Luke 1: 26-38

Susan Scott preached today for the first time as RMC's interim pastor. Susan shared stories from her life's journey and the bible stories that meant the most to her at these most critical and formative parts of her life. With this act of sharing Susan also invites us as well to examine and share with our fellow believers bible stories that has perplexed, inspired, taught, comforted, and sustained us throughout our lives. This introspection on biblical storytelling can connect us to each other and to a deeper understanding of God's steadfast love for us throughout our lives.

John 15:9-17

On this last Sunday of Melissa's pastoral ministry with us at RMC, she spoke from this scripture passage that Jesus shares with his disciples toward the end of his ministry.

Unlike clubs and societies, the foundation of our friendship as the church isn't a shared interest, but a shared good. Friends pursue the good together. And with Christ at our center, the church creates space for those who are vastly different to find out what the good is, and to go after it.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said it this way: "Love doesn't consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction." In the friendship of the church we don't look at each other, but we… stand side by side, so that we're all looking where we're going next. Church is the kind of friendship that says, "I actually think we all need to look at this thing happening here, in this direction and figure out where the path is to get there."

We can discern together when God is calling us towards needs that have been overlooked. When there is something that we need to work out in order to find out where we're going together. We learn to pay attention to people who have been ignored or overlooked.

We gather on streets to protest wars and to speak against genocide, to raise our voices for our church members, because our first loyalty is to Jesus, in whom there is no violence and no vengeance, and no hatred. We care for one another because when we do we see the face of God.

Luke 10:38-42

This Sunday Elizabeth Korver-Glenn shares of the dearth of information she was able to find about early Black and Brown Mennonite leaders, with an even greater lack of any details about Black and Brown Mennonite women. She found brief information about Phoebe Sheela Bisahu Solomon and Rowena Lark in the archives of Mennonite history.

The Gospel reading for today is part of a very long tradition of creative disordering and creative retelling. Jesus upends the established historical archive and the making of an archive by centering the stories of poor and otherwise marginalized people. People who would have been otherwise omitted. The story of Jesus' presence in Martha's home is an example of that reordering. Martha is portrayed and positioned as the head of the house. Mary has adopted the position typically reserved for men: the place at Jesus' feet where she can listen unencumbered by other distractions.

Luke 10:25-37

This summer at RMC we're focusing on telling stories of hope from the Bible. Katie Mangum was our guest speaker this Sunday and shared reflections on one of the most common and beloved of Jesus' parables, that of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus' parables can be frustrating, since many don't have clear meanings. Even this story of the Good Samaritan, which may have obvious meanings on the surface, can be looked at from many different perspectives.

When we weary, exhausted humans, with all our unsolved problems and unanswered questions show up on Sunday mornings, and Jesus tells us what seems to be a riddle about a Samaritan or a vineyard owner or a seed, it can feel a little frustrating. But we know, as Jesus knows, that pat answers won't bind up our wounds. The only thing that has ever been able to do that is a story.

Luke 16: 1-9

RMC's Susan Scott preached this week on what Jesus was trying to do when he spoke in parables. The parables Jesus spoke in are often confusing, indirect, and seldom leave the listener with clear answers to their questions. Why won't Jesus get to the point? However, this storytelling tactic forces the listener to actually listen, ponder, and wrestle in their minds with content of the story. The settings and people in the stories have familiar jobs and roles in Jewish society to draw in the listener, but their unexpected actions require a level of engagement for the listener that precludes the audience from "zoning out". Jesus primarily used two types of parable. One to undercut and derail the accusations of his detractors, and the other to prepare his followers for the radically new kind of kingdom Jesus was ushering in that had nothing to do with their current political subjugation. Furthermore, the parables of Jesus, regardless of the audience, at the end had a punchline that subverted expectations and taught valuable lessons to those with ears to hear. In parables, Jesus told the religious leaders that their obsession with following the law was all a hollow show without any sincere connection to God's will for people to live. Christ's followers in turn were called to live a life of soft hearts and hard feet. A life full of sacrifice, suffering, and radical gift giving that will not make sense to the world, but shows God's love in its fullness . We too must emulate our spiritual forebears and wrestle with these parables so that we may learn to also live with soft hearts and hard feet.

Matthew 5: 43-48

With the recent American bombing of Iran, we now move into a time filled with tension, fear, calls for war, and calls for reprisal. As Christians we must remember that we are called to a different path than the world. Melissa Florer-Bixler preaches on our Covenant Sunday that we must pay close attention to Jesus' first teachings after his temptation in the desert; we must love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. Yet the gift of peace that God has given us must be worked out through imperfect vessels, namely pacifists like Mennonites and other Christians who hold the ideal of peace close to heart. And how do we figure out this way of peace? Church is where we gather every Sunday to conduct our experiments of peace. There we try, sometimes fail, learn, and share with each other as we try to pass on God's gift of peace to others. As an intentional community of believers we take the risk of being hurt by each other for the opportunity to heal and to be healed.

Romans 5: 1-5

On Trinity Sunday Melissa Florer-Bixler preached on the words of Paul in Romans. Paul didn't focus on what the makeup of the Trinity is, but who the persons of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are. Essentially, God is not vengeful, cruel, or indifferent. God, through the trinity, is the giver of gifts. Jesus is the gift that redeems our sins, and the Holy Spirit is our guide and the wellspring of our hope. Who God is, not what, instructs us on how we should treat each other, our neighbors, and how we build together a faithful Church body. If God is the giver of precious gifts, then we must live a life of radical gift giving and receiving that does not count the cost.

1 Corinthians 3:11

This Sunday RMC's own Jordan Morehouse preached on the foundations of our faith. We often use scripture, tradition, and faith practices to justify all manner of evils against our neighbors. Jordan reminds us that we must be ready to change our actions and views when we see that time honored parts of our theology fail to show God's love in its fullness. As we face uncomfortable inconsistencies in our politics, traditions, and theologies, it can be especially difficult to find God's purpose amidst all of the fear and confusion of our current social, political, and economic environment. Today's scripture and sermon instruct us to look to the life and words of Jesus to help us to interpret what parts of our faith need tearing down and what parts are a solid foundation to build upon, instead of clinging to what we have constructed that is not working to build God's kingdom.