tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107887.post4504957531816516685..comments2024-03-27T08:37:26.489-04:00Comments on Not Another Episcopal Church Blog: All Are Welcome at the Tippy TableUndergroundpewsterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10182191422663119484noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107887.post-36279443852617383662009-08-19T15:42:59.094-04:002009-08-19T15:42:59.094-04:00Great oost, Pewster!
Regarding this part:
"M...Great oost, Pewster!<br /><br />Regarding this part:<br />"Maybe these aren't issues any longer. Maybe these are now the mission of the Episcopal church."<br /><br />I think you are correct. The Episcopal Church now views the gay issues as mission.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16632860530530786486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107887.post-29158023604275268182009-08-17T10:25:55.133-04:002009-08-17T10:25:55.133-04:00Just a quick note that might cheer you up. I'...Just a quick note that might cheer you up. I'm back at my regular church (in western NC, just up the mountains from you), and our Deacon actually gave a good sermon on the passage from John.<br /><br />She asked (more or less) "what's up with this bread stuff, like John, and the Hebrew mana, and the loaves and fishes?" Then she talked about her and her husband's recent experiences with being helpless--with needing to be fed by someone else. First, she continued, John's language reminds us that we depend on God, the way a bed-ridden person depends on their feeder, the same way the mana reminded Hebrews in the desert that they were totally dependent on God for survival. Or the listeners that Jesus fed were dependent on him. No one likes to think of themselves as dependent, she said, but John (Jesus) tells us that we are--dependent on God.<br /><br />Second, she talked about how difficult it is to be the feeder--how much time, energy, and patience it takes to it. It takes so much that we can see it as literally giving <i>oneself</i> to the person you're feeding. It takes an enormous amount of love to do that, to give yourself (your "flesh") for someone, revealing the depth of God's love. When Jesus talks about the bread being "his flesh," that's what he means--his love and care isn't something casual, it's a total commitment to us.<br /><br />There are probably other interpretations of the passage, but it made a lot of sense to me, and the two halves of dependence and love fit together well. Plus, aside from a concluding reference to our duty to feed the poor (which does fit here), she didn't mention "social justice."<br /><br />She doesn't usually preach, but we're in-between rectors now, so hopefully we'll hear her more often.Rubashovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107887.post-14777530692098472862009-08-17T08:21:49.546-04:002009-08-17T08:21:49.546-04:00Another solid post. I'm afraid you are a voice...Another solid post. I'm afraid you are a voice in the wilderness when it comes to pointing out the fallacy of adhering to current social mores instead of scripture and doctrine. Alas, the way <b>away</b> from Jordan's banks always the easiest.<br /><br />Cheers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com