Once again I am following the Revised Common Lectionary, Track One, for Year A – because I love the stories in Genesis. Ripe with the heart of the human condition, these stories are like seeds and fruit for the ages.
I found some interesting Midrash on Rachel and Leah, reflecting on the strengths of their relationship. Some of the Midrash spoke about these two sisters as examples for faithful living, they are two of the four mother’s of Israel.
In particular I loved the Midrash that said that Rachel was buried along the side of the road so that her tears could wash over the Israelites as they headed into exile, blessing them on their way. The Midrash left me with the impression that Rachel may be to some Jewish people like Mary is to some Christians.
Additionally, from Roman’s, the readings for this week includes my all time favorite passage –
“The Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
From this passage comes my thoughts on Life. Is. Hard. which is the basis for my sermon this week.
More RevGal discussion on all the readings for this week can be found https://revgalblogpals.org/2014/07/22/rcl-leanings-the-small-is-great-or-two-weddings-or-a-gift-of-wisdom-edition/”>here.
I have a wedding and so that means two sermons for me. Both of them are in decent draft form. Which is totally surprising! But, I guess, the Spirit interceded….The homily for Sunday is a reflection on “Life is Hard” leaning into Genesis and Romans, troubling circumstances in the world today and, with a nod to God’s love like yeast rising up abundantly. The wedding homily is my usual reflection on the many layers of love. I’ll spend the rest of the day tweaking them before heading out to officiate at the wedding. I anticipate it’s going to be complicated – apparently this is a group of people who are notoriously late. The bride and groom have been late for every one of our premarital sessions – although she always called to let me know…I’m gearing up for the challenge!
What’s on your plate today? How is your sermon unfolding or is it stuck in fatigue or busyness or confusion or the ready for vacation mode? Regardless, may you find sustenance here! Welcome to the Preacher Party. I have an abundance of fresh veggies from my garden – help yourself.
RevGalBlogPals 
Spending today preparing for a National Youth Conf next month. Sermon is, surprisingly done. On groans and sighs, Romans 8.http://somethingtostandon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/groans-and-sighs.html?m=0
Already on train and it’s busy because of the Games. Good buzz!
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On groans and sighs – love that, very appropriate. I hope you enjoy this day of preparation and travel.
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I am just returned from my holidays. During the summer we do a series, and the ‘pulpit’ gets handed over to various members of our worship team, who share their reflections. This means that over the summer 10 weeks I just get to preach two or three times. So I’m not preaching again until August 17! And I miss it!
Still like to pop in and hear what others are doing or thinking…. Today I am tackling the pile of holiday ironing, which in the heat of summer is no fun, but it needs to be done.
We have fresh raspberries and strawberries, rhubarb and gooseberries from the garden. Plus peas, beans, courgettes (zucchini!) and the first of the squashes….
Enjoy!
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Julie, although it is nice to have a break from preaching, too long of a break becomes a challenge of it’s own. I understand missing it…My husband and I were just talking about ironing, we have that to do as well…I’m impressed that you have all those berries and rhubarb from your garden!
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So I am up this morning, bright and early. Heading out for a yoga class pretty soon. Later, a wedding – which will prove to be my most challenging ever, if the rehearsal is any indication….just say – every one was late and the rehearsal started 40 minutes late, the bridal party is huge six bridesmaids and groomsmen, two junior bridesmaids, two flower girls, and a ring bearer – the bride had to have everyone in the bridal party. Plus a father of the bride who is the most mysoginistic bad attitude man I have encountered in years – it’s going to take everything I have to get through this one. Luckily the mother of the bride is good and working to keep the FOB (from whom she is divorced) in line. He accused me of changing “God’s word” because the ceremony does not contain the words, “Who gives this woman…”and he is obviously not pleased that the officiant is a woman. Obviously he and his daughter don’t talk much, since I’ve been working with this couple since last fall. Anyway, that’s my rant for the day….
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Praying the Spirit of Peace blow through and create calm, joy, and deep patience.
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Thank you. I’m working to keep myself at peace despite what will surely be chaos with this wedding party. It seems to be part of the way they are constructed. But I have many years of experience and know how to keep things under control, so hopefully that will come in handy.
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Oh, this is my wedding in a month! Except that the father is threatening to walk his daughter down the aisle and then walk out and the mother of the bride says she won’t come.
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good heavens. that is awful, really – they can’t all just buck up and let this woman have her wedding?
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I’m preaching this wek – a rare occasion… We are finishing a series on “The Church Community” and I’m preaching on John 11 – the death of Lazarus. It’s about how we get through difficult events with the help of our family/church family. Or how we make it harder. I’ve sat down to flesh out my outline twice today and had two cats horking and a phone that won’t shut up. So I’ve cleaned up the mess, refilled my coffee cup, shut the office door and am turning off the internet. Back later. There’s still half a pot of organic Sumatran left. Help yourself.
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Oh goodness….isn’t that the way it works sometimes – peace and quiet evades us thanks to the beloved creatures who share our home…and, why does that phone ring when we need it least but whole days can go by with hardly a call? Here’s hoping the sermon comes together and peace prevails.
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Many of you have likely read about the events of the last week in Albuquerque–a week ago today, early in the morning, three teenage boys (15-18) bashed in the heads of two Navajo men who were sleeping on a mattress in an empty lot. Our community is shaken to its roots. And then another police shooting.
Words of scripture run through my mind–By the Rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept, the chaos Lamentations portrays, the 23rd psalm (Yea though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil), the words from the Cross (My God, my God, why have You forsaken me and, a bit later in a different account, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”) and then circling back to the poet of Lamentations, “God’s glories are new every morning.”
All this I keep in mind as I look at the words in today’s Gospel–“The kingdom of God is like….”
But before I can sit with this and write, the dogs have to be walked, there’s a city-sponsored memorial, and a deanery meeting.
Please pray with the people of Albuquerque as we search for a path through this darkness.
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Oh Alli – I have not been following the news well enough to have heard this….or else the Detroit news hasn’t covered it…I am so sorry. Yes, all of that runs through one’s thoughts. I am preaching on life is hard and trying to reflect a bit on the news around the world. I will keep you in my prayers as you move through this day and then settle on the words you are called to say tomorrow.
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I saw a NY Times article about this and thought of you. Many prayers for all who are weeping now, and for the Spirit to give you words and wisdom to remind all of you that God is weeping with you.
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Alli, praying you all through this horrific time- tuning in to the sighs of the Spirit.
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I am just seeing this. So very sorry.
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I’m up, and trying to turn the 250 words I wrote on Thursday into 1250 words in the next hour or so, plus bake some brownies…because our session/deacon visioning retreat starts at 1pm, so I need to be at church about an hour early to get ready. Plus I should probably review my plan for that too.
This week’s question for the sermon was about John 16.12-13 and the idea that God is Still Speaking–does the Bible contain all truth? I may be trying to pair it with a question about “how much do we believe the Bible beginning to end?” but I’m not sure yet. I added a few verses from John 20 and 21 about how Jesus did many other things but if all were written down, the world could not contain all the books. And we’re using Psalm 25 earlier in the service. So…basically, a sermon about scripture: what is it and what isn’t it, and how is it authoritative, and are there other forms of revelation? No big deal….hahahahahaha.
So, in about 40 minutes I’ll have brownies to share. I’ll make extras for you all. And hopefully a sermon will get written during the baking…
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Seems to me that those two questions could work well together….prayers for you, Teri, and this busy day…and thank you for the brownies – yum!
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Preaching the family service tomorrow, and somehow despite all those wonderful gospel images, a good sermon idea is elusive. Need to do some more thinking and reading and opening my mind to inspiration.
Heading out in a bit to participate for a few hours in our local Relay for Life; I am a one year survivor myself, my stepdad starts chemo and radiation this week, my sister struggles with the consequences of major cancer surgery, and my husband and I have both lost a parent to cancer, so this is a good way for me to honor our journey. Concert in the park and picnic with the parish tonight. In between, that sermon. I have some delicious cinnamon raisin bagels I’d be glad to toast up for anyone who’d enjoy one!
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My goodness, Betsy – holding you and your family in my prayers. What a lovely way to honor the challenges you all have faced. Blessings on this day. And, may the sermon find inspiration!
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Well, my homily is posted here. Now I need to walk my dogs and get ready to head over to the church to prepare for the wedding. I’ll be checking in all afternoon. Pray for me and this wedding….
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Praying you through this challenge of a wedding, Terri.
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Thank you! So far it’s 30 minutes before the ceremony and the groom and groomsmen are not here….no doubt we will start at least 30 minutes late (or by their cultural standards, “on time”)…sigh
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Is it over?
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yes, wedding over. We started twenty minutes late (or ten minutes early if you consider the 30 minutes normal late time for the culture)….and everything went really well. The FOB behaved himself. The groom openly wept as his bride began the walk down the aisle, exclaiming “She’s so beautiful!”….it was sweet. And went well after that.
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Wonderful!
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Brownies are ready and smell delicious. I managed to edit some of the words I already have, and discover another sermon I preached about scripture a couple of years ago…but not to write any new words. Sigh. Looks like I’ll be back tonight…
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Working here after breakfast with my parents, who are here for the weekend, and my early-riser child. I have breakfast/brunch casserole to share, along with iced coffee.
I’m on the “second tablet” of the 10 commandments, and have a good start. Now just to get it down! Prayers for all the concerns voiced and those not spoken. I have my own request. My dad has just discovered he has very early stage prostate cancer, and is considering his options at this point. It doesn’t need to be treated immediately (which is good, because my folks are scheduled to travel the next 3 months!), but prayers for his discernment process are appreciated.
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Boy, that was a heck of a run-on sentence!
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Praying for discernment and peace with decisions – as well as travelling joys.
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Yes, prayers for your family and your father’s discernment.
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Preaching in another congregation tomorrow where I don’t know many people or the congregation as a whole. Have been playing with Romans and Matthew for two weeks now. Prayers, please, that thoughts may settle so I can actually get something on paper.
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Yes, Annette, adding you to my prayers – come Holy Spirit!
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Outline done, fleshing out done. Practicing… yeah, no. I keep getting sucked into wanting to play Pet Rescue or Candy Crush to decompress. Spent a good chunk of time doing some pastoral counseling for a really awful bullying situation of a family friend. Things are progressing in a positive direction – parents, authorities and teens in question are dealing with some serious uh… stuff.
In the mean time, I need to clear my head. So. Knitting. Cat. Nap. Maybe a movie and dinner out.
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Blessings, Deb, as you prepare for tomorrow!
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Finished my sermon for tomorrow yesterday afternoon, in hopes of getting the sermon for August 3 into some kind of shape so I can really take off five days this week without guilt. (Tracy Spencer-Brown, I think run-on sentences must be in the air today!) I’m working through Romans, and this end of chapter 8 has at least four sermon possibilities in it, from what I can tell. I’m shooting for the “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” focus. Here’s a link to my prayer that will open the sermon (can’t post the actual thing yet, or no one will show up at church to hear it tomorrow!) http://pastorsings.com/2014/07/26/a-prayer-before-reading-scripture/
A parishioner brought us a pound of fresh green beans, so we’ve been experimenting. They’re really good tossed with olive oil, seasoned salt and pepper, then grilled. It’s okay to dig in with your fingers and eat them like french fries.
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Rom 8:38 is one of my favorites ever. I preached on it one time and titled the sermon “Nothing.” The guy who put the sermon titles out on the sign on the corner and I had a hilarious “who’s on first” conversation about the sermon…What’s the title this week?…Nothing…You mean you don’t have a sermon?…It’s Nothing…You don’t have a title?…No, it’s Nothing…
You get the idea. Thanks for the memory–made me smile.
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Esperanza, that is hilarious!
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YUM – love the idea of grilled green beans…..Also, I hope you can get the rest you need during this time off.
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Not preaching this week, but gearing up for all five Sundays in August. Attempting to enjoy a lazy Saturday at home, but the kids are thwarting my plans a bit. We’re headed to see “Planes Fire and Rescue” at our teeny local movie theater in a bit.
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Five weeks in a row, that will be a treat of its own kind. Also, I hope you got to see the movie and have some lazy time.
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Loooong day – excellent Presbytery workshop on stewardship in the morning, lunch with clerk of session to discuss building rental policies, meeting with soon-to-be bride and groom and his mother to introduce the church and wedding as worship service. Neither bride’s mother nor father showed up, despite this being scheduled on a Saturday for her mother’s convenience. Can we say huge family issues? The couple asked their wedding planner not to come as she has been a source of endless conflict and unfortunate financial issues. Have I mentioned I cannot wait for this wedding to be behind me?!
Hooping the sermon I wrote yesterday on prayer of supplication (part 4 of summer series on prayer) gets the job done, because I don’t have any energy for it tonight. I do, however, have the energy to go down the hill and eat al fresco in Little Italy!
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Oh my Robin, that dynamic makes mine seem like nothing! I hope when it comes down to the day, all goes well.
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Just checking in and saying hello and loving prayers to all who are preaching! I finished my sermon yesterday (a veritable miracle) and now have looked it over, printed, got the baptism ready, and ready for wedding counseling after the later service. I am sitting on my deck with a lovely breeze, the sun going down, and a Lagunitas “little sumpin extra” ale, doggies, spouse, and feeling grateful.
Blessings.
Oy Robin, sounds like a wedding nightmare
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Sounds like a nice evening, well deserved! Thanks for the loving prayers.
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I am never doing another wedding. The “wedding planner” has called and texted several times tonight, leaving messages like “I must talk to you” and “I will never talk to you again.” The latter would be good.
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Oh my goodness. I have never had a wedding to like this one of yours. Never. And I’ve done a lot of weddings….I’m so sorry! Sounds like everyone needs a good dose of proper boundaries.
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For some reason, I keep getting an error message when I try to get on this site from my laptop. I’ve been trying to figure it out. It just now occurs to me to use the iPad.
Meanwhile, I have a sermon of sorts on “treasure” (RCL).
I’ve been snacking on frozen blueberries, and that feels good on this hot, humid day. Help yourselves!
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Weird, the error message. but, frozen blueberries – yum! I have five cups in the freezer for a pie or a crisp….may need to try them just frozen. Also, yay that your sermon is done.
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i’m back. I’m going to call the session/deacon visioning retreat a success because we have a basic statement of who we are/why we are here, a sense of how we live that out, and some specific goals to work on. Of course, it all still needs to be turned into pretty words, and the goals are not so much spiritual/faith goals, but they are something we can work with!
Now I’m eating dinner (didn’t have time to eat lunch, so just snacked the afternoon away…oops), and then it’ll be down to the sermon. Too bad the “mission statement” (which I think I might end up calling our “statement of identity and purpose” or something like that) doesn’t fit the question that was asked for tomorrow’s sermon….
I have a ton of chocolate left over, from here! so delicious. Help yourselves.
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YAY!!! Sounds like really good work was done!
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At our Wednesday Bible study, no one, except me, had ever made bread…. I have found myself wondering how you can answer Jesus’ question “Do you understand?” if you have no experience with the situations he is using to describe the kin(g)dom of heaven. So tomorrow, I am going out on a limb and preaching only the parable of the yeast, but kneading bread on the Communion Table as I do so. We’ll see!!
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That’s great – love this idea…alas I think Episcopalians would not like dough being kneaded on the communion table – BUT another table could be use in the space…still, kneading it on the communion table is a great image. I hope it goes well!
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Okay, it’s been a good day – thank you everyone for partying with me. I need to call it a night – a very long day and tomorrow will be a three-peat (three services). Keep the party going and I’ll check in in the morning.
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I found that I’d preached a similar topic a few years ago, and did some re-working. I posted it here and would love feedback from anyone who’s still up (I know, it’s late!). I want it to be more connected to the text than it is. And I’m not sure whether I’ll have ended up answering either of the questions that prompted this week. oy.
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