their lives.  These details have always eluded me for I imagined the scene of this Jesus story: the disciples’ eyes wild and full of terror, small boat on raging sea, rain and wind, thunder and lightning.  No wonder they’re afraid.  Actually, the gospel writer Matthew tells us, though the wind had pushed their boat far from shore in the evening, the disciples are only terrified come morning when they see Jesus walking on the water toward them.  Because they think he’s a ghost.  And instead of Jesus commanding Peter to, for heaven’s sake, get out of the boat with faith and courage, Peter is the one who feels the need to vet Jesus, saying, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus humors him, invites Peter to “come.”  When Peter does get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus, Jesus confirms his identity by catching Peter as he sinks and calming the wind.  For Peter and the rest of the disciples, this episode in their life with Jesus confirms who he is: the Son of God for he commands the natural forces of wind and waves.  But for me, this story is not about the wind and the waves, and I don’t think it’s even about Jesus and Peter walking on the water.  What captures my imagination this morning is why Jesus walks out to meet them in the first place.

Perhaps you remember last week, earlier in the fourteenth chapter of Matthew when Jesus, just having heard about the death of his cousin John the Baptist, gets in a boat and tries to steal away for a moment of peace and quiet.  Try as he might, he cannot.  The crowds follow him.  Jesus arrives on the shore, and he is immediately pressed into service healing the crowds and then feeding them with five loaves and two fish.  Then, moving onto the next Jesus story in chapter 14, today’s story, Jesus puts the disciples in the boat this time and heads to the mountain to pray.  Finally, he gets an evening to himself.  When morning comes, he walks out to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee.  Why?  As a life-long Jesus follower and Bible-reader, I had not considered before this week why Jesus calls, why Jesus hangs out with, why Jesus prioritizes time with his disciples.  They keep getting things wrong.  They are selfish and short-sided and seeking their own glory.  As far as I can tell from reading the gospels, they aren’t even very helpful to Jesus.  He is periodically forced to clean up the mess they make of things.  Why does he put up with them?  Jesus walks out on the water to join his disciples in the boat because he is invested in his community, in the relationships he has with his friends, his co-conspirators, his partners in ministry.  This should be no surprise because, when the angel Gabriel arrives at the beginning of Matthew’s gospel to announce the impending birth of Jesus to Joseph, Gabriel calls Jesus “Emmanuel” which means God-with-us.  Jesus is God-with-us, and Jesus shows up in community, with his disciples, with his friends.

We might be so familiar with the disciples nearly always accompanying Jesus that we might not understand what radical theological revelation is embedded in this: that God deems us worthy of God’s presence.  When we are selfish and short-sided and seeking our own glory.  When we aren’t very helpful.  When we make a mess of things.  When we, like Peter, challenge God: Is it really you?  If it is, do this amazing thing and prove it.  God is with us, seeks relationship with us, claims us as one of God’s own, even recruits us and equips us for ministry in God’s name.  

I struggle in this moment, and I struggled while writing this sermon to share the gospel any more plainly, more eloquently, or more descriptively than this: that God wants to be with us—as we are. 

I recall Jean Vanier who spent his life in intentional community, community that included people with developmental disabilities.  The global network of homes he founded, called l’Arche, invites people with developmental disabilities and people without developmental disabilities to live together.  A devout Roman Catholic, Vanier developed community with an ethic of love that he beautifully describes in one of his books which I have recommended so many times in sermons, you may be tired of hearing about it.  The book is Becoming Human, and in it, he shares aspects of love.  I was not surprised to see communicating with others and forgiving others listed among his 7 aspects of love.  But he also names celebrating others as one of the aspects of love.  Vanier writes: “To love people is to celebrate them…so many people with disabilities are seen by their parents and families only as a tragedy.  They are surrounded by sad faces, sometimes full of pity, sometimes tears.  But every child, every person needs to know that they are a source of joy.”  When we question our worth, our value, our contributions to God’s world, we may need to hear how God celebrates us, that God finds us not only worthy of God’s presence but a source of joy.  Jesus walked out on the water to join the disciples not necessarily because they were in trouble on a stormy sea but because they were a source of joy to him, his community, his friends.

We are a source of joy for God and not just us but all of God’s people.  We may see tragedy in the human family, and we may be moved to pity.  We may see others as less capable of friendship or having less to contribute to God’s world.  We may see the mistakes and the messes, the unhelpfulness and the selfishness.  We may question our own or others’ worth, but today, Jesus walks on water to be with his friends.  And we know that’s not the only thing Jesus does just because he loves them.  They and we are a source of joy for God.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

The GLOW Show: How We Get Through It

Thanks for listening to The GLOW Show! This week, we begin a series entitled How We Get Through It. Each week, a member of Grace will share a story about a difficult time in their lives, the practices that aided them, the resilience they developed, and the places they saw God at work.

Click the play button below, and leave us your comments and questions right here on the blog. We’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy!