"Priorities" - The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard, January 29, 2012

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Deuteronomy 18.15-20, Mark 1.21-28

Epiphany is a season celebrating how God touches our lives. The season begins with the celebration of the kings visiting Jesus at Bethlehem, next we heard about Jesus’ baptism where the voice of God proclaimed that Jesus was God’s son, last week we heard about the calling of the fishermen to be disciples. Epiphany is about big moments that point to Jesus’ divine significance all of which involve people making steps to follow his example. It is about expressing God’s mission to all corners of the world.

But as we hear today’s gospel lesson, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ authority with the common people he encountered. When telling stories like this one, I struggle with not knowing what Jesus said. For some reason the gospel writer didn’t include his amazing words, a surprisingly unjust oversight. There are times when I wish I had the words he spoke because they were so powerfully persuasive about the way God is involved in human life and they provided the purpose of existence, so strongly, that the people who heard them knew it without question.

They knew it, even though Jesus didn’t come to them as an authority (at least not one chosen by the society). Here was this stranger who appeared in the gathered community, a place where people gathered to listen and interpret God’s Word (a place similar to this one), and after speaking these amazing words, he was deemed to be the ultimate authority. So much so that the real authorities, the ones who made a good living doing that work, were scared of losing their power and influence in that community.

"Called by Name" The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard, January 15, 2012

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1 Samuel 3.1-20

Samuel Reading to Eli
by Copley, 1780

This past Thursday, I got a note from my mother wishing me a happy anniversary. Every year, on the 12th or 13th of January, I receive a phone call, a note or both from my parents with that greeting. Actually when I lived with them or near them, we went out to eat at a restaurant of my choosing. Many times it was a restaurant of class and distinction. When I was about ten years old, I chose Runza. Runza is a regional fast food restaurant that in my opinion serves some of the finest sausages. They also serve a Runza which is a meat twinkee. All of this happens because it is the anniversary of the day that they adopted me into their family. I say the 12th or 13th because the actual date is remembered differently by the two people who remember the day most clearly. I was only 12 or 13 days old when it took place, so I depend on their memories. At some point, we couldn’t remember the precise date (more accurately, it was remembered differently). But as we all know, the actual date doesn’t matter all that much; but the recalling the event means quite a bit.

This Week at St. Patrick's January 11, 2012

Here is the latest edition of our weekly email. Click on this link to read more about the upcoming events here at St. Patrick's.

"The Others" The Rev. Dr. Kurt Gerhard, January 8, 2011

Mark 1.4-11, Matthew 2.1-12

Icon from the Baptismal Site in Jordan

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Lost was a television phenomenon from 2004-2010. It was the fantastical story of a group of people who survived a plane crash on a remote island somewhere between Australia and the Americas. It was Gilligan’s Island without the boat and the comedy. The twist and turns of the mythical world kept viewers guessing. The survivors discovered a group of people native to the island who lived in a village protected by a giant electrical fence. They looked and sounded like Americans, but they were driven by different motives and their goals were clouded in mystery. The survivors labeled them as “The Others.” Lost is, of course, a fictional environment, but that doesn’t mean that the “Others” are so far fetched. We know it is wrong, but humans like to clearly label people based on religion, politics, philosophy, learning style, geography or any number of other categories.

This Week at St. Patrick's January 4, 2012

Welcome to the New Year at St. Patrick's! Here is this week's email on upcoming events. Join us!