HELLO!

A reminder, if you missed Sunday’s service, here is the livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgI_whCaEUQ

And, if you like to attend faith studies, I have two to recommend:

• Tuesday March 3^rd at 7 pm in the Sams Room, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. Chapters 9 & 10.
• Wednesday March 4^th at 11 am in the Sams Room, The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem. Palm Sunday – Holy Wednesday.

You do not need to have read these chapters to participate. I summarize (see below) the contents of the material, then ask those who have read the text to share what I may have passed over, and then we open the circle to comments, questions, where all of us learn from each other. Everyone is welcome, please invite a friend who might enjoy this study.

On Tuesday we discuss Barbara Brown Taylor’s experience teaching undergraduates at a small Christian college as they explore five world religions. The author discovers her Christian faith is deepened know how other faiths engage the same challenges she does. Chapter nine focuses on the very same Gospel text I preached on this Sunday past, John 3:1-17. Brown Taylor reflects on Nicodemus’ confusion, naming it less about a lack of knowledge and more about the humility of not knowing what only God can know. She also finds herself drawn to the Holy Spirit, as for many years her connection to God was exclusively through God the Creator and God found in Jesus. In chapter 10 Brown Taylor writes about divine diversity, reflecting on the Older Testament story of the Tower of Babel. She believes it is less a punishment and more a consequence of what happens when one voice dominates others. She shared a thoughtful quote, “the greatest single antidote to violence is conversation.”

On Wednesday we will review Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan’s scholarly work on the Gospel of Mark’s understanding of Jesus’ last week. On Palm Sunday the authors reflect on the two processions; You could go to the triumphal entry of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, surrounded by weaponized soldiers riding on a white horse, or you could watch Jesus riding on a donkey, surrounded by the marginalized of his time and place. Borg and Crossan ask us which parade would we be part of, participate in? Monday is the “overturning the tables”. These demonstrations, the procession into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple, represent demonstrations Jesus’ against the status quo. Tuesday brings us to the conflict between Caesar’s kingdom and God’s. What belongs to Caesar, what belongs to God? And on Wednesday we hear the foreshadowing of Jesus’ death and what it means for those who follow in his footsteps. Borg and Crossan reflect on the atonement: substitution or participation? We will discuss Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday in part two of this conversation, Wednesday April 1^st at 11 am.

I hope to see you Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Peace, Kevin