TrinityCast

On a special episode of TrinityCast, the Reverend Dr. Wagner talks with Trinity's music director, Ron Robinson! Ron talks about why he picked the songs he did for this upcoming Sunday, and Rev. Wagner connects it to the sermon. Check it out!

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner explores the calls we receive from God to take risks. "Leaving home" is a common theme in scripture, and not just in the book of Exodus! Many stories in the Old Testament deal with leaving home. In the New Testament, Jesus represents someone who leaves home, to come to us and instill faith in us.

It used to be that many people experienced Church in their homes. The reverend believes this is partly why modern Christians do not notice the strong calls to leave home throughout the Bible. But in these modern times, the need to take risks and leave our comfort zone is perhaps even more visible. More and more of the world news we are seeing is out of our control, and so we must be even more ready to explore, ask questions, and be on the move. For the sake of the present, and of the future.

What is God asking us to leave behind? What is the new land God is trying to show us?

What is preventing us from doing this?

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner talks about the creation of the Church, through stories of people's differences. The reverend argues that when people overcome their fear of an "other," they can give birth to a new "church." Older people and younger people feel differences, just like people who identify with their assigned-at-birth gender feel different from those who do not.

"But isn't that when church happens?" asks pastor Wagner. The church changed and grew over time, to accept differences in time and place that are inevitable. Incredible stories and experiences come out of the differences between people. These clashing of differences and overcoming of stereotypes are when the spirit moves us, as it moved the Apostles on Pentecost.

This episode of the A.S.K. series is all about the devil. The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner goes through historical and biblical ideas of the devil, while co-host Sarah Schmidt chimes in with many thoughts about how people look at evil.

As it turns out, things are not necessarily explained by sticking to the rules of good vs. evil, light vs. dark. Why do we look to pin things on a great evil, while ignoring personal responsibility? At the same time, why do we put pressure on ourselves, without acknowledging outside pressures and forces?

There are lots of interesting thoughts in this episode of Ask, Seek, Knock! Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner asks the congregation about certain experiences in their lives. If they've had doubts about the meaning of life, if they've challenged hateful ideas, or have been moved by a social issue so much that they were moved to act, the Reverend says that they've experienced an ascension.

Reverend Wagner suggests a theme of the Old Testament: Don't worry about that, it's not as big a deal as you think it is. Things and people that seem to run the world are not as permanent as they seem, but people like Jesus, who are often discounted and downtrodden, end up having more eternal an impact on the world.

The Ascension is all about saying that the things that really matter to God, are the things that are associated with Jesus. What we think and say our values are, if they aren't in line with what we are doing in our life, an ascension must happen in order for us to move forward.

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner discusses the different reasons that people struggle with opiate addiction; medical, legal, and cultural.

Throughout the many stories of Jesus healing people, there are usually people who help or advocate for those trying to be healed. In this story, however, the man trying to get up and walk is not being helped by anyone. In fact, this man does not even have a straight answer for Jesus asking "do you want to be healed?" Despite the man's hopelessness, Jesus heals him.

The Reverend cites the arguments put forth in the book "Cruel Optimism," such as putting more focus on maintaining things rather than things. The author believes that optimism gets in the way of experiencing happiness, because of our perfectionism. When it comes to opiate addiction, people do not have the same level of optimism.

The song "Amazing Grace" is brought up, to make the point that grace is "amazing" because it finds and helps the wretched, not those who are already healing and/or healed.

The Reverend lays out ways to combat our own misgivings and stigma surrounding addiction. We must not act like addiction is un-treatable, we must not ignore the satisfaction that comes from life after addiction, and we must not rely on harm reduction over treatment.

Then, the reverend lays out the advent of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, used to actually treat people with Borderline Personality Disorder, previously thought to be un-treatable. What people need is hope, not doubt, for healing.

The Rev. Dr. Johanna Wagner introduces this sermon by pondering some of the intense language in the scripture. This harsh language is sometimes what it takes to make us see the necessity of loving everyone, even those who are not only different, but difficult.

The reverend discusses Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley "inventor" who received tons of investment money with a false promise of a portable machine that could do complicated blood tests without requiring a huge lab. A difficult person to love, considering the fraud she committed.

The reverend then goes on to talk about children in the Los Angeles County foster care system, who become increasingly difficult to love when their homes, birth families, or futures become jeopardized.

In John's gospel, the Lord commands us to love one another, and that love will show people that we have been commanded by God. What sometimes gets missed is, Jesus commands us to love one another right after he learns Judas has betrayed him.

The reverend tells the congregation that love must be a command, because love is not always easy; love doesn't exist in a vacuum.

With climate change a hot topic these days (some would say it's getting hotter every year), Trinity's Adult Education series led to a very compelling presentation and discussion.

Assistant Professor of History at Washington University Venus Bivar gave a presentation focused on the European industrial revolution, and the cycle of "growth" that our American society has grown accustomed to since then. Economic growth became inseparable from fossil fuel consumption, which became inseparable from climate change.

While scientists are warning us of the effects, Professor Bivar pointed out that the social climate surrounding consumption has yet to really shift towards reducing & re-using, in addition to recycling. Trinity congregants asked questions and brought ideas forward to try and better understand this issue.

This was a fascinating presentation, and we hope you enjoy!

Update: Professor Bivar has sent on some recommendations for people interested in learning more about the politics of climate change and economic development...

Tim Jackson, Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet (London: Earthscan, 2009)Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014)Stiglitz, Sen, and Fitoussi, Mismeasuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn't Add Up (New York: New Press, 2010)Robert Gordon, The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War (Princeton, 2017)

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner points out some strange aspects

of this story at the end of the Gospel of John. While the end of chapter 20 leads

us to believe that the gospel is “done…” here we have a story in chapter 21! This

story is also somewhat a mundane one, until the apostles finally catch some

fish.

Rev. Wagner compares this to a story her stepfather told. He was in East Berlin, trying to get to a play in West Berlin, back when those two halves were divided by a border. He experiences a few shame-filled moments and is late to the play, and his lesson to Johanna is that now he is always early to the theater.

This experience is like the Apostles’ journey: after all the struggles and chaos of their journey, they find themselves back at home, in a somewhat normal, mundane life. Yet, now they are to be true Apostles, not just disciples. Most of life is lived this way. In our normal lives, there are opportunities for extraordinary things to happen.

So, while John has spent so much of his Gospel emphasizing the holy and exalted nature of the Christ, reminds us that the voice of God is also a simple, everyday voice.

The Reverend Dr. Johanna Wagner poses the question: Would you rather be an apostle or a disciple? Many people, the reverend guesses, would rather be a disciple. Disciples have much less of a responsibility to go out into the world and really do what Jesus did. Jesus makes this decision for us: "So the Father has sent me, so I send you."

The Reverend goes on to offer 4 steps to being an Apostle:

Remember that this mission is a good one. Ask yourself: Is this something Jesus did during his ministry? If so, consider yourself "sent" to do this thing.Set some apostolic goals: "Today I will [insert task here] as someone sent to [do that thing] by Jesus." Try to see your life and intentions as things you have been sent to do.Believe that Jesus has a purpose for you. Every day, Jesus is asking us "Do you love me?"