WRITTEN THINGS
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 “Christ Breaks the Rifle” © Kelly Latimore Icons This sermon was first preached at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins, MN, on August 31, 2025 in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, MN. The full livestream of the service may be viewed here. The sermon alone is below. Amy opens with the song“A Kin-dom Here” [by Amy Courts] and closes with “Flags” by Brooke Ligertwood from her album of the same title. Scripture texts: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 • Luke 14:1, 7-14 . **Poor sound quality during the livestream of the sermon and songs could not be corrected.** Beloved, I begin here today, not at the pulpit but with a guitar and a song because today is brutal. This week has been brutal. As a mother, a neighbor, a pastor, I just haven’t had words. And so often, when I am without words, Spirit sings to me and in me and for me, birthing pleas and prayers for some way forward -- this, a prayer written in the wake of another act of barbaric violence, because all my hope for whatever else is to come is rooted in my desperation for a better Kin-dom -- one birthed in us and by us. I want to trust the birth pangs, that Life will make its way when death is all around.
In truth, I spent a lot of this week crying -- in my car, in my therapist’s office, at the piano, in bed, in the shower… just crying with grief for parents who lost whole universes this week, and whose universes survived but not without injury or trauma, and listening to songs on repeat that helped me cry more. As I cried, Spirit reminded me of so many weeping mothers in Scripture — like Jeremiah 31:15, which Matthew quotes early in his gospel, describing the terror of King Herod’s slaughter of all the baby boys in around Jerusalem: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” I clung to the promise of Isaiah 2, when the Temple of the Most High is finally established, and where, from God’s throne on high on that Holy Mountain, God judges between the nations, not to usher in new waves of death, but to instead settle their disputes. Then, instead of warring, the people, “will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” Can you imagine? Weapons of death turned into tools of life? I dug into Hebrews in which the author, probably Priscilla, tells us how to Live when death and destruction abound.
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 "The Body of Christ: We All Belong" ©️Gary Thomas This sermon was first preached at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Hopkins, MN, on November 17, 2025 as part of our August sermon series, "The Body of Christ." The full livestream of the service may be viewed here. The scripture text & sermon alone are below. Scripture text: Ephesians 1:15-23 Good morning, beloved of God. Today as we dive into the meat of Ephesians 1 and the culmination of this Pauline author’s greeting to another Beloved Community, it behooves us to do so with eyes as wide open as he prays their hearts will be. For this is more than a salutation from a writer to his readers; it is, in all its flourish, a bold proclamation of one thing and one thing only, which is that in Christ, our kin, sits the fullness of Creator’s majesty, glory, and power. Which is why this passage is typically reserved for the final Sunday of the liturgical year, when the whole Story of God, from the garden to Christ to his already-but-not-yet eternal reign is celebrated at the Feast of Christ’s Reign. And I’m glad for the gift it is to us today, because we live in a moment in time when the reminder of Whose we are and, in turn, Who we are and are made to be, cannot be rendered too often. It is no secret that across world theaters, self-made kings and despots are rising like the heads of hydra to besiege all that lives, compel submission, and destroy anything that stands to resist their rule. The weight of it all can feel unbearable, and a great many of us feel more helpless and hopeless than ever.
But, take heart, Beloved, because it is neither a new moment, nor even a particularly surprising one.  "Saint Martha Taming the Dragon" © Sue Ellen Parkinson, 2021 This was the first sermon I ever preached, on November 3, 2019 at the annual women's retreat for Redeemer Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis. It can also be read with greater context at Church Anew's blog. Gospel Text: Luke 10:38-42 Seven years ago, just a couple months into my seminary career, I was invited to preach my first sermon at my church’s annual women’s retreat. I was super hesitant, but when Pastor Babette asks you to preach, you do it. Not because she’s bossy but because she’s the boss who usually knows what you need to do before you do, and so she is how you figure out what you need to do. Of course I said yes.
When, a few days later, a member of the planning team told me the weekend’s passage was Luke 10:38-42, about Mary and Martha, I visibly cringed and invisibly gasped, because seriously? Another women’s retreat concentrated on this story of Martha the distracted busy-body who needs to be more like her sweet sister, Mary, always sitting at Jesus’ feet when there’s work to be done? Gag. I am an Enneagram 4 and the youngest of four sisters, and I need exactly no one and nothing telling me to be more like my sisters (sorry, not sorry). Still, I decided that if I was ever going to be a preacher-pastor I'd have to preach some texts I don’t like and I might as well practice with women who love me. So I dug in, intent on finding something new and powerful for Mary and Martha, and discovered this incredible public theologian named Mary Stromer Hansen who literally wrote the book about these sisters and this passage. Her stunning, elucidating work helped me to love this text. It turns out that what we’ve been handed (especially women and Queer folks) is full of garbage mythology and patriarchal projections onto history which strip two radical sisters of their agency and place within their context. Reality, as usual, is much more complex and far more beautiful. So I invite you to come with me into this flashpoint in Martha's life -- and stay close, because it involves a good bit of Greek. |
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