Vessel Houston

When Jesus heals a blind man in Bethsaida, it doesn't happen all at once, the full restoration of his sight only coming after a second pass. We either settle for the blur of "walking trees", or look more closely, discovering perhaps that when God's presence comes into focus, hope for everything else seems to as well. (Sermon begins at 1:00)

Scripture & Quotations

Mark 8:22-30

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. ”

- Howard Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train

As we inhabit a time of civilizational turbulence, the individual and communal experience of worry is inevitable. As Jesus shares wisdom from a hilltop, he invites the gathered crowd to consider how deeply their (our) anxieties are rooted in control and isolation in the face of challenging and unjust realities. What might a practice look like to respond to anxiety with a humble awareness that begins to draw us out of ourselves and into connection and active hope? (Sermon begins at 1:00)

Scripture & Quotations

Matthew 6:25-34

Philippians 4:6-7

“Today we excavate the ruins of collapsed civilizations from the past and display their artifacts in museums, but few of us ever take seriously the possibility that our civilization will follow their pattern of rise and fall.”

- Brian McLaren - Life After Doom: Courage and Wisdom for a World Falling Apart

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

- Serenity Prayer - Multiple Sources

Solvitur ambulando - “It is solved by walking”

- St. Augustine

“To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger—these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life.”

- Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar In the World

You are going to spend 10000x more time in the 5 blocks surrounding your house than the cool neighborhood a 10-minute drive away.

- Phil Levin, LiveNearFriends

“There is a hole, an emptiness in us all, that we strive to fill. If it doesn’t get filled with something noble and elevated, modern society will quickly pump it full of garbage.”

- Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

As the Savior departs, and his people await the promised arrival of the Spirit, this newly empowered community faces its first big decision “on their own”. How they handle it is a peculiar and perhaps liberating glimpse into the improvisational nature of our call to faithful engagement within the complexities of the spaces we inhabit. (Sermon begins at 1:00)

Scripture & Quotations

Acts 1:1-26

“Blocking undermines the other. It refuses to share space and time. It denies outcomes from which all can benefit. It assumes rivalry and enacts conflict in which there cannot be two winners, and most often all are losers. It is at least subtly, and sometimes overtly, aggressive. It presumes violence.”

“Accepting offers builds community by acknowledging, encouraging, and accommodating the other. It recognizes the dependence of all parties concerned upon one another. It requires the sharing of space and implies a conversation about how to go on doing so.  It shares time and assumes only the kind of outcomes that can benefit the other.”

Samuel Wells, Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics

Through this series, we have engaged with several encounters initiated by Jesus in the days following the Resurrection. Peter bears the weight of shame following his denial on the night of Jesus’ arrest, only to discover that his “failure” was unknowing preparation for the next chapter of the story… (Sermon begins at 1:00)

Scripture & Quotations

John 21:15-19

Mark 14:19-21

Exodus 3:9-12

“The most amazing fact about Jesus, unlike almost any other religious founder, is that he found God in disorder and imperfection—and told us that we must do the same or we would never be content on this earth. ”

Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

A fishing expedition comes up empty until the stranger calls from onshore, proposing that they think differently. As a people called to cultivate communities of care and belonging, are we “casting our net to the other side,” or sticking with what we think we know? (Sermon begins at 1:00)

Scripture & Quotations

John 21:1-14

Matthew 6:5-6

John 20:30-31

“…To enter is to enter into life, for those who enter find at last what it is to be loved and to be filled with love — not with sentiment, but love — for all people, regardless of whether they too are members of God’s family or not. Love, like other attitudes and virtues, cannot be taught. It can only be caught. You can teach people that they ought to love, but not to love.”

Dallas Willard - The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus

Thomas needed to see with his own eyes, and is met with grace and understanding. Jesus comes back bearing the marks to remind us that ours need not be hidden either. When we abide in the love of God, tending to the wounded (ours included) in community, we participate in the ever-unfolding resurrection story. (Guided Practice begins @ 27:42)

Scripture & Quotations

John 20:19-29

John 15:4-5

“Braving public transit for your morning commute and being with Jesus…

changing another diaper and being with Jesus….

Sorting through your inbox yet still being with Jesus…

Cooking dinner for your family or friends and resting your heart in Jesus…”

John Mark Comer - Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus. Become Like Him. Do As He Did.

“Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not 'How can we hide our wounds?' so we don't have to be embarrassed but 'How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?' When our wounds cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.”

Henri Nouwen - The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society

Two followers walk the road away from Jerusalem in grief, and a stranger joins them on the road. In the midst of story, hospitality, and the breaking of bread, Jesus appears for a glorious and fleeting moment. We ask: how will we embody the resurrection life as a people always looking for the face of Jesus in that of the supposed stranger?

Scripture & Quotations

Luke 24:18-35

Psalm 42:1-5

This is our story. Jesus keeps doing this, becoming present with us even as we lament his absence. He keeps showing up, showing us things, walking beside us, making our hearts burn within us. We might not recognize him at the time. That often comes later. 

Mark Buchanan - God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul

Scripture & Quotations

1 Corinthians 15:3-11

Mark 16:1-8

Mark 1:1

Scripture & Quotations

Malachi 3:1-2

Psalm 35:1-4

Joel 2:5

Matthew 10:34-35

Mark 11:1-10

Luke 22:35-53

Scripture & Quotations

John 1:1-5

Mark 10:17-27

Christians are usually sincere and well-intentioned people until you get to any real issues of ego, control, power, money, pleasure, and security. Then they tend to be pretty much like everyone else.

-Richard Rohr, Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps

If even the most authoritative teaching, the most sacred text, leads to dehumanization, to humiliation, to harm, then we must reject it. The Bible itself shows us how to do this… [The rabbis] worked to align the text with their moral understanding. And in doing so, they give us permission - no, an obligation, to do the same… Our role in reading sacred scripture is to ask two questions: “What does the text say?” and “Who may be harmed by this text.”

-Elie Wiesel, quoted in “Witness” by Ariel Burger