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11.7.21 All Saints Unbound 11/07/2021

9.12.21 Proper 19B: Speak Wholeheartedly 09/12/2021

8.22.21 Proper 16B: Power of the Armor of God 08/22/2021

8.22.21 Proper 16B: Power of the Armor of God Beloved— especially in such times as of this— my hope and my prayers is that as the writer to the Ephesians says we might “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of [God’s] power.” In a world doubled over in pain and suffering… in a world swirling with disinformation needlessly costing people lives… in a world reeling from the costs to our children of imposing ‘normal’ onto that which is not— in our world I pray that we might “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of [God’s] power” and declare the gospel boldly. From where I stand our world is in desperate need of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Our world — we— are invited to do as best as we can to declare that love and grace in what we say, and what we do, and how we are— in our words, our actions, and our posture. This is what I hear in our passage today from Ephesians an invitation to go about our life with a posture of the love of God. St. Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus writes about this strength in God’s power as putting on the whole armor of God. That when we go out into the world declaring the Gospel we will encounter things and powers that are not of God. I don’t think that this is news to anyone, as it is splashed across our news. There is a reason in our post communion prayer we pray for strength and courage. When we get up from the altar, we are sent out into a world where there is brokenness and sin and we need strength and courage. And thus, St. Paul writes about putting on the armor of God. Now there are three aspects of the strength and power of the armor of God I want to highlight today. 1) The first insight comes from John Bunyan in Pilgrims Progress — yes the theological fiction from 1678— Bunyan points out that there is no armor for the back — no armor for the back. To put this is terms for us here in Texas—this is not the armor of an armadillo. When the going gets tough we don’t get to curl up into a ball with back armor that ricochet off what might cause pain. No. The purpose of the armor of God is not to protect us when we are hunkered down, it is to enable us to together stand firm and hold the line. Stand firm the writer of Ephesians says—- stand firm. And when you have no armor for the back, it means that it is designed for you to be in community. Someone else has to have your six. You six o’lock position, your back. We are not created to be alone but in community. And when one steps away, the rest are exposed. To stand against the powers and principalities of this world requires community. The armor of God is for those standing and in community-- there is no armor for the back. 2) The second insight I want to offer is that this is very different kind of armor. Our world today is highly militarized and especially in what has transpired recently, I know that for some this metaphor can be hard to hear. And so I think it is important to remember that this was not written to those with worldly power and might but it was written to a minority community who were being oppressed with extreme violence. And in his metaphor St. Paul takes the everyday armor that they are used to seeing and turns it on its head: A belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, as for shoes for your feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace, a shield of faith, a helmet of salvation and only offensive item is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. To be clear, I do not believe he is referring to using scripture as a weapon, but rather allowing the Spirit and the Word of God and the presence of Christ to do the work. Let God do God’s work and not try to do it for God. Imagine with me, how beautiful would it be to wake up in the morning and tie on a belt of truth, put on a breastplate of righteousness. Choose the shoes that will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. Some in my household usually don’t think I need more shoes, but those shoes-- imagine what our world would be like if Christians put on whatever will make us ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. Beloved, this is very different kind of armor. 3). The third insight I want to offer today is about posture. You see, when we are wearing armor, you have to stand differently. Have you ever put on armor before? Your whole body stance changes when you wear it. It can be a bit… cumbersome. — let’s just name that truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation can be cumbersome when you are moving out and about in the world. When you are wearing armor, you need to think differently about how you are going to move in it. Your posture, your stride, your stance-- everything changes a bit. And this transformation is a good thing. Changing our posture makes us strong and powerful and that is the point in the first place: “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power” Are you familiar with the research of Amy Cuddy? Now I’ll admit, it is a bit controversial, but makes me curious. Cuddy was an Associate Professor at Harvard Business School and a social psychologist known for her research on power and nonverbal behavior. She is perhaps best known for her TEDtalk from 2012 that has viewed more than 62 million times. For those who don’t know, a TED talk is a short (around 20 minutes) live talk at a conference about an idea worth spreading by a leader in that field that is then uploaded as a video for free online. Cuddy’s argument is that your body language shapes who you are and her research suggests that by simply changing your posture you can become more powerful. Or in the least our posture has a statistically significant affect on our propensity to take risk and the level of the stress hormone cortisol in our system. Now we’ve talked about some of this before— that our bodies can impact the chemistry of our brains and the mind can impact the body. That we are embodied, in-fleshed, incarnate whole beings. And in a sense she is saying that our bodies and their posture in the world matters. Pay attention with me for a moment to our bodies. At times do we make ourselves smaller by hunching, crossing our legs, holding onto our arms? At times do we make ourselves big by spreading out, stretching, raising our hands with gusto. Cuddy talks about these as power poses. In a manner of speaking, the writer of Ephesians is suggesting the same thing for when you are wearing the armor of God, you have to stand differently-- you can’t close up like an armadillo— you stand firm. Standing in the armor of God makes you powerful. To “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of [God’s] power” we put on the armor of God— armor that requires us to stand firm in the posture of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. How we stand in our bodies impacts our minds and our hearts. God is inviting us to transformation we live and move can transform our being. Beloved, God is inviting us into transformation by putting on the armor of God, by living our lives with a posture of the love of God. I pray that we may “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of [God’s] power” /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/20372339

8.15.21 Proper 15B: Matter Matters 08/15/2021

8.1.21 Proper 13B: Individual Right to decide for.. 08/01/2021

7.25.21 Proper 12B: Acceptable Loss 07/25/2021

7.18.21 11B: Compassion 07/18/2021

6.13.21 Proper6A: Mustard Seeds 06/13/2021

5.23.21 PentecostB: Catch Your Breath 05/23/2021

5.16.21 7thEasterB: Jesus and the Holy Potatoes 05/16/2021

5.16.21 7thEasterB: Jesus and the Holy Potatoes ... I cannot help but me mindful of the liturgical moment in which we find ourselves. We are in that 7th Sunday of Easter, in the time between the Ascension of our Lord into heaven and the descending of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, upon the ministers, making the church the church and saying ‘it is time.” And so liturgically and actually we find ourselves in that liminal time of transition. We all know that life has changed, and what it has changed into being has not yet unfurled. We hear in that first chapter of Acts, in the time between Ascension and Pentecost that this the time that the disciples are looking around at each other to see, okay, if it is now on us, who are going to be the ministers, who will step up and be the leaders? Who is going to take charge, for it is going to take a team, and it’s got to be a whole team. We cannot be one person down on this. Will it be Joseph called Barsabbas or Mathias? Will it be ______ or _____. (to be clear we are not casting lots for ministry leadership, though we are having a ministry discernment retreat in June). ... Life has changed, not ended. It is time to unfurl. This summer is a time to shake it out and prune what needs pruning and plant what needs planting and figure out what it will look like to be church. Jesus has ascended and God has given us this ministry, this church... And so it being between Ascension and Pentecost, I want to share with you about one of my favorite stained glass windows... what I love most about the window is that it looks like Jesus is standing on a sack of potatoes. Now, I’m fairly confident that they are supposed to be clouds, but they were brown and they looked like potatoes. And so I title that window the Ascension of Jesus and the holy potatoes. Now, if you think about, is that not what is happens in the Ascension. Jesus is going up.. and he is leaving behind a bunch of holy potatoes and passing them off and saying “hot potato.” It is now you. This is now yours. And you’ve got to move in mission. Keep it going. It is your turn. You are holding it. … the ascension of Jesus and holy potatoes. Friends, I offer you this image for that is where we are today in this liminal moment. I have missed you. And there are some potatoes here for you. There is some ministry here for you. And God in Jesus Christ has given you ministry. You are the church. Lord, it is time. Life has changed and we’re about to change some lives. /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/19123604

5.2.21 5 EasterB: Love & Pruning 05/02/2021

4.25.21 4EasterB: Love is the Way 04/25/2021

4.25.21 4EasterB: Love is the Way From John 10:10b-11: 'I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."' From 1 John 3:16-24: “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us— and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” At the core of our Christian faith is love. God is love. Our virtue is love. And it is through love that we may have life and have it abundantly. God is love. (1 John 4:8). God’s nature (Trinity) and attributes are love. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13) God in the person of Jesus Christ offers himself and lays down his life, of his own accord, for the sheep— all the flock, even those not yet in the fold. Jesus death — yes— and life was exemplified by humility and sacrifice. As Presiding Bishop Michael Curry reminds us again and again, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” Our virtue is love. Because we are created in the image and likeness of God who is love, we are created for love and to be love. As we understand it, as Christians our core virtue — our guiding moral compass, what Socrates or Aristotle might call our disposition, and what we call our way is love. When we say we, as the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement, we live, and follow, and practice the way of love we are speaking about our christian moral life, our Christian ethics. And when we say as we heard in our reading from 1 John “let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” we are talking about the importance of Christian ethics and a way of life that is lived out actively in our world. Briefest of brief introduction to ethics and ethical thought. 3 main schools of thoughts: Deontological ethics, or duty ethics Ask the question of: is it right? Am I living according to the laws and duties obligations set forth? The ten commandments are a prime example of deontological or duty ethics. The challenge of duty ethics though is that if we focus only on ourself and our own duties and only these particular duties and let everyone else do the same, when played out in society our respect for the autonomy and liberty of the other combined with our own tendencies to find loopholes or reframe said duties to our own interest often results in a system that much like what played out throughout the Torah and into the book of Judges spirals in its sin until such point and this is a direct quote from the end of the book of Judges: “ everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes.” And in many ways, the worldly society and particular culture in which we live was founded on this deontological ethical framework and in many ways I imagine you join me in seeing how it too has spiraled in sin and you too can see how here and now there are many who are “doing what is right in their own eyes.” Teleological Ethics, or ethics that is concerned with the telos, the end, the consequence of the action. It asks the question: wil the end be good? And this is the ethical branch that says the ends can justify the means. And when the person or entity or society gets to define for themselves what it good and what would be a good end then out of this can come atrocities such as genocide. Not all teleological ethics are bad, for example, calls for conservation of our earth, our island home, and the right use of resources now in order for our great, great grandchildren and beyond to have a better end also comes out of this school of ethics. Likewise a focus on eternity in adoration and praise with God is also a form of theological ethics. Virtue Ethics While both of the others do absolutely contribute to our Christian moral life, this final school of ethical thought is far and beyond the strongest in Anglican/ Episcopal Ethical thinking Good disciplines have the potential of becoming good habits and good habits are the foundation of virtues that transform the world (Virtue Ethics 101). And to be clear, we understand this guiding virtue to be love. The challenge is that others also follow virtue ethics, but put a different virtue as the compass and guiding way. And we see this conflict of virtues play out in our world and in our society. For example, for many Americans, their guiding virtue is not love but liberty. As Patriot Patrick Henry was known to have said: “Give me freedom, or give me death.” And let me be clear, freedoms are indeed important and I do appreciate and love the land in which we live and I am part of a family who has given their lives to protecting that. I also want to name that when liberty is your highest virtue, the propensity for individual and systemic sin is incalculable. Throughout our scriptures from Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel and through every generation, we see what we sinners do with our liberty. We kill our brother Abel, We enslave our brother Jacob, We rape our sister Dinah. Liberty and sin are dangerous combination. And while as Martin Luther says, we have our freedom in Christ, as Episcopalians as Anglicans we ask, what do we use that liberty for: love For us, in our understanding of the Christian way of life, the virtue, the compass, the guiding principle above all others is love. The way is love. Because God is love. Because Jesus shows us the way of love. And is through love that we may have life and have it abundantly. What does love look like in truth and action? It looks like sacrifice. It looks like laying down our lives and liberty for the sake of the flourishing of another. Concrete example? This is why we where masks. Because the science shows that our masks helps protect another. This is why we get vaccinated. Because the science shows that a population who is vaccinated and reaches herd immunity can protect the vulnerable who are not. Laying down our personal comfort for the sake of the life of another is love. In our understanding of following Jesus, the highest guiding good is not liberty, but love. I hear all the time about and sometimes from people who keep demanding to put their individual rights first. And I will admit, that is very American, but it is not Christian. Liberty is in service of love. Our God freely laid down his life for the sake of the world. We are called for the sake of using our freedom in Christ for the sake of loving our neighbor. And when we use our freedom for the sake of our own self and selfish desires that is the definition of sin. Beloved, we follow a God who is the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep. We follow a God of love. And so let us love not only in word and speech but in truth and action. Let us own and name our Christian ethic in every walk of our life. Let love be the way. /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/18944375

4.11.21 2nd Easter B: Wounds 04/11/2021

4.4.21 Easter SundayB: unfurl 04/04/2021

3.14.21 Lent4B: bouncing blame & screaming goats 03/14/2021

3.14.21 Lent4B: bouncing blame & screaming goats I don’t like to be wrong. I don’t like the feeling of knowing I’m wrong or worse in the wrong or even worse still having wronged another. It’s uncomfortable, it’s unsettling, it can be shame-inducing, and it rarely brings out best selves. Usually, when faced with even the possibility of reckoning or rumbling or repenting of the logs that are in our eyes, we humans do what? Yep, we point out the spec in the eyes of our neighbors. We judge. We condemn. We point our fingers. We blame. If something goes wrong, we want to know whose fault it is. We discharge our discomfort and pain in what is called blame.* Rather than reckoning and rumbling with the emotions we have, we bounce the hurt off like a rubber. And that old playground adage: I’m rubber and you’re glue, whatever is said bounces off of me and back onto you gets magnified until with our (shame) shields up we are bouncing hurt all over. There was this time— okay, there were many times— when I could not find our precious angel of an indoor cat, Pangur. I looked but she was lost and not found. And the first words out of my mouth are: “Tim, you let Pangur escape” … sigh… “She’s right here, babe.” How many of your go to that place? Something goes wrong and you discharge your pain onto another. I do this. We do this. Humans do this. (gestures of Genesis 3 - taking and biting a fruit and them being ashamed). (with finger pointing) — The one You put here, that one gave it to me. (tsk/ugh). Me? The serpent deceived me. Blame. From the beginning, in an effort to craft some control in our mind’s narrative, we blame. The ancient Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness, they did this a lot — with each other, with God. The struggled with relying fully on God’s provision; they constantly complained and attempted to craft control for themselves. We heard about one of the more sssstrange consequences from one of these moments today. In another moment, in a point of early concession to our need to put our (ugh/ick) onto something, we hear about the goat (Leviticus 16:6-10) presented before the Lord to make atonement over it and sent out into the wilderness of Azazel. A goat onto which they could bounce their hurt and take their blame. The King James Version translates this as “scapegoat.” Can you see this tendency? In the world around you? In your neighbors and loved ones? In yourself? At Trinity, in our staff and worship team gatherings, there is a goat. It’s a bit fun and funny — in the way that humor has the power to pierce our armor in pastoral ways, but we have a small goat and when you push on it, it screams. (push the goat) For me, it is quirky in all the right ways, and is an outside and visible sign and reminder that if I have the desire to blame something or someone— blame the 🐐. Whose fault was it that the wrong bulletin was posted for the 11:15 service or the wrong name included in a pray? Rather than blame my darling husband who was not even at home at the time because all sorts of reasons that made sense in my head — go for the goat. You get the idea… It is a bit silly to actually blame a plastic screaming goat. And it is not only silly but also unloving to actually blame another. As Brene Brown says, “blame has an inverse with accountability.” We blame/judge/condemn in part because it is uncomfortable and painful to reckon and rumble with our own emotions, see our own eye’s logs, and examine our own sinfulness. This Lenten work of self-examination and repentance is hard. And sometimes… when we are finally ready to face those fiery dragons… we hope no one is in around to see. We are like those primordial people hoping they can hid out in the garden and God won’t see them. We are like Nic at night… like Nicodemus coming to Jesus under the cover of darkness when no one can see his imperfections and when no one can hear his confessions… I get it. Jesus gets it. When Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus about those who “do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed” he is speaking to a man who did not come during the light but in the night. Owning our stuff is hard. Owning it before others is even harder. Honest? Accountability can only ever get us so far. Does it have value, absolutely — it is a spiritual practice through which our lives can and are transformed more and more into God’s likeness. It is good and hard and holy work, and I hope and pray that you join me in it. And yet, let me be clear, no amount of work that we do can or will ever do will ever be enough to right the wrongs we have done. There are not enough serpents and scapegoats and spiritual practices in the world to take on the amount of blame, judgment, condemnation, and sin we discharge. And so, just as the sacrifice that took on the sins of the people, just as Moses lifted up the servant in the wilderness, so too the Son of Man was lifted up. We cannot make this right but our own doing or the result of our works. God made this right. And moreover, God’s making it right — God’s righteousness does not come out of a place of blame or judgment or condemnation but out of love.“By grace you have been saved.” “God so loved the world…” the whole of the world, even those Nicodemus-es who do not come in the light, even those impatient in the wilderness, even those who blame one another in the garden, even those of us who are wrong, and in the wrong, and have wronged others… the world. God so loved the world… As so as we continue in the hard and holy work of reckoning and rumbling with our own emotions rather than bouncing our hurt onto others through blame, as we continue to ongoing work of self-examination and repentance, my prayer is that as we continue to strive to follow Jesus’ way of love, that we know and experience the depth of God’s love and grace for us. *Brene Brown in her work on Rising Strong teaches on the many ways we offload hurt on another, including blame. Here is her short youtube video on blame: /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/18315575

3.7.21 Lent3B: Rest & Relish 03/07/2021

2.21.21 Lent1B: Beloved 02/21/2021

2.14.21 Last Epiphany B: Listen - A Lenten Practice 02/14/2021

2.14.21 Last Epiphany B: Listen - A Lenten Practice Today our society, at least in word and card, if mindful of love. Beloved “one of the most extraordinary gifts of love we can give to one another is the gift of listening.” This gift will not cost you any money or a trip to the store; but it does require conscious and intentional effort. For when we listen, truly listen with the whole of our heart and face and being, it is an act of love. And when we don’t listen or aren’t listened to… we know what that looks like and how that feels too. ‘Can you think of a time when someone was distracted or kept interrupting you when you were speaking or responded in a way that did not acknowledge what you said’ How does that feel? Now think of a time when someone was distracted or kept interrupting you when you were trying to talk about something important. You know… and you don’t only have to look at the examples paying out on the national stage to know for there are examples closer to home too: the time when you are talking about something important to your loved one and you turn around and realize no one is in the room? Or when you on the zoom meeting and you share and idea and then the meeting just goes on and then someone else explains the same idea you already shared? Or when you are in a conversation together and the other person says “uh huh, uh huh” while on their phone or cooking or day dreaming and you realize you are wasting your breath? Or the phone is out at the table or the computer open on the bed. How does that feel? Small? Frustrated? Angry? Resigned? Unworthy Diminished? All of that and more? And then when we look in the mirror and see the log in our own eye and pause and quiet our mind and examen our heart for a moment and realize the many ways we too fall short of listening? As I listen to our gospel reading, this message of the gift of listening resonates. In part because the transfiguring epiphany mountaintop extraordinary experience is in some ways also a very ordinary human example of what happens when we aren’t listening. Imagine this with me: Jesus takes Peter and James and John up to a high mountain by themselves is transfigured before them in dazzling extraordinary white and the law- Moses and the prophets- Elijah appear and talk with Jesus… And instead of being speechless, or taking it all in, or falling to his feet, or removing his sandals, or something that indicates that he is focused intently on the conversation before him and not the one within him, Peter exemplifies our human condition and does what we humans do. Peter blurts out, absorbed in his own thoughts, speaking before others are finished, interrupting the transfiguration with unsolicited advice. Our scriptures tell us “he did not know what to say,” and it seems to that the practice of being quiet and completely present, listening was not what bubbled up from his well. And so it takes what may have bene the very voice of God Almighty saying: “This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!” And while we think we might have chosen the better part like later Mary did and listened, when we pause and examen our hearts how do we act just like Peter did with one another and at times even with God? How might our relationships with God and each other be enriched with more mercy, and grace, and love if we were to practicing listening. Listening in a way that recognizes that each and every one of us is a Beloved son or daughter or child of God worthy of our attention and the ear of our heart? St. Benedict of Nursia, in the Southern part of modern day Italy, is a 5th century monk and founder of monasteries of monks who lived together community under a rule to follow. And the Rule of St. Benedict written so that this community might grow in love of God and love for their neighbor starts with these words: “Listen with the ear of your heart.” Beloved, listening to one another with the ear of our heart is one of the most extraordinary gifts of love we can give to God and to one another. Let me share with you another example and one brought to mind by a dear friend, Sr. Miriam Elizabeth of the Order of St. Helena. And this one comes not from a 5th century manuscript but from my favorite part of the news: the comics— in particular the comic Rose is Rose by Pat Brady. And in this comic Rose is the mother of a toddler and Rose is usually fairly cheerful but owns the range of her emotions and can sometimes sees herself as a biker chick free of obligations. There is a particular comic strip in which Rose is busy folding what I imagine to be the never ending laundry and the toddler is trying to get her attention. Without turning around Rose says: “What do you want to tell me, Mimi? I’m listening!” Now it should be noted Rose is still very much facing away and folding laundry. And the toddler says, “Hofays Lisin!” Rose puts down the laundry, turns around, gets on level with her son, her beloved, focuses and says, “Okay I’ll ‘whole-face’ listen!” And there is of course this heart over the toddler’s head because, beloved, we children of God, feel loved when another listens with their “whole-face”— listens with the ear of their heart. Beloved, we have a God who listens with the heart — not only hearing the cries of the oppressed and weary throughout the years but also the emotions at the core of our stories just as God recognized the fear at the core of Peter up on that mountain. And, we have a God who brings God’s whole face down to our level in great humility through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. God listens. And, invites us to also to listen to one another. The season of Lent begins soon, and often as part of our observance of Lent we give something up or take something on as a healthy practice of discipline in order to bring us closer to God. This year, I’m joining with others who are following through the Living Compass devotional in doing a bit of both through focusing on listening. Imagine for yourself: the transformation when I “[try] to give up:” the tendency to interrupt the need to steer conversations back to myself multitasking or being distracted when someone is speaking to me. the need to give unsolicited answers or advice impatience when someone is telling a story or relating an experience formulating my response before a person is done speaking Imagine for yourself: the transformation when I intend to take on: “being more comfortable with silence being completely present when someone is speaking to me listening to understand rather than to respond… being genuinely curious about what people are telling me listening with the “ears of my heart” [and the whole of my face]”… taking more time for prayer and meditation so that I can quiet and center myself enough to make room for listening to others” Some of what I’ve shared with you today and more will be shared in this year’s Living Compass Lenten Devotionals on Listening. I encourage you to grab a paper copy, and give one away, or download a free digital version and join us this Lent in an act of love to God and to one another through listening with the whole of our face and the ear of our heart. Living Compass Lenten Devotional introduction found on /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/17943239

2.7.21 5thEpiphanyB: Serve Like a Mother-in-law 02/07/2021

2.7.21 5thEpiphanyB: Serve Like a Mother-in-law ... ...“[Jesus] came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. The word for ‘she began to serve them,’ is significant. The word is more than just a washing the dishes and putting food on the table. This much more than an un-liberated woman serving men; more than a doing her part, or gratitude, or even love for your children and children-in-law. She began to serve in a way that was ministry. The word used here is diakonei. It is the root for our English word deacon. And it is used in such way to suggest that this was not just a one time occurrence, but a continuous action that would continue on (present tense). Simon’s mother-in-law’s response to Christ’s grace was to be a diakono, to begin to serve as if her service was ministry. To be clear, the woman who is Simon’s mother-in-law is considered by many scholars to be Christ’s first deacon. Later in Mark (10:45) we hear that this service, this diakonei, characterizes Christ’s own ministry. And we will see diakonei again in 15:41 when it is used at the cross to reflect upon and describe how the women followed and served Jesus during his ministry. In Mark’s Gospel, we have sort of book ends of diakonei, of service, and in the middle the verse from 10:45: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve...” In this way, Simon’s mother-in-law truly is a model for us of what it means to be a disciple. She experienced God’s grace when Christ touched her life and immediately she began to serve. We know the perils and underbelly of our world and our lives are real. I am here to remind you this morning that the grace of God is all the more real. And I hope to God that you know it and experience it in your own life. And when we experience grace, I hope like Simon Peter’s mother-in-law we respond to God’s grace and serve. I hope we take our “one wild and precious life” let it be formed, and transformed and conformed to Christ’s ministry of diakonei, service. /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/17925371

1.31.21 4th Sunday after Epiphany: Liberty to the Captives 01/31/2021

1.17.21 2nd Epiphany B: Hineni 01/17/2021

1.3.21 EpiphanyB: Stars the Show us the Way 01/03/2021

12.27.20 Christmas1B: Ring in the New Year 12/27/2020

12.25.20 ChristmasB: Bethlehem 12/25/2020

12.20.20 Advent 4B: Entering the Story 12/20/2020

12.6.20 Advent 2B: Comfort & Good Tidings 12/06/2020

12.6.20 Advent 2B: Comfort & Good Tidings Isaiah is speaking the good news that God comforts the exiled. Comfort, comfort ye my people, speak ye peace thus saith our God… God’s comfort for those who are exiled is the promise of return into the bosom of God. To those who are East in Babylon in the wilderness the way of the Lord is prepared and through that desert there will be a highway a smooth path back out of exile and to the city of peace, to Jerusalem. God’s comfort for those who are exiled is a reminder that though the things of this world wither and fades and we may be stripped of our worldly comforts, our Comfort is that “the word of our God will stand for ever.” Isaiah is saying to the people in exile the good tidings is that God is here and they will be restored and that the Lord God is a shepherd who feeds and guides his sheep and holds the lambs in his bosom. For the exiled, Comfort looks like a way back to the bosom of God. Here is the thing— though we may not have always felt exile, we as Christians recognize that exile is always part of our story. Humanity lives East of Eden exiled from the garden knowing that we too will wither and fade because of our sins. And the good news is that God comforts the exiled. To those in the East, there is a Way. The Gospeller Mark knows this and intentionally begins his Gospel invoking prophet Isaiah. John the baptist is the voice crying out in the wilderness showing us the way of repentance. We have served our term and our penalty is paid, though this time not by us. And though we may still wither and fade, the word of God which is breathed into and over us will stand forever. We have a Good Shepherd who feeds and guides his sheep and gathers us into the bosom of God. We have the good tidings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. … and all flesh shall see the token that the word is never broken. I hope that more than a just a deeper knowledge of our scriptures that the Word of God might stand forever in your heart. I pray that you receive comfort and tell out good tidings /episode/index/show/mcrigler/id/17117567

11.29.20 Advent 1B: Of Fig Trees and Hope 11/29/2020

11.22.20 Reign of ChristA: I Have Heard of Your Faith 11/22/2020

11.6.20 Proper 27A: Waiting in the Dark 11/08/2020

11.1.20 All Saints A: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn 11/03/2020

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