That's What She Said

Gracious receipt of care: “I am the good shepherd,” John 10:11. We literally get the term “pastoral care” from the work of shepherding. What would it look like for the whole church, the body of Christ, to take up this work of shepherding, in a turn-taking model that means some of us, some of time, are receiving care while others are giving it? What does it mean to give in to our sheepy-ness, sometimes?

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Extension of the church’s welcome: “I am the gate,” John 10:9. Jesus here describes himself as a threshold, an opening in the boundary between “us” and “them,” a way in. How does the church emulate his “open door” way of being? How can Galileo Church continually prop our door open, so that we are a gateway to God’s own heart? I.e. it’s not about getting people in the church; it’s about generating access to God.

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Jesus knows who he is, and who he isn’t. Jesus knows whose words matter, and whose don’t. Whose words will you choose to listen to? The Rev. Dr. Irie Lynn Session brings us a word from John 8, and Apprentice Evangelist Remi Shores shares some communion thoughts. You would do well to listen.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

The sharing of resources: “I am the bread of life,” John 6:35. Jesus insists that wherever he is, everyone has enough (and more than enough). It’s about resources both physical and spiritual – food and mercy. He ties this abundance to the practice of the eucharist (6:51), the eating of his flesh. In the church, we practice a “eucharistic economy” by sharing resources so that everyone has enough, an economy that inspires both generosity and gratitude.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Afraid. Mark’s gospel ends so weirdly, with nobody saying anything about that empty tomb because they’re afraid… So we should contemplate what got them from fear to proclamation – how were they eventually prompted to tell? How do we ourselves move from fear to confidence in our announcement of the gospel? (What are we afraid of?)

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Saturday in lockdown: shhh. A question we rarely dare to ask or answer: has God ever disappointed you? It is the right question for Holy Saturday, that desolate day between crucifixion and resurrection. It is the day that we seriously wonder if maybe, maybe, all really is lost. Our journey with God is punctuated with Holy Saturdays – days between the worst and the best, days spent in quiet hiding, dealing with (or avoiding) the deep terror that maybe this time it won’t get better. There is no gospel text for Holy Saturday – surprise, surprise. But there are biblical expressions for it… 

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Worst Friday Ever. “The crowds” who have, up to now, been with Jesus, take a turn in this chapter. Taken together, they magnify each other’s worst instincts to violence, disloyalty, and scapegoating. The chapter can be read as a growing consolidation of opposition (crowds, friends, soldiers, VRPs), until even the co-crucified criminals are taunting him – and, in a horrifying turn, until even God abandons Jesus. Could it be that his perception of divine abandonment is a result of the multiple defections of humans from his defense? 

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Thursday is for dinner, prayer, and the longest night. Before the fracas-to-come, Jesus will take a time-out for (a) a meal with the people he loves most in the world, and (b) somewhat argumentative communion with God’s own self. He seeks comfort, solidarity, release; he receives none of that. What do we learn here about the nature of friendship? And about God’s own positioning, relative to our suffering?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Midweek is for fig-cursing, table-turning, fight-picking. The way Mark tells it, Jesus does not go to Jerusalem until he’s ready for the fight that’s waiting for him there. He signals in every way that he is up to the challenge, that his ministry is not about compliance or cooperation with the powers that be for his own comfort or elevation. How have his followers in this age gotten this so wrong? When did we become puppets of the U.S. American empire?

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.

Sundays are for palms and protest. The ride into Jerusalem is a satire of militaristic commanders-in-chief returning from battle to receive the accolades of their citizenry. Jesus declares a new empire, a new citizenry for any who will receive him and his way of being – more like a colt than a steed, more like a children’s pageant with makeshift props than a well-orchestrated, red carpet affair. He’s mocking their (our) collusion with domination by violence; he’s challenging our sense of what “good society” looks like.

To tell us your thoughts on this sermon, click through to the web posting and leave us a comment. Or, find us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or, email us the old-fashioned way: [email protected]. To contribute financially to the ongoing ministry of Galileo Church, find us on Venmo, Patreon, or PayPal, or just send a check to 6563 Teague Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76140.