Archives For Sermons

Curators and Caretakers and the Practice of Giving (Gen 1. 28)

October 21, 2012

This is what a curator looks like*

“Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule…all the living things that creep on earth.”

_Curators and Caretakers

The church often uses the word “stewardship” to generalize things that have to do with resources that we share in common. We have stewards who take care of our budget, our building and other resources that we have. But it might be a little misleading in that when I think of a steward I think of as someone who brings me meals on a plane…or at least used to, now they bring me a little bag of wheat-thins. In our culture today we often think of a steward as something like a waitress, someone who waits on us. This makes it sound to one-sided.

The truth is that we are all, everyone here, to be caretakers of one another, of what we have and of what we share in common together.

Continue Reading…

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The Politics of Surprise (Matt. 25: 31-46)

September 21, 2012

This is the text to the message I gave at Camas Friends Church on Jesus Sheep and Goats parable in Matt. 25.

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Matthew 25 (From Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospel):

When the son of man starts his revolution with all his band around him, then he was assume some authority. And all the nations will be assembled before him, and he will sort them out like a farmer separates out his cows from his hogs, penning the cows on the right and the hogs on the left.

Then the leader of the movement will say to those on his right, ‘come you pride of my father, share in the movement that was set up for you since creation; for I was hungry and your shared your food with me; I was thirsty and you shared your water with me; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; ragged and you clothed me, sick and you nursed me; I was in jail and you stood by me. Then the people of justice will answer, ‘Sir, when did we see you hungry and share our food, or thirsty and share our water? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or ragged and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in jail, and stand by you? And the leader of the movement will reply, ‘When you did it to one of the humblest brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you fallen skunks, and into the flaming hell reserved for the Confuser and his crowd. For I was hungry and you shared nothing with me; I was thirsty and you gave me no water; I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me, ragged and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in jail, and you didn’t stand by me.’ Then these too will ask, ‘Sir, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or ragged or sick and in jail, and do nothing about your needs?’ Then he’ll answer, “When you failed one of these humblest people you failed me.’ These will take an awful beating, while the just ones will have the joy of living.”

I am drawn to a number of “surprises” in this parable. In fact, I think that more than having to do with judgement the surprises are what make this story turn.

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In Sermons, The Biblical
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The Little Prince, Children and Receiving the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:13-16)

June 24, 2012

This is the message I gave at Camas Friends Church, June 24, 2012.

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“People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.” (Mark 10:13–16 NRSV)

Questions:

  • What is hard for you to grasp about what Jesus says here?
  • What is easy for you to grasp what Jesus says here?
  • How do you think those around him would have responded when he said this?
  • What do you think he meant by “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it?”
  • Why do you think children hold such high esteem in Jesus understanding of spirituality?

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The Politics of Scapegoating (John 12:20-33)

April 10, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The politics of Scapegoating or “Scapegoating, Treyvon Martin and Seeds Falling” // The message I gave on March 25, 2012 (John 12:20-33)

_Headlines of a Scapegoat

There are a lot of things happening that have caught my attention in the news recently:

One of the recent news pieces that has captured us all had a headline that read: US Army Sergeant Kills 16 In Afghan Villages (Link). “U.S. officials said the shooter, identified as an Army staff sergeant, acted alone, leaving his base in southern Afghanistan and opening fire on sleeping families in two villages.”

Alabama followed Arizona’s lead by passing a law last year aimed at making everyday life difficult for the state’s estimated 120,000 illegal immigrants. The Alabama law, known as H.B. 56, allowed local police to check the immigration status of people stopped for other crimes, required public school officials to collect data on the number of illegal immigrants enrolling, and forbade illegal immigrants from entering into private contracts or conducting any business with the state (There was a recent This American Life episode on the unintended consequences this is having in AL).

Detroit Free Press headline read: Unhappy public not sure who to blame for high gas

We’re all very familiar with the Sandra Fluke contraception hearing and Rush Limbaugh’s demeaning and hurtful comments.

OneGeorgeFox is a group of LGBTQ students who have recently written a letter to George Fox asking to not be discriminated against any longer. They want to be allowed to have an open conversation about homosexuality on the campus of George Fox, and want discrimination ended. This has created a stir in local churches and is (hopefully) prompting healthy discussions around these things. Right alongside this the new headline runs – Ex-Student Convicted In Rutgers Spying Case: ‘I’m Very Sorry About Tyler (Clementi)’ (Link).

And Most strikingly, and heartbreakingly was the murder of Treyvon Martin, a 17 yr-old African-American who was shot in the chest while walking home from a convenience store. He was killed by a man who was on neighborhood watch. Treyvon was armed only with skittles and a can of iced tea (Link).

What do we notice about all of these things? Each of these recent news stories share a common thread and a modern tendency, and that tendency is to find a scapegoat for our problems. Our subject today is “the politics of scapegoating” and how to address it. Continue Reading…

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On Integrity: Mirrors, Ships and Living Truthfully (James 1:19-27)

February 2, 2012

This was the message I gave during our meeting for worship at Camas Friends this past Sunday.

James 1:22   But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. 

Mirrors and Self-Examination_

Integrity is about rightly seeing what it is that we reflect in the world, it is about owning up to the image we portray of ourselves, and of others. It is about not just knowing truth, but living it.

James 1 never uses the word integrity, but it does use the image of a mirror so we get the idea that people who hear and do God’s word reflect or should expect to see something in the mirror.

So you use a mirror maybe to check to make sure you don’t have anything like asparagus stuck in your teeth right? What would you think of me if I looked, started to walk away, forgot whether I had food in my teeth, walked back to look again, walked away, maybe I forgot again, and on the cycle goes. Continue Reading…

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The Original Revolution: Occupy Christmas? (Isaiah 52:7-10)

January 21, 2012

 

I know this is late, but it is the message I gave on Christmas morning December 25, 2011.

Isaiah 52:7-10: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

John 1:1; 14 “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

I saw a political cartoon this week that said “Occupy Christmas.” And then off to the one side it said “in your hearts.” And I thought at first, “ah, isn’t that nice…?” And then, I was thought, “wait, no, no, no!!!” “How could you Occupy something in your heart? You don’t occupy something like Christmas in your heart. That takes away the power not only of “occupy” but even more importantly of Christmas.” It undercuts whatever revolutionary power either of these have. Continue Reading…

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Peace is a Garden (James 3:13-18)

January 16, 2012

This is the sermon I preached Sunday January 16, 2011.

The want of peace_

One of the queries I sent out for reflection this week over email to the church was “how do we support peace?” How do I, Wess Daniels, We the Daniels Family, We Camas Friends Church, support peace?

But I also wondered. What does it mean to support peace, to really want it? Because it’s one thing to put a bumper sticker on your scooter, as I’ve done, it’s quite another thing to actively pursue peace in a 20 year family conflict, to try and reconcile with a brother who has deeply wounded you, to step outside your front door and begin nurturing relationships with your neighbors that might actually produce fruits of peace.

A friend of mine is known for being a peacemaker in his neighborhood. Each fourth of July he and his wife throw party for their entire block and everyone comes out because he’s literally befriended most of his neighborhood. If you hang out with him over the course of 3 hours 3 or 4 neighbors will randomly drop by to say hello, drop off cookies, or some little treat for his children. It’s unreal. How many of us don’t even know the names of our neighbors let alone actually create space where relationships can grow and neighborhood peace can be nurtured?

I’m reminded of Don and Joy’s presence in their friends’ life as she past away and their care for her family since then — this is a perfect example of nurturing and supporting peace in a neighborhood.

Do we want peace and how do we support it? Continue Reading…

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‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’ (Luke 1:26ff)

January 10, 2012

This is my sermon from December 18.

So far this advent we have focused largely on preparation.

What is it we prepare for exactly? 2,000 years after Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, hasn’t it already all happened? Advent means coming, but hasn’t Christ already come again in the resurrection? As Christ-centered Quakers we believe that Christ is present here among us, we don’t have to wait until Christmas for Christ to come, God is birthed in the world everyday. And in this sense, Quakers should be celebrating Christmas everyday!!!

And besides this preparation is very difficult. Continue Reading…

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The Gift and Humility of Thanksgiving (1 Cor 1:3-9)

December 7, 2011

This is the text to the sermon I preached two weeks ago.

Thanksgiving and Advent_

The meaning of the word Advent is “Coming”

This week is the First Week of Advent. Typically, we at Camas Friends, take the Sunday after Thanksgiving to reflect back over the year so that we can remember what we have been graced with. We reach back into our stories over past year, and look for the places where God’s faithfulness came through, places where we saw those glimmers of hope, experienced the nudges of grace, the motions of love.

Advent begins in darkness, to a world desperately waiting, watching, and in total despair. We wait for the coming. At the beginning of advent, all we can do is hope, in the midst of trouble, that God will hear, just as he did with the Hebrew People in Egypt, our collective prayers.

At the opening of advent we struggle with a fragmented world: The rich continue to get richer, while there are hungry children and houseless families all around us. Violence of all kinds seems to be unending, and divisions among people and religious groups continue to deepen like an abyss. Many of our elderly friends feel more alone and isolated now more than ever and many of our Young people are afraid there will be no world left for them to even have these kinds of concerns. Many of us in between struggle to make sense of who we are and where are lives are at currently. Our bodies continue to age, and we see loved ones around us pass away. Continue Reading…

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No Shrine Required: The Denial of Death and the Legacy of Moses (Deut 34)

November 15, 2011

This is the message I gave during meeting for worship at Camas Friends Church Sunday 11.6.2011.

Terrified by death_

In his book “the denial of death” Earnest Becker opens with this line, “The prospect of death wonderfully concentrates the mind.” And that “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity – activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for [humanity]” (Becker xvii). Continue Reading…

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