Words of Welcome

Acts 2:1-21 ; Genesis 11:1-9 This is the story of the Tower of Babel, and it’s a strange one. A group of people discover how to make bricks and then they decide to build a city with a tower that can reach to the clouds, which is where God can be found. In the bricks they see a way of controlling their destiny. They can protect themselves from outside and they can build a rampart so they can touch the heavens and therefore touch God. For some reason God sees this as some sort of threat, as if this group of mortals will storm the gates of heaven and take over. To keep them at bay, God decides to confuse their languages. And when this happens the people scatter leaving their tower incomplete. And thus the threat to heaven is stopped. THE PATH TO ALIENATION At the heart of this story is the problem of hubris, that arrogant sense that we can control everything, even our relationship with God. And the result of this attitude is confusion and even anarchy. Where once there was clarity, now

John 17:20-26 The bookstores are full of best-sellers warning us that religion is dangerous. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens have written books that have caught the fancy of people who believe that religion, including Christianity, is at best irrational, and at worst “really does poison everything.” Religious fanatics who fly planes into tall buildings, blow up clinics, protest at funerals, or offer bombastic statements about any number of issues, only give support to these claims. And as for you and me, well, apparently we give cover to the fanatics simply by professing faith in God. I could try to ignore the critics, but some of their critiques are helpful, because they point out our tendency toward self-righteousness and feelings of superiority. And so when I saw the announcement that Pluralism Sunday would be observed on Pentecost, I decided to look into it and then I signed us up. Pluralism Sunday is sponsored by The Center for Progressive Christianity, and w

Revelation 21:22-22:5 The final volume in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is entitled The Last Battle . In that book Lewis picks up on an important theme in Revelation. Evil is a consuming power that lives off pain, suffering, and destruction. In this story, an imposter poses as Aslan, and speaks to the people of Narnia who long to hear Aslan’s voice. The impostor is in the employ of the Calormenes, who serve the evil god Tash, and who wish to control Narnia. Jill and Eustace expose the impostors, but not before Narnia is destroyed. The good news is that Narnia gives way to a new world, the land of Aslan. Those who are faithful to Aslan are invited to enter the kingdom of promise. Interestingly enough, among those going through the door is Ermeth, a Calormene warrior, and Puzzle the donkey, who in his innocence allowed himself to be used to impersonate Aslan. Like the Narnians, we too live in a land of false promises and broken relationships. Evil resists the justice and mercy of God

Revelation 21:1-6 In the movie The Perfect Storm, a group of fishermen heads out to sea looking for one good catch that will sustain them for the winter. After many days of failure, they finally bring in that big haul and get ready to head home. The only problem is that their ice machine is broken and without ice the catch will spoil. Their only hope is to make fast break home and hope that their small supply of ice holds till then. This strategy is, however, dangerous because a massive storm stands in the way. If they wait out the storm they’ll lose the catch and needed cash for the winter, but heading home could lead to their deaths. Believing they can conquer the sea, they head home. Their audacity is tested because this is no ordinary storm. This is a perfect storm, a convergence of weather and sea so powerful that there’s no way out – and in the end they’re lost without a trace. THE THREAT OF CHAOS The ancient world feared the power of the Sea. Homer’s Odyssey is a good example of