Mayflower Congregation Church--Sermon Highlights: Rev. Scott Rennie, Guest Minister

Jesus the Sower
Note: This Sunday we had a guest pulpit minister at Mayflower, Rev. Scott M. Rennie of Queen's Cross Parish in Aberdeen Scotland, a congregation of the national Church of Scotland. As noted in the welcome printed in the church bulletin, Rev. Rennie's call to Queen's Cross was the first time an openly gay minister was called by a Church of Scotland, or Kirk, parish. His calling was the subject of a landmark case before the General Assembly of Kirk in 2010. The Assembly resolved to allow his call to proceed.

Guest Minister: Rev. Scott M. Rennie

Title of Sermon: WASTED GRACE

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23 (Jesus' Parable of the Sower)

Sermon Highlights:

The sower in Jesus parable was not your stereotypical thrifty Scot. He sows his grain indiscriminently throwing it on good soil and bad, even on the road itself. The sower reminds us of God who is gratuitously generous with His favors and blessings.

Some times Life seems to be a tale of wasted energy. We seek to help people who never seem to improve their living. We work for justice in our community, but justice does not come.

Whenever we sow the seeds of the kingdom, we never know where those seeds will take root. We do not always see the difference we make. We must work in the spirit of faith and hope.

We must imitate God's gratitous generosity and live in the hope that our efforts will one day take root in our world.

Personal Reflection: This sermon spoke directly spoke to me. Those of us in Oklahoma concerned about social justice often feel none of our efforts will pay off. We look at those who represent us in Washington and in our state government, and we see how they seek to deny all efforts to heal our environment or bring about real health reform.

It is difficult to labor in such poor soil, but labor we must and have faith that we will help bring about justice for all.

My Sunday Worship Leader Remarks

Each Sunday at the 10:45am service, one lay person serves as "Worship Leader." One of the duties of the Worship Leader is to give some brief remarks prior to the offering. This is called the "Prayers of the People," and it gives lay members an opportunity to talk about whatever is on their minds. Here is the text of my remarks:

Typically, we celebrate December 25th as the birth date of Jesus. Many scholars suggest that Jesus likely was born in late March or early April, the time shepherds “abide” in the fields to help ewes giving birth.

I was born in March. Perhaps Jesus and I share a common birth date. Had this date been used for Christmas I would have greatly dismayed as a child. We all pitied the kid whose birthday came near enough to Christmas to get combination birthday-Christmas gifts.

We are not sure how December 25 became the date celebrating Jesus’ nativity. Perhaps it was an attempt to convert a popular pagan celebration. Perhaps to was due to the fact that 4 days after winter solstice the daylight hours begin to get noticeably longer. Some have suggested that the fact that date is 9 months after the Jewish Passover celebration had something to do with the choice.

I think there is something to this last idea. After all, putting Christmas in March or Christmas in April would mean that we would celebrate his birth at the same time we honor his death. This way, the church now gets two big days to pack the pews.

Seriously, I think it noteworthy that we celebrate the birth of Jesus at a time when all seems dead in our world. And we honor his death at the time when the world is starting to come alive. I think this is another paradox of our faith that we have been noting throughout this Advent season. God is always acting in ways contrary to our expectations: giving us grace where grace is not deserved, extending hope when all seems hopeless.

So let us live within God’s grace that gives life all that is dead within us. And let us live in hope as we work to bring life to a dying world.

And let us display this hope we have in a very practical way by making out our pledge cards and placing them in the offering plate. May the ushers come and receive our hopeful pledges and offerings at this time.

Hate Mail in the Shopping Center Parking Lot

This is not what my sticker looks like, but it's the same message.
Cat and I did some shopping this Saturday, and while we were in the store, someone saw fit to put an anonymous note on our car. I have a few bumper stickers on my car. One is in support of Andrew Rice who is running for the Senate against Jim "Global Warming is a Hoax" Inhofe. Another sticker reports the fact that when Bush took office, gasoline cost on average $1.46 per gallon. Then there is my most recent addition: a sticker with the single word "HOPE" with the "O" in the word formed by Barack Obama's campaign logo.

As I said, someone took exception to them and put the following note on my car windshield under the driver side wiper:

Bush doesn't rule the world. (Thank God for large favors!) He can't control oil prices, the weather, idiots who buy homes they can't afford (aka "whiners"), or who shoot at rescuers attempting to provide aid. At least we are still a free country (Checked your Bill of Rights lately?) and have no more terror attacks. That will change with Obama be afraid. Are you ready for a Socialist nation (I assume you are refering to something other than the Corporate Socialism we now have.) that will cumble--that's what will happen if idiots like you elect a Muslim (Big Lie alert) sypathizing Socialist?

Well, there you have it. Elect Bush for a 3rd term or elect a "Muslim sympathizer" who will welcome terrorists to America. At least I out to give Mr. Anonymous credit for not claiming that Obama is a Muslim. (He is, in fact, a member a church that traces its roots all the way back to Plymouth Rock--The United Church of Christ.)

But this shows something of how this election will be run: Hope v. Fear. As John F. Kennedy said:

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.

Hope

"Hope is the one thing for which there is no acceptable alterntive."--Robin Meyers