Words of Welcome

Marc Chagall, Hagar in the Desert Genesis 21:8-21 Today’s reading from Genesis 21 is fitting since Father’s Day is coinciding with World Refugee Sunday. The lead characters in this story include a father—Abraham—two mothers—Sarah and Hagar—and two sons—Ishmael and Isaac. In this story, Abraham sends his firstborn son, Ishmael, along with his mother Hagar into the wilderness, because Sarah doesn’t want Ishmael to share in the inheritance she believes belongs to her son, Isaac. This story is complicated because Ishmael’s mother Hagar was Sarah’s slave, who became Sarah’s surrogate until Sarah had a child of her own. That’s when Sarah decided that Hagar and Ishmael had to go. When Abraham reluctantly agreed to Sarah’s demands, Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the wilderness as refugees. When their water ran out, Hagar hid Ishmael in the bushes and then sat down and wept, while Ishmael cried.   Christian tradition tends to focus on Sarah and Isaac, while ignoring Hagar a

Trinity Church, Speyer, Germany Organ pipes Psalm 100 When I was growing up in the Episcopal Church, I regularly encountered  Psalm 100 in our worship services. And we knew the Psalm by its Latin title: Jubilate Deo. While the wording was different at points from the NRSV, the message was the same: “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” Although there are times when we need to be still in the presence of the Lord ( Ps. 46:10 ), there are also times when we need to turn up the volume and let loose before the Lord. It might come in the form of song or it might come in the form of dance. Just remember that David danced before the Lord when he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem ( 2 Sam. 6:12-15 ). It’s worth noting that this invitation to make a joyful noise before the Lord goes out to the entire world. But here is the question of the hour: Why should we make a joyful noise before the Lord? After all, we’re living in a difficult moment in history. We have th

Psalm 8 Trinity Sunday invites us to contemplate the nature of God. Since Disciples are a non-creedal people, we tend to shy away from conversations about the Trinity. But, I believe this doctrine reveals a relational vision of God’s nature. While all human speech about God is inadequate,  that doesn’t mean we don’t look for ways of confessing our understandings of the mystery that is God’s nature.  If we envision the God revealed to us in Jesus as a communion of persons living in eternal fellowship, then we might be able to envision how this divine communion is reflected in human relationships.  Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff provides us with a helpful description of how this works:  The Trinity is the model for each and every community: while individuality is respected, the community emerges through communion and mutual self-surrender. Grassroots Christians understand this well, better than any theology, and they know how to give it very accurate expression: “The