Davison's Doodle

Lost Sermon Paragraph

Sunday was Pentecost.  We read the traditional story from Acts as a responsive reading to call us to worship.  The text was read in Spanish just before the preaching moment.

But, earlier that morning I arrive at the office I had another look at my words for the day and spent thirty minutes reworking a couple of paragraphs.  The text below is one of those that I edited to its final form and reprint here.  It is not so much lost as “reformed.”

Those who stood and spoke that first Pentecost didn’t wake up thinking they would be translators of the good news of the kingdom of God or Jesus of Nazareth.  The disciples were hiding, waiting, going about their lives and practicing those things that Jesus taught and living as Jesus lived.  We often speak of seeing the world through the eyes of a child.  I think the best that can be said of that reformed Pentecost day is that those first disciples were seeing God in the world through the eyes of Jesus.  The story in Acts dramatizes what can happen when human beings get “fired up.”  Christianity’s confession is this: in the centuries that have followed Jesus of Nazareth and Pentecost day Christianity, as a movement, has more often than not gotten “fired up” over the meaning of “who ever believes in him shall have eternal life” (John 3:16), instead of “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 40).  Maybe it is because it is easier for human beings to believe in a miracle rather than be a miracle?

Lost Paragraph from Sunday’s Sermon

Here is a lost paragraph from my sermon on Sunday.  The text for the day was Micah 6:1-8.  Parts of this paragraph made it into the final text, but not in the structure below.  The sermon was titled, “The Minimum”.

I think believers ask about the minimum because many are looking for a guarantee or at least an explanation of the expectations.  We know what that sounds like: “How long does the paper have to be?  Do I need to vacuum under my bed or just around it?  How much can I claim of this business expense on my taxes?  How many meetings does this committee have a year?  How much diversity is enough in our schools to qualify for federal funding?”  That has everything to do with our motivation, and motivation is where I think the Church, the universal Church, its ministers, theologians, councils, creeds, and critics have done a disservice for the followers of Jesus because we have placed the emphasis of faith on a Christological guarantee for living as a believer, rather than focusing on the living Jesus of Nazareth who made justice happen, loved through kindness, and walked humbly with his God.  I think that’s the minimum.