Sermons and Talks at Myers Park Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   Mark 11:1-25 “Jesus was not a reformer. You don’t get crucified for being a reformer. Jesus knew some systems and institutions cannot be reformed; they must be abolished. Slavery could not be reformed; it had to be abolished. The death penalty in Virginia could not be reformed, it had to be abolished. Some things simply cannot be reformed. Instead they must die so something new can grow in its place.” “Jesus gave the people the opportunity to live into God’s abundance where they were no longer enslaved to the scarcity of the Temple, where rich and poor share what they have in common so no one goes hungry, where sins and debts are forgiven in a beloved community. Jesus invited people to abolish Herod’s Temple to establish God’s dream, and they choose to abolish him instead.”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   Mark 11:1-25 “Jesus was not a reformer. You don’t get crucified for being a reformer. Jesus knew some systems and institutions cannot be reformed; they must be abolished. Slavery could not be reformed; it had to be abolished. The death penalty in Virginia could not be reformed, it had to be abolished. Some things simply cannot be reformed. Instead they must die so something new can grow in its place.” “Jesus gave the people the opportunity to live into God’s abundance where they were no longer enslaved to the scarcity of the Temple, where rich and poor share what they have in common so no one goes hungry, where sins and debts are forgiven in a beloved community. Jesus invited people to abolish Herod’s Temple to establish God’s dream, and they choose to abolish him instead.”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   John 9:1-12  “Jesus invites us to question bad questions—to question the idea of who is a sinner—to question those who blame the victim or their family—to question those who call for personal responsibility without naming the systemic causes of inequality—to question those unwilling to confront a culture that excludes people from economic benefits of our society. Jesus even invites us to question our faith, especially when our ideas about sin become a justification for violence.” “We all need mirrors to see our hidden wounds—wounds we all have from living inside a bad question of bad faith—wounds we acquire from living inside an imperialist, capitalist, white supremacist, evangelical, patriarchal nightmare. We need mirrors to see ourselves more clearly. We need mirrors to see the hidden wound on our backs. Who are your mirrors? “

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   John 9:1-12  “Jesus invites us to question bad questions—to question the idea of who is a sinner—to question those who blame the victim or their family—to question those who call for personal responsibility without naming the systemic causes of inequality—to question those unwilling to confront a culture that excludes people from economic benefits of our society. Jesus even invites us to question our faith, especially when our ideas about sin become a justification for violence.” “We all need mirrors to see our hidden wounds—wounds we all have from living inside a bad question of bad faith—wounds we acquire from living inside an imperialist, capitalist, white supremacist, evangelical, patriarchal nightmare. We need mirrors to see ourselves more clearly. We need mirrors to see the hidden wound on our backs. Who are your mirrors? “

Rev. Mia M. McClain |   Psalm 30:8-12 | “Can the dust praise God? If the rocks can cry and the seas can roar—if floods can clap their hands and the hills can sing together with joy, surely this dust has something to tell us about God’s creation at work. Surely, the dust can be proof of the transformational possibilities at hand calling us to reorganize, to redesign, to reshape ourselves into something that exceeds our wildest imaginations.”

Rev. Mia M. McClain |   Psalm 30:8-12 | “Can the dust praise God? If the rocks can cry and the seas can roar—if floods can clap their hands and the hills can sing together with joy, surely this dust has something to tell us about God’s creation at work. Surely, the dust can be proof of the transformational possibilities at hand calling us to reorganize, to redesign, to reshape ourselves into something that exceeds our wildest imaginations.”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   John 8:1-11 | “Jesus will not stand for patriarchy. He calls religious men to account for their sins against women. Even when the world will not hold men responsible for immoral and unjust actions, upholding of systems of oppression, and participating in patriarchal masculinity, Jesus still holds men responsible and calls them to account for their abuse.” “Where is the man who will show up, take responsibility, and be accountable? Where is the man who will work to change the system of patriarchy? Where is the man who will stand alongside his lover, his mother, his wife, his daughter, his sister, and his neighbor when they are unlawfully accused and accept their fate as his own?”

Rev. Dr. W. Benjamin Boswell  |   John 8:1-11 | “Jesus will not stand for patriarchy. He calls religious men to account for their sins against women. Even when the world will not hold men responsible for immoral and unjust actions, upholding of systems of oppression, and participating in patriarchal masculinity, Jesus still holds men responsible and calls them to account for their abuse.” “Where is the man who will show up, take responsibility, and be accountable? Where is the man who will work to change the system of patriarchy? Where is the man who will stand alongside his lover, his mother, his wife, his daughter, his sister, and his neighbor when they are unlawfully accused and accept their fate as his own?”

Rev. Tara Gibbs |   Genesis 2 | “We cannot ignore our dusty, clay bodies. No, we must embrace both our bodies and our breath or spirit. This Lenten season in particular, this Black History Month, we should ask ourselves: ‘Can this dust breathe?’ Not in relation to our own bodies, but about the bodies of our neighbors. Can your neighbor’s body breathe?”

Rev. Tara Gibbs |   Genesis 2 | “We cannot ignore our dusty, clay bodies. No, we must embrace both our bodies and our breath or spirit. This Lenten season in particular, this Black History Month, we should ask ourselves: ‘Can this dust breathe?’ Not in relation to our own bodies, but about the bodies of our neighbors. Can your neighbor’s body breathe?”