Root + Branch Church: Recent Episodes
Root + Branch Church
A farewell sermon from Virginia. She will be missed, and we are thankful for this final blessing she offered!
Preacher: Danny Sanchez
All summer long, we've been exploring this strange and compelling (and strangely compelling) idea of God's Kin(g)dom. We've asked questions, like: where is it? When is it? How do we know? What are our hopes for it, as individuals and as a community? This Sunday is our final Summer service, and we'll be wrapping up our conversation on God's Kin(g)dom (for now) with a call to action: what will you do to take part in building it? We'll explore the simultaneity of beginnings and endings, working and resting, power and resistance. In that same spirit, we'll send off our intern, Danny, as he ends his internship with us and prepares to begin his final year of Divinity School.
Preacher: Danny Sanchez
All summer long, we've been exploring this strange and compelling (and strangely compelling) idea of God's Kin(g)dom. We've asked questions, like: where is it? When is it? How do we know? What are our hopes for it, as individuals and as a community? This Sunday is our final Summer service, and we'll be wrapping up our conversation on God's Kin(g)dom (for now) with a call to action: what will you do to take part in building it? We'll explore the simultaneity of beginnings and endings, working and resting, power and resistance. In that same spirit, we'll send off our intern, Danny, as he ends his internship with us and prepares to begin his final year of Divinity School.
Preacher: Virginia White
It's no secret that things are awry in the capital C church. Division, discrimination, deception, death-dealing doctrines, and dire boredom seem to rule the day. Perhaps that's why many of us ended up here at R+B: a little church trying to figure out how to remake belief. We wanted to find (or build) something a bit more wild and alive, and a lot more loving.
Collectively, we've been at it for a while now. We've learned a lot and yet we know our work is not nearly done. We have our own unlearning, listening, and growing to do. Remaking belief is a lifelong journey - beckoning us beyond what we know.
This Sunday we are going to recommit to this (re)making believe stuff in a fresh way. We’re launching our 95 (New) Theses campaign! A way for us to share our deepest dreams and biggest imaginings for a better church (and world) with one another and to hear from people beyond this community about what they yearn for as well.
Scripture: Luke 13:10-17
Worksheet: https://www.rootandbranchchurch.org/rmb-worksheet
Remake Believe Board: Community Vision Board
Preacher: Tim Kim
If you haven't heard, I (Tim) will be going on sabbatical starting in July. Which means this week will be my last service until the fall. Which means I would love to see everyone before I go! Join us as we wrap up the last couple months of conversation around the ideas of Invitation, Contemplation, and Co-creation. If you were at our All Together Meeting, we talked about them being the values that have risen to the surface over years of conversation and practice. And now that we've laid them on the table, what's next?
Link to poem, Dreaming Accountability, by Mia Mingus
Preacher: Tim Kim
Easter 2022. On the death penalty, the quietism of Easter morning, and the intersection of life and death.
Preacher: Danny Sanchez
Pastoral Intern, Danny Sanchez, on what the events of Palm Sunday teach us about getting ready for big things.
Preacher: Virginia White
Reading: Mark 8: 27-35
It might be a surprise that “Lent” has an etymological connection to the word “lengthening.” For many of us, if Lent means anything at all, it evokes ideas about mortality, self-denial, and “giving something up.” But these 40-days don’t end with the cross on Good Friday, they lead to the resurrection on Easter. Just as the world around us welcomes longer brighter spring days, luring back the tree buds, and coaxing the flowers to open in bloom once again, this spiritual season is meant to draw us into new life. Perhaps reframing the practices of Lent from the harsh self-disciplinary image “giving things up,” to the looser invitation to “let things go,” to enter into the messiness, maybe even lostness, of that space beyond our self-management, might be just the posture we need to discover new life on Easter morning.
Preacher: Tim Kim. Reading: Luke 13:1-9.
Lent is a journey towards Easter, one that involves reflecting on things that many of us might find unpleasant and difficult at the moment. No doubt, death and sin feel very salient at the moment. But, such things need not be dour for dour's sake. After all, as we'll talk about this week, any reflection on death is really a reflection on life.
Preacher: Tim Kim - If Advent is a season of expectant waiting, what does it mean to wait well? How do we prepare with intention and purpose? We often turn in these moments to individual introspection, reflection, meditation. But as the story of Jesus' pre-arrival demonstrates, there is usually a messenger, a message, and a need to listen. Sometimes the messenger takes the form of Mary, as we talked about a couple weeks ago, and sometimes it looks like scary/weird John the Baptist (though in the painting above he looks more sad/sleepy). Sometimes the message is a beautiful song that calls into being a new world, and sometimes it is a voice in the wilderness screaming about things that are hard to take. There's a lot of both out there in the world right now. Are we listening?
Preacher: Virginia White - At the same time as the physical world around us descends into longer nights, colder days, and the stillness of winter, the advent season invites us into a spirit of warm and eager anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Messiah into the world. But what does it mean for us to anticipate an event that has already happened in the past? How can we hold onto certain hope that something good is promised to us and will be given to us when the world around us seems so broken, so (literally) cold, so cruel?
Advent asks us to hold the pains and disappointments of reality as we know it in tension with unshakeable expectation that no matter how difficult things may seem now, there is an ever present promise of a new and world-altering good yet to come. And even that this world re-making good thing that lies ahead of us in the future, has already been done before and so can be done again.
Advent, then, is like this topsy-turvy time warp land where by remembering the amazement of Jesus’ birth all those years ago, again, we become more able to expect that God will once again do great and wondrous things to care for this world in the future.
This week we will look to the woman who knew this time-warping experience well. Not long after Jesus’ mother-to-be gets word that she is going to give birth to the Messiah, while still pregnant with him, she breaks out into a prophetic song that explicitly describes the redistribution of wealth, the downfall of the mighty, and the uplifting of the hungry, poor, and outcast. Yet she speaks not in the future tense, but in the past. As if she has already seen God’s promise come to full completion.
Might advent be calling us to become like Mary? Can we, too, become visionaries of a just and redeemed world, of which we are so certain and so moved, that we are ready to speak of it, and live into it, as if it were already here? Perhaps that is how Christ will come into the world again now.
Easter music, sermon, and prayer specially made for a podcast.
Our recommendation is that you take a walk while you listen with some people you love.
Sermon by Tim Kim on February 21, 2021
First sermon of the season of lent. On getting in touch with our deepest desires and the things that tempt us.
Sermon by Tim Kim on February 7, 2021.
What do we think we about when we hear that God Loves Us?
Part of our series on meditations on various on God and topics related to Lent.
On Jesus saying love your enemies, do not retaliate against violence, do not judge others, and do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Crazy things like that.
Speaker: Tim Kim
All of us (most of us?...some of us?) want to help turn the tide amid the panoply of awful things going on. But there is such an overwhelming volume of (often contradictory) instruction on what we should do or not do, say or not say. Then there’s the constant debating, gaslighting, and public judgement on the interwebs to deal with. You have the anxiety of all the things mixed with the anxiety to try and fix all the things, and it's sometimes hard to imagine any of this getting better, or our efforts being of any use.
But, there is another way to live and experience this whole thing. This is where we turn to that age old question: WHAT THE F*** WOULD JESUS DO? Join us for our next series as we try to ask W(TF)WJD in earnest, exploring teachings and truths that just might restore our hope and make us more effective agents of change and transformation.
Speaker: Tim Kim
In order to address the question “W.T.F.W.J.D.”, we need to get clear on who this Jesus guy actually was. That’s not so easy though when some people make Jesus seem like a gun-toting beer-drinking bro, and others describe him as a radical anti-capitalist, anti-war hippie. More often than not, we may be tempted to co-opt Jesus to our cause. But, that’s not the way of Jesus' followers. Instead, we are asked to let him and his teachings — in all of their complexity, intensity, beauty, and even internal contradiction — challenge and change us. This week we are going to try to get a more complex picture of who Jesus was so that we can get a bit more serious about following his unusual and life-world-mind transforming path.
Speaker: Virginia White
As we try to navigate a time of real upheaval, it is worth wondering what the spiritual dimensions of all this might be. We ask such a question not just because we are a church community, but because the diagnosis and cure for all that a pandemic and racism bring to the surface must also speak to the deeper truths of our humanity. In a strange way, we are often comfortable talking about our own spiritual lives, yet find it uncomfortable to speak of the spiritual life of a community, or city, or country. Why is that?
Prayer Pod is a short, guided prayer session of meditative practice, poetry, and music. Prayer can be hard! We hope this makes it a little more accessible and immersive. As our country reckons with its deeply embedded history of racism and violence, this episode reflects on lament and confession.
Put on some headphones (this episode in particular will sound weird without them) and give it a listen.
Episode 2 Poem: Untitled by James Baldwin, A Memory by Saeed Jones Music: Original
Guest Preacher, the Reverend Elijah Zeyhoue (Calvary Baptist, DC) reflects on the history of racism against black people in America through the lens of the Cain and Abel story in Genesis 4. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asks. For far too long White America’s answer has remain unchanged.
Prayer Pod is a short, guided prayer session of meditative practice, poetry, and music. Prayer can be hard! We hope this makes it a little more accessible and immersive. Put on some headphones (you should really use headphones!) and give it a try.
Episode 1 Poem: Elegy by Aracelis Girmay Music: By Tim Kim
Pastoral Intern, Aneesah Ettress, on how spiritual practices help us do work in the world.
What is Christian revelation? How does it work? How do we know it’s real? What should it do?
We conclude our series on relationships with a talk on empathy. What does the Good Samaritan parable have to teach us about empathy? A lot less than you might think.
“Blood is thicker than water,” that old devilish saying goes. The meaning of this phrase is pretty straightforward: family (blood) relations are inherently stronger than any other kind of non-familial (water) relationship or bond. Right? Nah. This rendition of the phrase actually carries the complete opposite meaning from the original phrase: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Funny how words get twisted.
Familial relationships can be great, aaaaand they can be the worst. Join us this week as we continue our examination of the relationships that make and break us. We will examine one of Jesus’s most famous parables - the prodigal son - and see what sense we can make of family, loosely defined.
This week we focus our attention on friendship. On one hand, maybe it's weird for a community of adults to talk about this thing which seems to hold diminishing importance for us as we move through the world. It is also not exactly the most famous of topics when it comes to Christianity and religion and spirituality in general. At the same time, adult friendships are important! Particularly so for a generation that is super transient, getting married later (if at all), having less kids, and has the internet (insert anti-tech screed here). Furthermore, there is actually a rich and robust history of thought around friendship as a theological and philosophical topic. One could even argue that when Jesus talked about love and relationships, he was informed more by his friendships than familial or romantic bonds. In any case, join us as we start to unpack the relationshipthat St. Augustine said was “sweeter than all the sweetness of [his] life."
There is this thing called the Great Commission, the last five sentences that close out the Gospel of Matthew. It says things like “Go out and make disciples of all nations,” for which it has become a rallying cry for all sorts of efforts to evangelize and convert people. That makes a certain sort of sense, but divine command mixed with human fallibility is formula for disaster, perhaps THE formula for disaster. The kinds of so-called Christian efforts taking place in Alabama and elsewhere underscore just how deep fallibility runs, as well as how fraught the idea of evangelizing can be when mixed with bad theologies, politics, and a prejudiced view about what it means to actually show love. Before we consider if there is a better way to do this, it might be necessary to ask what “this” actually is. In other words, what does it mean for us, our community in particular, to share something with the world?
Easter 2019 - We talk about conspiracy theories and what it means to trust in the promise of resurrection.
Kicking off a series of talks and conversations around sex, sexuality, gender, and such things, Tim shares a personal story, rails against dualism, and affirms the incarnation in all of us.
While the Christmas story has all sorts of wild and magicals parts, we take a cue from Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she pauses for a second to take it all in.
If everything you’ve ever known was turned on its head how would you feel? Probably not calm, confident, and comforted. But, distraught, uncertain, and uncomfortable. Yet, Isaiah’sprophecy (Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God) tells us that everything must change to prepare for Christ to come into the world. Valleys need raising and mountains and hills flattening. We’ve got to boldly shake it all up. So why don’t we? Why is change, even change that we know will be good for us—like saying “no” to that toxic relationship or giving up our facebook profiles—so hard?
This week we are going to talk about change. The changes that we yearn for, the changes that scare us, the changes that we might even be too afraid to admit that we need. We’ll grapple with the heart of the Advent message: that things don’t have to stay the same as they are—in fact, that they can’t stay the same if we do our work in preparing the way for Christ to come. Maybe we’ll discover a little of that comfort that Isaiah seemed to think change has to offer us, and some of the courage and hope that we need to change our lives for the better.
Grace is kind of a big deal in Christianity. Yet, it often takes a massive back seat to things like faith and love (so boring). Why is that? Maybe part of the reason is that grace is like the beginning stages of a romantic relationship. All that “hi, I like you” stuff is really fascinating until you get married and have kids and blah blah and then it's like it was just a point on a linear line towards death. But grace isn’t just a thing that gets us from A to Z. It is the thing that actually creates and shapes our destinations. And not just one time but continuously, again and again. It isn’t just the opening up of a possibility. It is possibility itself opened up to us as possibility. Which is why it’s so strange that we often think of grace as something like avoiding disaster or damnation. After all, why would a life that is all about the absence or avoidance of terrible things worth being thankful for?
Did God create the world because God was lonely? By definition, God (omnipotent, omnipresent, yada yada yada) couldn't be lonely right? That would mean that God lacked something. But heresy aside, the image of God as little child with no one to play with, using a child-like imagination to make platypus' and big ass whales (as the story goes) is a compelling one. Because a kid's imagination, weird and stubborn as it tends to be, is powerful and boundless. Without seeing life and relationships as this irresistible thing that contains a multitude of possibilities that sparks such a weird and stubborn desire that we are willing to reach out and give life to stuff, then loneliness wouldn't be a thing at all.
We're spending sometime with this Jesus as bread, eat and drink, weird cannibalistic language thing: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Before we jump too quickly into the realm of metaphor, the word used here for “eat” is a Greek word that means something like to gnaw, crunch, and chew. This isn’t some sort of “Jesus please feed my soul” kind of thing. It depicts something quite literal. Eating together is a ritual of the Root and Branch community. We’ve always done it. We’ve done it many many many times. We’ll keep doing. Which begs the question: Why? What do such ritual things have to do with our idea of what is true, our beliefs, our sense of God? When we eat bread does it mean we believe? Or do we believe because we eat bread?
A man in a position of immense power seriously screws up. He lies and connives to cover his ass. His misdeeds cast a pall over his entire administration. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT KING DAVID ;). The same one credited with writing the Psalms. The one typically remembered as the godly man who led Israel through its glory days. But he's just violated a married woman, ordered her husband’s murder, and he’s still king. What are we to do when the people who are supposed to be on our side, to have our interests at heart, let us down? When they might even be outright evil?
How does one say goodbye well? Co-founder Neil Ellingson gives his farewell sermon (July 15, 2018).
Reading:
Revelation 21:1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
On Easter we are asked to focus our attention on something that is hard to look at. Not because it is disturbing or painful (that would be Good Friday when we remember Jesus’ brutal crucifixion, and the brutality of oppression and death in our lives and our world); quite the opposite, because what we’re asked to look at on Easter is too good to be true. We can’t fix our gaze on the resurrection because it doesn’t fit our experience or understanding of how things go. People live, they die, and then their bodies decompose, eventually even all memory of them wisps away after a few generations. That’s all we know, anything else is wishful thinking, land of make believe, childish illusion.
OR IS IT??????
Part 5 in the Root and Branch Manyfesto: Creativity. A conversation on a God who gives permission, the conditions for creativity, and the revelation of Palm Sunday.
We are in the midst a series of talks and conversations around the core values and beliefs at Root and Branch. Our third topic of the series: Social/World Transformation. Co-pastor Tim on how Christianity's radical claim can change us all.
As the year begins, we are starting a series of talks and conversations around the core values and beliefs at Root and Branch. Our second topic of the series: Personal Transformation. Co-pastor Neil on how our true selves might take shape.
As the year begins, we are starting a series of talks and conversations around the core values and beliefs at Root and Branch. We begin here with the question: What does community look like at Root and Branch? Tim shares reflections on how getting to know one another is the first step in getting to know God.
Reading:
Mark 1:14-20 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." 1:16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. 1:17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." 1:18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 1:19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 1:20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Root and Branch community member, Liz Bajema, shares thoughts on September's theme: THE FALLLL. What is the point of doing good things? Most of the reasons we have for doing good are selfish, and much of the good we do seems to lead to more problems. The very state of reality would often suggest that it isn't really worth it. So what then?
Readings:
Numbers 21:4b-9 21:4b But the people became impatient on the way. 21:5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food." 21:6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 21:7 The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 21:8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." 21:9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
“The Doer of Good” by Oscar Wilde It was night-time and He was alone. And He saw afar-off the walls of a round city and went towards the city. And when He came near He heard within the city the tread of the feet of joy, and the laughter of the mouth of gladness and the loud noise of many lutes. And He knocked at the gate and certain of the gate-keepers opened to Him. And He beheld a house that was of marble and had fair pillars of marble before it. The pillars were hung with garlands, and within and without there were torches of cedar. And He entered the house. And when He had passed through the hall of chalcedony and the hall of jasper, and reached the long hall of feasting, He saw lying on a couch of sea-purple one whose hair was crowned with red roses and whose lips were red with wine. And He went behind him and touched him on the shoulder and said to him, 'Why do you live like this?' And the young man turned round and recognised Him, and made answer and said, 'But I was a leper once, and you healed me. How else should I live?' And He passed out of the house and went again into the street. And after a little while He saw one whose face and raiment were painted and whose feet were shod with pearls. And behind her came, slowly as a hunter, a young man who wore a cloak of two colours. Now the face of the woman was as the fair face of an idol, and the eyes of the young man were bright with lust. And He followed swiftly and touched the hand of the young man and said to him, 'Why do you look at this woman and in such wise?' And the young man turned round and recognised Him and said, 'But I was blind once, and you gave me sight. At what else should I look?' And He ran forward and touched the painted raiment of the woman and said to her, 'Is there no other way in which to walk save the way of sin?' And the woman turned round and recognised Him, and laughed and said, 'But you forgave me my sins, and the way is a pleasant way.' And He passed out of the city. And when He had passed out of the city He saw seated by the roadside a young man who was weeping. And He went towards him and touched the long locks of his hair and said to him, 'Why are you weeping?' And the young man looked up and recognised Him and made answer, 'But I was dead once, and you raised me from the dead. What else should I do but weep?'
Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be putting me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me coming you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killing done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61” -from Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
The first conversation on series about GOD: The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, from the book of Genesis, usually elicits a strong response and by golly it should! There’s no getting around a God who asks a father to kill his son. Open the lens a little wider and we see a picture of God who does a lot of things we find strange and looks like a walking contradiction of violence/peace, vengeance/compassion, and so on. One way to try and understand who God really is amongst these confusing opposites is to ask ourselves whose voice we actually hear giving the request.
A lot of people think revelation means hitting the pause button on the natural ordinary functioning of things as a miraculous event appearing out of nowhere like a godly pop-up ad.
BUT what if revelation was a surprising, life-changing uncovering of a pattern, purpose, perhaps even personality hiding from our everyday anxious ways of looking at the ordinary? Revelation then becomes a lens showing the ordinary for what it really is: always potentially a benevolent trojan horse for the extraordinary.
Listen as we continue to examine the religious way of knowing what's true and what matters: revelation. Neil reveals the ultimate truth about revelation with reference to the alt-right and Holy Laughter. Readings: Genesis 18:1-15
Co-pastor Keri Anderson's final sermon to the Root and Branch community on Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday marks the story in which the Holy Spirit (in wind and fire) was bestowed upon Jesus' disciples, and Keri breathes some fire on us about the feminine Spirit of God.
Readings:
A reading from the Book of Proverbs about the Feminine Wisdom of God:
God created me at the beginning of creation, the first of the creative acts of long ago. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth— 26 when God had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. 27 When God established the heavens, I was there, when God drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when God made firm the skies above, when God established the fountains of the deep, 29 when God assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress the Lord’s command, when God marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside the Lord, like a master worker; and I was daily God’s delight, rejoicing before the Lord always, 31 rejoicing in God’s inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
A reading from the Book of Acts:
When the day of Pentecost came, the disciples were all together in one place.2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a fierce wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were devout Jews in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard the sound of the disciples speaking, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
14 Then Peter stood up with the eleven other disciples, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit.
Easter 2017. A sermon on truth in a "post-truth" America. What does it mean to be a witness to the resurrection, to give testimony to what has taken place? Sometimes you gotta go see for yourself.
Readings:
From the Gospel according to John
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Longtime Root and Brancher, Dorian, speaks on love, empathy, people that drive you crazy, and how we might do more than clang a cymbal while creating an inclusive world.
He drew a circle that shut me out-- Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!
-Outwitted by Edwin Markham
1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.
-1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Co-pastor Tim asks whether or not there is such a thing as a "Christian" response to the election of Donald Trump and compares our current political climate to everything from the first king of Israel to Nazi Germany (but like, without trying to be all sensationalizing).
Readings:
From the Book of Jeremiah: As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words, was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments. Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah song of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the Lord hid them.
From Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates: You must resist the common urge toward the comforting narrative of divine law, toward fairy tales that imply some irrepressible justice. The enslaved were not bricks in your road, and their lives were not chapters in your redemptive history. They were people turned to fuel for the American machine.
From Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: There is a very real danger of our drifting into an attitude of contempt for humanity. We know quite well that we have no right to do so, and that it would lead us into the most sterile relation to our fellow-human beings. The following thoughts may keep us from such a temptation. It means that we at once fall into the worst blunders of our opponents. The one who despises another will never be able to make anything of him. Nothing that we despise in the other person is entirely absent from ourselves. We often expect from others more than we are willing to do ourselves. Why have we hitherto thought so intemperately about people and their frailty and temptability? We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. The only profitable relationship to others - and especially to those weaker - is one of love, and that means the will to hold fellowship with them. God did not despise humanity, but became human for humanity’s sake.
Keri talks about the story of Jonah (dude in who ends up in the belly of a whale) and tries to figure out where the @#$%^&*() God is in all of that. She also talks about what we might do with Bible stories that portray God as the oppressor and whether God has a plan for our lives (easy enough!).
Readings:
The Story of Jonah (look it up!)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.”
-Jeremiah 29:1-14
i found god in myself and i loved her i loved her fiercely.
- Ntozake Shange
Tim talks about the Exodus story where the Israelites, freshly freed from the bondages of slavery, create an idol to worship, which makes God upset. Somewhere in this is something to be said about waiting and distraction and technology.
Exodus 32:1-14 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord." 6 They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. 7 The Lord said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8 they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!' " 9 The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation." 11 But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, "It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, "I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' " 14 And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Neil talks about the story of the Israelites escape from Egypt, a story that depicts liberation from bondage as well as a God who seems pretty brutal.
Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 12:1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
13:1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine. 3 Moses said to the people, "Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. 4 Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. 5 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. 7Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. 8 You shall tell your child on that day, "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.'
Neil talks about the reality of loss and how some strange words and ideas from Jesus might help us think about what God has given us.
From "Vulnerability" by David White
To have a temporary, isolated sense of power over all events and circumstances, is one of the privileges and the prime conceits of being human and especially of being youthfully human, but a privilege that must be surrendered with that same youth, with ill health, with accident, with the loss of loved ones who do not share our untouchable powers; powers eventually and most emphatically given up, as we approach our last breath. The only choice we have as we mature is how we inhabit our vulnerability, how we become larger and more courageous and more compassionate through our intimacy with disappearance, our choice is to inhabit vulnerability as generous citizens of loss, robustly and fully, or conversely, as misers and complainers, reluctant, and fearful, always at the gates of existence, but never bravely and completely attempting to enter, never wanting to risk ourselves, never walking fully through the door.
Luke 12:32-40 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
39 “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
How long will this go on? This is a question that I am sure many are shouting to God after the brutal murders we have seen these past weeks and months and years, and the volume grows and grows with each name added to the list of black lives that bear witness to a systematic and government sanctioned reality of racism, violence, and exploitation. In Psalm 82, God prepares to indict the gods that "judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked." We must ask God in these moments, "How long can this go on?" And in Psalm 82, God asks of these wicked gods, "How long will you judge unjustly?" Can these questions exist together?
Tim is a co-founder of Root and Branch Church.
What do we all want, deep deep down? Love? Meaning? Purpose?
The answer is already implied in the question: if we WANT anything, it's the fulfillment of want, of desire. The word for this is joy.
It's different from happiness. You've probably experienced it, even if you don't remember. None of the central theological concepts in Christianity make sense without an understanding of joy. It's not selfish to want to be joyful, in fact, it's selfish to want anything less. The source of true joy is beyond this world, but joy can be experienced here and now.
Neil is a co-founder of Root and Branch Church.
Contrary to popular belief (i.e., Christianity), perhaps "and a little child shall lead them" isn’t just about a baby born next to a cow who grows up to inspire both the awesome and awesomely awful. What if it also has something to do with the ability to play like we used to? What if this child is to remind us to enjoy the useful uselessness that makes life worth living? What if God's "holy mountain" isn't a metaphor for the love and safety of eternity but for today? WHAT IF?!
Chris Hanley is a graduate of the University of Chicago Divinity School, a soon-to-be minister, a longtime RnB attendee, and an all around cool dude.
Caroline Wooten shares stories related to the seemingly antithetical ideas of humility and audacity. Topics include Monica Lewinsky, cars that look like boots, and how the apostle Paul is often annoying but right.
Reading:
2 Corinthians 4
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Neil Ellingson waxes poetic on the trinity: what is it? why should we care? does it matter anymore? and so on.
Reading:
Proverbs 8
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: “To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live. O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right; for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength. By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, endowing with wealth those who love me, and filling their treasuries. The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth— when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
Pastoral Intern, Virginia White preaches on spirit that comes for the weary, the scared, the uninspired, the burned out.
Pentecost Sunday: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability (from the book of Acts, Chapter 2).
Root and Brancher, Chels Harvey shares a brief testimony (a story that bears witness to something) about gender identity, the feeling of God, and the multiplicity of existence.
May 2016, we are talking about spirit, Spirit, Holy Spirit: what is it? what's it do? how do we get it?
This week's talk: spirit is a bunch of stuff that is best exemplified in the image of dancing and throwing up.
Pastoral Intern Virginia White, completes our series on Doubt with some thoughts on doubt as a crossroads to life or death (very serious stuff).
Part 3 on our series on doubt: On the Lord as shepherd, trust falls, and listening to those who have said its gonna be ok.
Part two of our sermon series on doubt: Co-pastor Tim Kim tries to take a stick and poke around at the roots of our doubt. Also there are references to Ludwig Wittgenstein, the movie Hook (top 5 greatest), and how Jenga is whack.
Reading:
From the Gospel of Matthew:
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Co-pastor Neil kicks of a sermon series on doubt. Listen, cuz its interesting.
Doubt Month:
At Root and Branch, we like to talk a big game about how we’re a safe religious space to question even the most central tenets of religion. And simply because we’re trying to put down roots of commitment and to branch out with faith, doesn’t mean we won’t have moments or months where we feel like we’re treading water, and the waves are choppy, and was that a shark fin are you f-ing serious right now?
But is there a point where doubt itself must be put into question? Is there a fruitful kind of doubting and one that is just plain destructive and unhelpful? What’s the difference between intellectual doubt—say about the truth or falsehood of Biblical claims—and existential doubt—say in our own worthiness, or the basic trustworthiness of life, other people, and the God who gives reality to all of the above? Must they be connected at all?
Join us for our sermon series in April, International Doubt Month, and help us dig into doubt.
Doubt, thou shalt be doubted.
Co-Pastor Tim talks on Easter Sunday about asking the right questions and hearing God call our names.
Reading:
John 20:
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Pastoral Intern Virginia White tackles Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus triumphantly rides a donkey into Jerusalem while people cheer. Jesus' triumph, however, might just be a story about how we may be empowered to reconsider the worst fears we have in our lives.
Reading:
From the Gospel of Luke: After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson offers a meditation on the story where Jesus' friend Mary washes his feet with expensive perfume and everyone loses their minds.
Reading:
John 12: Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them[a] with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it[c] so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Root and Branch Co-Founder, Andrew Packman, returns to talk about how we might figure out what God wants us to do (if God even has such a desire) with our lives. Andrew helped start Root and Branch as a pastor and is stepping down from that roll due to circumstances in his life. What circumstances? Listen and find out!!!
Longtime Root and Branch-er, Justin Bloesch, shares some thoughts about what outrage over police violence has to do with hearing the voice of God.
Officially, this is part of our beatitudes sermon series, so keep these two in mind:
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Pastoral Intern (from the University of Chicago Divinity School) Virginia White on Christianity's long obsession with bodies and ways that might be helpful for us to think the about our fleshy selves today. Reading:1 Corinthians 12:12-20 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.
A continuation on our series on the beatitudes:Blessed are the meek, and Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Aren't these in contradiction? Which is it- are we to be meek and patient and gentle in the face of a world that has hurt us and will probably do so again, or are we to be honest about our dissatisfaction with so many things? Don't tell me the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Ok! It doesn't. It lies in being both to the utmost. That's where we can encounter the joy and full aliveness that comes from God knows where. Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
Co-pastors Neil and Tim begin a sermon series on the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are some of the most memorable and quoted lines from the New Testament. They distill a vision of new ways of living. They only make sense if you can see within and beyond this reality into another one - an upside-down, outside-in, bizarro reality that Jesus of Nazareth not only imagined but saw as if he were rocking contact lenses with a prescription stolen from another dimension. This week: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:3)Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
Co-pastor Tim Kim on why new years resolutions are GOOD and why each year is an opportunity for us to start over again. Reading: Mark 1:4-11 4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson on the uniqueness of incarnation, seeing the face of God in toast, and how the birth of Christ is God's asking us to take care of others. Readings: Denise Levertov - Annunciation We know the scene: the room, variously furnished, almost always a lectern, a book; alwaysthe tall lily. Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,whom she acknowledges, a guest. But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentionscourage. The engendering Spiritdid not enter her without consent. God waited. She was freeto accept or to refuse, choiceintegral to humanness. ____________________ Aren’t there annunciationsof one sort or anotherin most lives? Some unwillinglyundertake great destinies,enact them in sullen pride,uncomprehending.More oftenthose moments when roads of light and storm open from darkness in a man or woman,are turned away from in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despairand with relief.Ordinary lives continue. God does not smite them.But the gates close, the pathway vanishes. Luke 1:26-38 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
Co-pastor Tim talks about the anxiety of waiting, the rawness of Christ, and what it might take to see God coming in the distance. Readings: Matthew 3:1-3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”[a] 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”___________________________No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor.The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything,look down on others, those who have no need even of God- for themthere will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someoneto come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God. Emmanuel. God-with-us. Without poverty of spiritthere can be no abundance of God. - The God We Hardly Knew by Óscar Romero
Co-pastor Tim talks about the sin of racism, the way it infects everyone, the way it separates us, and how we might begin to overcome it. Reading:James 4:7-10. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson offers a real talk reflection on the complications surrounding the recent birth of his first son and being angry at a God who returns that anger. This week's passage was from the book of Job, which is a story of tragedy, questioning, theodicy, and the search for answers. Reading: Job 38:1-7 1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings[a] shouted for joy?
Keron Blair, a longtime Root and Brancher by night and community organizer by day, talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, the particularity of blackness in America, and what it means to do something about racism as a church.
Co-pastor Tim Kim concludes the sermon series, "Could've Moved Mountains," about faith, doubt, and what it takes to move mountains in our lives. This final talk tries to make the case that it is indeed possible to move mountains by faith, but that it is so hard, it is basically impossible. If that makes any sense, you're good. If not, listen! Reading: “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”Mark 11: 22-24
This is part two of our series "Could've Moved Mountains" in which we examine faith, doubt, and the possibility of doing the impossible. In this sermon, guest preacher Rich Pak talks about the difference between us having faith in God and God having faith in us. Reading:Romans 5:1-55 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”Mark 11: 22-24
Co-pastor Tim Kim starts a series called "Could've Moved Mountains" about faith, doubt, and what it takes to move mountains in our lives. This first sermon is about Jesus' teaching that if you truly believe then what you pray will happen, the difficultly of that formulation, and the differing types of faith we might find in ourselves. Reading:“Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”Mark 11: 22-24
Liz Bajema frames a discussion about the ambiguous relationship between religion and violence using examples from the bible and the slave rebellion of Nate Turner. Liz is a longtime member of Root and Branch and spends her days conducting experiments on unsuspecting elements from the periodic table (a chemist as it were). Readings: Ephesians 6:10-20 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. The Peaceful Shepherdby Robert Frost If heaven were to do again,And on the pasture bars,I leaned to line the figures inBetween the dotted starts, I should be tempted to forget,I fear, the Crown of Rule,The Scales of Trade, the Cross of Faith,As hardly worth renewal. For these have governed in our lives,And see how men have warred.The Cross, the Crown, the Scales may allAs well have been the Sword.
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson: This week we turn to the Lectionary, which saves us from the crippling anxiety of having always to decide what to talk about on our own. Every week there are readings from the Older Testament (or the Book of Acts), a Psalm, a reading from the Epistles or the Book of Revelation, and a reading from the Gospels. So there's still some room to choose your own adventure. This week the readings are all related to wisdom or food/drink or both. I decided to postpone a sermon on a prohibition against getting drunk (which is a sermon some of us may need to hear, or wished we had, especially that one night...), in favor of one exploring how to taste eternity.Readings:“We're always thinking of eternity as an idea that cannot be understood, something immense. But why must it be? What if, instead of all this, you suddenly find just a little room there, something like a village bath-house, grimy, and spiders in every corner, and that's all eternity is. Sometimes, you know, I can't help feeling that that's what it is.” -Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment John 6:51-586:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 6:53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 6:54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 6:55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson concludes our sermon mini-series on healing by reflecting on the power of words to harm and heal, the lessons we learn from kids who say whatever, and trite street art. Readings: Matthew 8:5-17: When he came into Kfar Nahum (Capernaum), a centurion, a Roman officer, came near, beseeching him. “Sir, my servant boy is lying paralyzed in my house, and in terrible pain.” And he said to the centurion, I will come to heal him. The centurion answered, “Sir, I don’t deserve to have you under my roof. Only say a word and my son will be healed. I am also a man under orders, with soldiers under me, and I say to this man, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Hearing him, Jesus was amazed and said to his followers, Yes, I tell you, in all of Israel I have found no one with such deep faith, and I tell you, many from the east and west will come and lie down beside the table to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the skies. And other sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the far outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to the centurion, Go back to your home. Since you have had faith, let the event take place for you. And his son was healed in that hour. Then Jesus went into the house of Peter, whose mother-in-law he saw lying in bed with a fever, and he touched her hand and the fever left her. She got up and served him. That same evening they brought him many who were afflicted with demons. With a word he cast out the spirits and he healed all their sicknesses. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah: He attended our sicknesses and removed our diseases. Second Reading: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
Root and Branch member Kjirsten Glessner shares her thoughts on the "slow church" movement and the ways we can orient our lives in order to build true community.
Co-pastor Tim Kim talks about the concept of the wounded healer and how we can be sources of healing for each other. Readings: “Through compassion it is possible to recognize that the craving for love that people feel resides also in our own hearts, that the cruelty that the world knows all too well is also rooted in our own impulses. Through compassion we also sense our hope for forgiveness in our friends’ eyes and our hatred in their bitter mouths. When they kill, we know that we could've done it; when they give life, we know that we can do the same. For a compassionate person nothing human is alien: no joy and no sorrow, no way of living and no way of dying.”-The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen 3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. 4 He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. 5 That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings. 6 So if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort from the experience of endurance while you go through the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is certain, because we know that as you are partners in suffering, so also you are partners in comfort.-2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson on the dilemma of circumcision and what that has to do with being healed by GOD.
Pastoral Intern Keri Anderson talks about a difficult text in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus' is being whack to a Canaanite woman. Matthew 15:21-28Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
Co-pastor Andrew Packman on the idea of sabbath, taking a rest, and why we aren't as important as we'd like.
Patrick Derdall tackles one of the more confusing and controversial teachings of Jesus: "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." This sermon includes feedback, questions, and stories from the community that came up in the midst. Patrick Derdall is a long time member of the Root and Branch community and student at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Full bible passage from Luke 14: 25-33 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. The other two readings, from the philosophers Martin Heidegger and Charles S. Pierce are not in the recording, nor do we have the correct excerpts to put up at this time. Just imagine that they were somewhat interesting in a philosophical sort of way.
Co-pastor Tim shares some thoughts on how we come to know what love is. This is a continuation of a series on Christian Vocabulary words.
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson on how the bible models a different way to interpret our own lives.
Pastoral intern Keri Anderson tackles the word sin in all its glory. Readings: Can poison taste of nectar?Can venom taste of wine?Yes, for we have licked the fruit and plucked it from the vine. Yes, for we have tasted evil, succulent and sweet,and passed it on for others,to lick and tasteand eat. -Steven James Psalm 51:1-3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Co-pastor Neil Ellingson on death and resurrection for Easter Sunday, 2015. Readings: The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Yeshua MARKOSIt was… nine in the morning, when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him was written above: THIS IS YESHUA KING OF THE JEWS. With him they crucified two thieves, one on the right and one on the left of him. And those passing by blasphemed him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross. Likewise the high priests mocked him among themselves and with the scholars said, “He saved others but he can’t save himself. Let the mashiah, the King of Yisrael, now come down from the cross so we can see and believe. MATTITYAHU“He trusted in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the son of God.’” LOUKAS One of the criminals hanging there insulted him and said, “Are you not the mashiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other one reproved the first criminal and said, “Do you not fear God, since you shared the same sentence? And we were justly punished, and are getting what we deserve, but he did nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Yeshua, remember me.” And Yeshua replied, Amain, I say to you, today you will be with me In paradise. MARKOS From noon on, darkness came over all the land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock, Yeshua cried out in a great voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?meaning, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Some of those standing near heard him and said, “See, he calls to Eliyahu.” And someone ran up with a sponge soaked in vinegar, placed it on a reed stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him alone. Let us see if Yeshayahu comes to take him down.” But Yeshua let out a great cry and breathed his last breath. … And the centurion who was near saw him breathe his last and said, “Truly this man was the son of God.” LOUKAS On the first day of the week at early dawn the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and when they went inside they did not find the body. And it happened that while they were at a loss about this, look, two men stood near them in clothing that gleamed like lightning. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the earth but the men said to them, MATTITYAHU Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Yeshua who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen just as he said… The women left the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the news to the students. And look, Yeshua met them and said, Hello! And they came near him and grabbed his feet and worshiped him. Yeshua said to them, Do not fear. Go and tell my brothers and sisters To go to the Galil and there they will see me. LOUKAS When they returned from the tomb they reported all this to the eleven and to the others. The women were Miryam of Magdala and Yohannah and Miryam of Yaakov and the other women with them. They told the messengers these things, and to them their words seemed madness. They did not believe them. Crematorium by John Betjeman Where laurel hedges hide the coal and coke Our lawn-surrounded crematorium lies;And every half-an-hour a puff of smoke Shows what we loved dissolving in the skies— Dear hands, dear feet, dear laughter-lighted eyesAnd smiling lips which waited for a joke. Now no one seems to know quite what to say: Friends are so altered by the passing years—Well anyhow it’s not so cold today And thus we try to dissipate our fears.I am the Resurrection and the Life!Strong, sly, and painful, doubt inserts its knife.
Co-pastor Tim on how faith is about change and grace is about remembering change we have already seen. Readings:
From “My Bright Abyss” By Christian Wiman
So long as faith is something that "withstands" the assaults of reason, experience, secularization, or even simply the slope a erosion of certainty within my own heart and mind; so long as that verb accurately describes the dynamic between my belief and all that seems to threatened it, then faith is an illusion in me, a dream that weakness clings to, rather than the truest form and fruition of strength.
Matthew 14:22-33
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”