Moment of Clarity With Rev. Lorrie Daly-Price

June 14, 2020 - Our reading this week comes from Matthew’s gospel. It is the call of the first disciples and the message that they are commissioned to carry out for others to hear. The message is simple: The kingdom of God is at hand. God is real. God is present. God is near to us, in us, around us, alive and powerful. There was no requirement to memorize a bunch of passages from the Bible or some long confession of faith statement. Their original message was very simple: the power and presence of God is alive, near and around you.

Then these first disciples were given a simple method to carry this out. They are told to go to the needy, the sick and the disabled. Go to the people who have a real felt need for God’s help in their lives. They are told to simply go to those around them who have obvious needs for God’s power and presence to help them in their time of need.

Sunday, June 7, 2020 | This Sunday we share some of the closing words from Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus and the disciples are up on the mountaintop in Galilee. Here Jesus instructs them to go out, with full authority into the world. These are rather lofty goals for them to accomplish. Yet Jesus tells “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”, teaching them to obey everything that has been commanded of them. A passage commonly called the Great Commission.

These parting words of Jesus are intense. Jesus has given them everything they will need to accomplish what is set out before them including his promise to always be with them.

A comforting thought for all of us, don’t you think? That no one ever stands alone.

Sunday, May 31, 2019 | Pentecost is a wonderful day. It's a day of celebration. Lots of people call it the birthday of the church – the day when the church was really born, came to life, knew it could survive and thrive and change the world This morning we could spend our worship time saying “Happy Birthday Church!”

It's the day the people heard the good news of Jesus' message: God's love for everyone –in the language they needed to hear. The language of their home lands.

We could ask ourselves what languages do we need to speak so that everyone can hear? The language of Instagram and text; the language of technology, economics, science and of education. So many languages so many ways to speak the gospel. How to translate, how to be faithful?

Good Pentecost questions but for this Pentecost let us focus on this message:

God is with you. God loves you. God is there for you when you think you are alone. God’s Spirit comes at the most unexpected times with courage and strength when you think there is none.

Sunday, May 24, 2020 | Much of our lives are characterized by the experience of waiting and transition. We can certainly relate to that right now can’t we! Most of our waiting experiences are likely to be fulfilled in this life, we hope. But it is also true that the whole of life for every one of us is one long period of waiting and transition.

This week we hear about the Ascension, one of the major events in the history of Jesus, an event that is situated during a period of transition and waiting for disciples of Jesus. It occurs 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and 10 days before Pentecost.

What were the disciples doing during this waiting time? I am sure normal life went on – eating, sleeping, meeting with each other and maybe going to work. During our times of transition we too carry on with normal life as far as we can. But other things were also happening and these all related to the person of Jesus. And it was far from being a passive or unproductive time.

Sunday, May 17, 2020 | "I will not leave you orphaned..." Thus says the Lord. Orphaned. Alone. Without guidance. Without support. Without parents. Without anyone. Mostly, "orphaned" means being so isolated in this world that it feels like no one cares whether or not we live or die.

An image of children first comes to mind when we use that word, yet any of us can be orphaned at any age. In fact, on any given day, a lot of us are orphaned, at least in spirit.

People we encounter every day if we choose to see them deal with so much—financial trauma, job loss, physical illness, spiritual desperation, emotional isolation, instability, disrupted relationships, abandonment ... the list goes on. Any one of those things not only can make us feel abandoned by the very concept of love, but also unworthy and for sure unlovable by anyone.

It is interesting that Jesus uses the word "orphaned" in this week's text from John’s gospel. It is such a potent metaphor for what he was about to do, which was to leave his beloved disciples.

To provide reassurance that they are not being abandoned, Jesus speaks of the love of God, the coming of the Spirit, who will never leave. Whether they heard him or not, he only speaks words of hope. Words of love.

Sunday, May 10, 2020 | In the reading this week from John’s gospel we hear, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” This seems like a pretty tall order don’t you think? The disciples do not seem too sure they can do that, given the circumstances.

Jesus attempts to still their troubled hearts by telling them he is leaving and he will make a place for them where he is going. On the one hand, it must have comforted them to be included. On the other, I am sure this kind of leaving must have troubled them even more.

In our reading this week, from the Gospel of John, we hear the familiar parable of the shepherd and the sheep. Here Jesus presents himself as the gate of the sheep pen, the place where the sheep are kept safe and secure. Jesus says in the next verse following our reading for today that, “I am the good shepherd.”

What we learn from our reading for this week is that Jesus - whether gate keeper or shepherd - is that he is the opposite of the thief's who come to steal and destroy. Jesus has come to bring life, and to bring it abundantly.

During this Easter season the message continues to be that Jesus came to share with us something that is way better than anything else we can imagine!

Sunday, April 26, 2020 | This week we pick up the story from Luke’s gospel of the days following the crucifixion of Jesus. It seems as though the disciples are a little on edge. I imagine that they were experiencing some PTSD of sorts having just seen one of their closest friends and leaders meet such a brutal death right in front of their eyes. I imagine they were experiencing some grief as well. Sure, Jesus had prepared them for the work that they were to do following his death, but like any group of folks who has experienced the death of a leader, I imagine that they were in a sort of wilderness phase themselves. They were likely attempting to understand for themselves just how they fit into this whole teaching and preaching thing and working to garner up the confidence to do the work for which Jesus had prepared them.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 | What does it take to believe? Is belief blind trust? Should the high priests have been blind to the obvious, real and dangerous realities of the oppression of Rome in first century Jerusalem? In our reading this week from John’s gospel, Thomas was honest in his refusal to believe until he had experienced the miracle of Jesus’ presence. Many of us would ask for the same revelation. We really can’t fault him. Yet we also learn with Thomas from Jesus’ instruction….”Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Perhaps the key is in the phrase, “have come to believe.” Not those who are instantly sure but those who trust enough to keep on keeping. These are the ones who act upon their trust, who act themselves into believing through faith that sees beyond the obvious.

Sunday, April 12, 2020 | The story we hear this morning comes form the gospel of John. Jesus is risen. The tomb where he lay is empty. On that first Easter morning Mary comes to the tomb while it is still dark. She sees that the stone has been rolled away and she draws the conclusion that Jesus has been taken. Running to Peter and that beloved disciple, she shares her concern.

Upon her return to the tomb Jesus appears to Mary as a gardener and will later appear to the disciples. She does not yet believe who she is standing with.

Things go no more smoothly for the others either. The appearance of the risen Jesus is no simple thing. As we will hear this week, the gospel story judges none of these people. For in their own time each will come to faith and believe in the risen Christ.

Easter happens when everyone thinks it’s all over. Hallelujah! Christ has risen indeed.