Tag: Ronald D. Pogue

Networking

Next Sunday's gospel is Luke 5:1-11. It is the story of Jesus' encounter with Simon, James, and John on the shore of Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee). You might want to read the story here to refresh your memory of their miraculous catch of fish and how Jesus told them they would be catching people.

The Greek word zogron, which means "catching," was commonly used of teachers: they "caught" their students and brought them new life. At dinner one evening, my wife, Gay, who is a high school English teacher, was talking about a new data projector she had been issued by her school. She explained how she can project a movie on an entire classroom wall for the students to watch and she described their response to a movie she wanted them to see. One of our dinner companions exclaimed, "You caught them!" That is what Jesus means when he says to Simon, James, and John, "don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

The sense in which the followers of Jesus are called to "catch" people has to do with inclusion in a redemptive, prophetic, community of faith. We are woven into a network. Someone has said, "Christianity is more easily caught than taught." Another person expressed it like this, "We belong before we believe." Our life and witness as disciples, students, followers of Jesus Christ is not done in isolation either from Jesus or from the community of faith.

The First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas is remarkable for its progressive faith and its architecture. It is one of the few Southern Baptist Churches with the pulpit on the side instead of in the center. A large communion table sits in the center, surrounded by seats. Rising above the table in a recessed area are about four stories of organ pipes. And draped in the opening in front of the pipes are two enormous fish nets. I don't know that I've ever seen a more powerful reminder of the network of disciples Jesus has called to carry on his work in the world.

As we live and grow in our relationship with him and with one another, we are woven into this amazingly strong and reliable net that the Lover of our souls casts out into the world so that his love manifested among us may catch others, draw them in, and give them life. This net really works!

February 4, 2010
Sermon for January 31, 2010

Here is my sermon for January 31, 2010, The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany:

Audio

Text

January 31, 2010
Stephen’s Seven Effective Ways to Follow God’s Call

Last Sunday, our friend Deacon Stephen L. Segebrecht preached a fine sermon about following the call of God. The entire text of the sermon can be downloaded from here. Included in his sermon was an illustration involving a tigress and some piglets along with a list of seven effective ways to follow God's call. I commend these seven principles and the sermon for your own reflections.

Stephen’s Seven Effective Ways to Follow God’s Call

One ~ We have to put on the clothes of those we serve.
Two ~ We strive for the greatest gift that we have to offer God at any given time.
Three ~ Often we are led to do something we normally wouldn’t do.
Four ~ Service is done with a sense of affection or attachment.
Five ~ Our call to service can have an effect on others that we never expected.
Six ~ Our ministry seems to change with time.
Seven ~ When we give of ourselves and serve Christ in others, we too are nourished.

January 28, 2010
Do prayers really help?

We've been asked to pray for those who are suffering in Haiti and those who have gone to their aid. People have been praying for a member of our parish who is a Haitian student living in Lawrence. A mother came by the office yesterday to place her daughter's name on the prayer list because she has gone to Haiti to help out in the relief effort.

Do our prayers really help?

The following message from former Presiding Bishop Ed Browning speaks to this question.

"Almighty God, you have promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in your Son's Name…" (For the answering of prayer, BCP p. 834)

Some researcher somewhere has determined that people who pray, or who have people praying for them, have such-and-such better chance of recovery from gallstones than people who don't. Good. I often pray that sick people will get well.

But I also pray for many people who don't get better. If my prayers do not turn these things into the releases and healings for which I long, does that mean they've failed? Does it mean I didn't pray right? Didn't pray hard enough? Only if the narrow test of immediate historical change is the only test of prayer's efficacy. If the only useful prayer is a prayer that works right here and right now, in just the way I want it to work, we're in trouble.

Prayer is not a way to get around human sorrow, a special incantation that produces a desired result God would otherwise withhold from us. It is a thread of holy energy that binds us together. It enables the communion of my soul with the souls of others, whether I know them or not. "I could feel myself lifted by all the prayers," someone will often tell me after a serious illness. Get enough of these holy threads wrapped around a person, and she will feel them, quite apart from the issue of whether or not she gets what she wants.

– From A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer by Bishop Edmond Lee Browning.

May God use our prayers as a "thread of holy energy that binds us together" with one another and all those for whom we offer prayers!

January 21, 2010
Presiding Bishop’s Sermon at Haiti Prayer Service

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church delivered the sermon this evening at the Washington National Cathedral prayer service for Haiti. The links below will take you to the video and to the text of her sermon. You may need to download a Microsoft application in order to view the video, but if you do, it will come in handy anytime you want to watch a video from the Washington Cathedral.

Video of Presiding Bishop's Sermon

Download Text of Presiding Bishop's Sermon

January 17, 2010
Sermon for January 17, 2010

Here is my sermon for January 17, 2010.

January 17, 2010
Where is God in the Haitian Earthquake?

Evangelist Pat Robertson said earlier this week that he believes the earthquake in Haiti is the result of a pact with the devil made by Haitians long ago. Here is a thoughtful response to Mr. Robertson's viewpoint. I hope it lifts your heart and strengthens your confidence in our compassionate God.

January 15, 2010
Prayers for Haiti

Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti has sent shock waves around the world. We've asked our people to pray and we are asking for contributions for Episcopal Relief and Development to sustain their efforts on behalf of the people of Haiti. Other people in other churches and in other countries, heads of state and legislative bodies, rescue and military personnel, health professionals and engineers – all sorts and conditions of people - are responding in ways that show us the spirit of compassion knows no boundaries.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese in the Episcopal Church with somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 members in 168 congregations. Yet they have only 40 Priests and one Bishop. Many of our churches, including Holy Trinity Cathedral and School have been destroyed. I have posted the photo of a mural in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port au Prince, painted by a Haitian artist. I was inspired by this mural when I visited Haiti in 1972 and lived for a week in St. Peter's Episcopal School. The mural depicts Jesus' first miracle at Cana, this Sunday's gospel.

Even in the best of times, the people of Haiti struggle, living in the poorest country in the hemisphere. Now this.

We will pray for the people of Haiti and those who are helping them. Our prayers are powerful because the One to whom we pray is powerful. "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested" (Hebrews 2:18). The words of William Bright's hymn sum it up,

At your feet, O Christ, we lay / your own gift of this new day; / Doubt of what it holds in store / Makes us crave your aid the more; / Even in a time of loss, /Mark, it Savior, with your Cross.

And, among our prayers will be the appeal that the Savior of us all will show us how to become a part of the answer to our prayers for those who are hurting.

January 14, 2010
iPhone epiphany

iPhones don't like cold fingers.

January 7, 2010
e-piphanies about Epiphany

Yesterday, January 6, was the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord. For the next six weeks, we will continue to reflect upon the epiphanous events in Jesus’ life. This is a good time for me to explain how my blog came to be called e-piphanies.com.

First, let me make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the meaning of the word "epiphany," especially as Christians use it. Answers.com offers a pretty comprehensive definition if you are not sure what I'm talking about.

Our Christian concept of epiphany starts with the manifestations of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and continues in our own lives as we recognize the reality of his reign. In other words, he is not finished manifesting himself to us!

Brian McLaren’s book, The Secret Message of Jesus, heightened my awareness of the kingdom of God as the core of Jesus’ message. Moreover, I realized that I was not alert to the signs of the kingdom all around me. McLaren writes, “I think that the best glimpses of the kingdom of God come to us unexpectedly in everyday life – and the sermons we hear (or books we read) help us keep our eyes open so that when those moments come, we don’t sleepwalk through them.”

With that prompting, e-piphanies.com was born. I intended it to be an interactive online journal of glimpses (epiphanies) of God’s hand at work in our lives. Sometimes, my postings must suggest that I just have a firm grasp of the obvious. However, that’s what is so amazing about the kingdom in our midst, isn’t it? It is hidden in plain sight! What may be obvious to some of us may be an epiphany for the rest of us. Jesus went around pointing out signs of the kingdom in what often appeared to be ordinary. That's what I want to do in e-piphanies.com.

So, I hope you will enjoy reading and contributing to e-piphanies.com. Use the comment feature (below) to share your own insights, glimpses, and concerns.

I also hope you will take advantage of the season of the Church wherein we are reminded of ways the kingdom was manifested in Jesus’ life and his invitation to us to be witnesses of that kingdom. Our testimony will be more believable if we've actually seen it so we can tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

And, I hope you will find a copy of The Secret Message of Jesus and read it. Your eyes may be opened a little wider to discover glimpses of God’s hand at work.

Here's a wonderful passage from the book:

Earlier in the season, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a flock of cedar waxwings passing through on their way north. I never saw them, but by the high chatter of their unique song, I knew thy had passed by as I lay in bed. Before I learned the distinctive call of these common birds, I heard the sound, but I didn't know what I was hearing. . . I wonder if the secret message of Jesus isn't like that. Maybe you've been hearing it all along, but you didn't realize it. Maybe you've been seeing it or seeing signs of it, but you didn't know what you were seeing. Maybe the best outcome of this book is that your ears and eyes – your heart and mind – will have been in some way "born again," so that you will now and forever know it when you hear it or see it, when it comes near and sings its song in the high branches.

And, in its own way, maybe my e-piphanies.com will provide for you a similar outcome!

January 7, 2010