Sunday, June 27, 2021

At Wrigley Field in Chicago, where the Cubs play baseball, there used to be a little opening in the exterior of the ball park near right field, a hole in the wall, where you could see a bit of the actual ball field. (I think recent developments have taken this away.) It was interesting to watch children, and some adults, strain at this small opening to see what they could of what was happening inside the stadium. They were, literally, on the outside looking in.

That happens to us. Those of us who have had bumpy professional rides can look at those with well-established careers and wonder that that must be like. Some who hope to be in relationships look at couples who seem to be doing well, and wish for something like that for themselves. Those who long to be fully welcomed into church, but have been either ignored or shunned for varieties of reasons, know exactly what this is like to be on the outside of the church’s embrace. And those who have dreamt of justice for themselves but are routinely denied a full seat at the table know all too well what it is like to be on the “outside” looking in.

The biblical passage for Sunday includes a story of one such person. (Actually, there are two stories in the passage, but we’ll address that on Sunday.) In this story, a woman has been suffering from a long-term malady that is not only physically depleting, but keeps her from being able to worship. She is considered ritually ‘unclean’. In the story, even though she is in the midst of a large crowd, she is on the outside looking in at the possibility of living a restored life. And so, believing that she can be healed if she would only touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she does so. Jesus notices this connection, and calls out for whomever has touched him to reveal themselves. Trembling, the woman identifies herself. Jesus commends her for her faith. Her story is a witness that God longed for us all to be “inside”, not “outside”. This faith has made her whole.

We’ll talk about what this means for all of us on Sunday in worship. The sermon is titled “On the Outside Looking In”, arising from Mark 5: 21-43. The passage will be read by Ceci Maron-Puntarelli and Tory Puntarelli. Music Leadership will be provided by the Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Ilze Akerbergs, as they present the anthem “What Wondrous Love Is This?” There will be hymns, prayers and a moment for children.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday at www.smumc.church.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Five Small Stones

The message this week is entitled “Five Small Stones” and focuses on the Biblical story of David and Goliath. The key point of the message will be about facing situations that seem hopeless with faith and with the tools we already have at hand. The title comes from the five small stones that David picked up after refusing to wear a grown man’s armor (which didn’t fit him). Those stones, his familiar sling, and faith where what David took with him to meet the giant Goliath.

The message will also briefly touch on Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and Pride Month. The message will be delivered by Craig A. Stewart, a member of St. Mark’s UMC and a Certified Lay Speaker. Craig encourages those who are looking for ways to expand their faith and service to consider the Certified Lay Speaker program.

Certified Lay Speakers receive training that is useful to their own faith journeys while preparing them to serve in the Pulpit. (CLMs do not perform weddings, baptisms, or lead communion). Training includes six classes ranging from the history of governance in the UMC to very practical instruction and practice in preaching. More information is available at https://www.inumc.org/ministries/leadership-development/lay-leadership-development/lay-servant-ministries/certified-lay-speaker/ .

In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our Sanctuary Singers (accompanied by Ilze Akerbergs), a children’s moment with Mary Beth Morgan, prayer and reflection, and a reading of the scripture passage based on 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) by Rev. John McFarland. The sermon title is “Five Small Stones”.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Regardless of political affiliation, a memory many of us share from President Biden’s inauguration was the National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, reading her poem “The Hill We Climb”. The new National Youth Poet Laureate was announced last month. Alexandra Huynh, 18, is a second-generation Vietnamese American from Sacramento, CA. She will be starting college at Stanford. What would you guess that she plans for her major- English Literature? Writing? Actually, she plans to study Engineering. In an interview with the Associated Press (May 21, 2021), Huynh said “she hopes to challenge herself to think in ways she hasn’t before and work out ideas ‘across disciplines’.”

The scripture passage this Sunday comes from Mark 4:26-34 in which Jesus shares two parables. Parables are not simple stories with clear answers or direction. As Biblical scholar, Karoline Lewis notes, “Jesus tells parables not for explanation but for exploration. Not for answers but so as to engage the imagination. Not for certainties about faith but for discoveries about how faith works.” (https://www.workingpreacher.org June 7, 2015)

Sometimes we choose what might appear to be straight paths. Other times we veer from what is expected, or we may take another direction out of necessity. As we celebrate our graduates this Sunday, we also include in our prayers and support those whose paths have led them to working in the world, serving our country, volunteering or working with NGO’s or other non-profits, and those figuring out next steps.

In reality, we are all figuring out next steps. This Sunday, we consider what that might mean for us as individuals, a community of faith and a greater world. What might we learn from these parables? In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our Sanctuary Singers (accompanied by Ilze Akerbergs), a children’s moment, a Celebration and Blessing of Graduates, prayer and reflection, and a reading of the scripture passage based on Mark 4:26-34 read by Regan Theile. The sermon title is “The Grace of Our Ever Unfolding Stories”.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Have you ever been in a cave? I remember a time many years ago when I took my children on a cave tour in Arkansas. To be honest, I don’t remember exactly where it was. Before we embarked on the tour, we were warned by the guides to take our jackets with us. Indeed, it was quite chilly most of the time we were underground, which was over an hour. At one point, they told us to hold on to each other and the rail, as we entered a large, darkened room. But it was only when the guide turned on the lights that we saw, to our astonishment, that we were in a room of incredible beauty and massive size. In a word, it was breathtaking. And I never expected to encounter such wonder in the mysterious place where we found ourselves.

Have you ever felt you were in a cave, in a spiritual sense? Joseph Campbell once said, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” The quote can sound charming when you are speaking in the language of myth and metaphor. But when you are “living in the cave”, the spiritual place where you cannot see your hand in front of your face and you are not sure if you are going to make it, it’s a different matter. The urgent needs to breathe and survive can overwhelm the longing for beauty and the desire for inner peace. For us, the cave might be charged by grief, or guilt, or oppression or depression, but spiritual cave travelers can all dread the loss of light and the fear that the walls will start closing in.

The singer in Psalm 130 begins the song with the passionate prayer, “Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.” The psalm has become the source of many songs of mourning, and has come to be called “De Profundis”, meaning, “out of the depths”. In the psalm, however, the singer moves from this broken place to a quest for forgiveness, and then to a place of waiting and trusting. By praying the prayer from the deep place, a sense of profound trust emerges. “With the Lord, there is steadfast love, and great power to redeem.”

The sermon on Sunday is titled, “The Grace of Bottoming Out”, and arises from Psalm 130. In the service, our Sanctuary Singers will be back live in the worship service. We’ll have a children’s moment, prayers and hymns. We hope you join us, either in person or on the live stream.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you in person, if you have registered on Eventbrite, or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, May 30, 2021

What song will you sing? For many of us, one of the greatest restrictions of the pandemic has been the need to refrain from singing together in public. So I asked on Facebook the other day, “What song have you most missed singing?” Or, perhaps better said, when we are able to be fully back together, and able to sing “lustily and with good courage, as Wesley said, what song will you most look forward to singing? The responses have been varied, and include “This is my Song,” “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,”, “In the Garden,” “If I Had a Hammer,” “How Great Thou Art,” several movements from Handel’s Messiah, and quite fittingly, “How Can I Keep From Singing?” Singing, and music in general, are inextricably linked to our lives and our faith. We are better versions of ourselves when we are engaging them.

What song will you sing? Emily Saliers, one of the members the folk rock duo, the Indigo Girls, sometimes collaborates with her father, Don Saliers, a musician and a theologian of worship. Together, they wrote A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice. In that book, Emily writes about her song, “She’s Saving Me,” which she wrote following the death of her adult sister Carrie. Speaking of the power of that song for her, she writes, “When I sing it, Carrie comes back to me, and Is with me. That is when I know that music can be a spiritual gift and that it has the power to bring to life those who have passed through death. So with music, I am never really alone.”

What song will you sing? In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet has a vision of God. In that vision, the Lord is exalted and being attended to by angels (seraphs) and they are saying the poetic line, which has entered into the musical tradition of the Church, “Holy, Holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of God’s glory.” The passage concludes with a call from God for someone to be “go” out to prophesy to the people, and Isaiah responds, “Here am I. Send me.” But the passage begins with what some have believed to be a throwaway line. “In the year that King Uzziah died…” But it makes sense to read the statement as indicating a significant shift for Isaiah and God’s people. And in that complicated time of changing, the song about holy glory came to them. In these complicated days, what songs will we sing?

We’ll discuss this in worship on Sunday. This Sunday is “Trinity Sunday”, and the Isaiah passage is one of the suggested scriptures for the day. The sermon is titled “What Song Will You Sing?” and it arises from Isaiah 6: 1-8. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Nara Lee, will lead us musically, and we will have hymns, prayers and a moment for children.

Whether you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you in person worship or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, May 23, 2021

This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost, the day in which disciples of Jesus receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is sometimes called the birthday of the Christian church. In this time of pandemic, birthdays have been experienced differently for many of us. Some have known lonely days, cherishing a card and note from a dear friend. Others have had safe and creative celebrations with car parades, signs and loud honking horns. Those with access to technology may have had the gift of presence with loved ones, from near and far away places, on Zoom.

In his book, The Cherry Log Sermons, Fred Craddock reminds us that, like birthday celebrations, there are also different versions of the story of Pentecost in the New Testament. The one in the Book of Acts (2:1-21) is more like a big and loud birthday celebration. The gift of the Holy Spirit comes as strong wind sweeps through the room where over 100 are gathered. In the Gospel of John (20:19-23), there is a more personal and intimate gathering with Jesus and some of those closest to him. Jesus comes to them, through a locked door, and greets them with the words “Peace be with you”. He breathes on them saying “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This gift is also given to us, even if we cannot logically comprehend or describe it in words. This Sunday, we will consider together what Pentecost might mean for us individually, and as a community, today.

In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our Sanctuary Singers (accompanied by Nara Lee) and our Bell Choir, a children’s moment, prayer and reflection, and a reading of the scripture passage based on Acts 2:1-21. The sermon title is “The Gift of Presence”.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Fred Craddock, "The Softer Side of Pentecost" in The Cherry Log Sermons (Westminster John Knox Press, 2001)

SUNDAY, MAY 16, 2021

“How long is the wait?” To the understandable chagrin of many restaurant owners and patrons, there was not a lot of dining out during the darkest days of the pandemic. But if you can remember those days “before,” when going out to eat was more common, there was one part of the experience many did not enjoy: the “wait”. It was the interval of time that ensued after we inquired from the host how long it would be before we could get a table, to the time we actually sat down and gave the staff our food orders. During that interval, we have a choice to make. We can either watch the clock, anxiously monitoring the time it takes for us to be served, or simply enjoy being the company of those at our table. It is a choice about what to do in the interval.

Much of life is lived in the interval, the time between promise and fulfillment, between diagnosis and recovery, between being lost and being found. The interval is what happens between the first day of class and the final exam, between “once upon a time” to “and now you know the rest of the story.” It can seem that the intensity of a new beginning and the longing for the clarity of a conclusion are the great moments of our lives. But most of our days are spent in the interval, trying to decide who we are, where we see the presence of God, and who are our deep friends.

Luke tells us that forty days after the resurrection, while meeting with the disciples, Jesus was “lifted up” and taken out of their sight. The Church has called this the Ascension, and with it there commences a ten day time of waiting for the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was experienced in power. And as the disciples stared upward as Jesus departed, they were asked by angelic messengers, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” During the intervals of life and faith, we are called to discern where our attention should be directed, and what our waiting for the promised conclusion shall entail.

We’ll talk about this in worship on Sunday morning, as the sermon is titled, “Living in the Interval”. The scripture for Sunday is Acts 11: 1-11, which will be read by Pam Vanzant. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Nara Lee, will lead us musically. We will have a moment for children, prayers and hymns.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you in person, if you have registered on Eventbrite, or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021

Arab-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye writes in her poem, “Red Brocade”,

“The Arabs used to say, ‘When a stranger appears at your door, feed him for three days before asking who he is, where he’s come from, where he’s headed. That way, he’ll have strength enough to answer. Or, by then you’ll be such good friends you don’t care.’”

What is friendship for a person of Christian faith? How do friendships come to be? Part discovery and part decision, friendship helps sustain, support and challenge us. It is practically sacramental, a means of grace that transforms life in ways we can barely put into language. Like trees, long standing friendships have many interior rings, and like those rings, a strong friendship will tell the story of crises we have weathered together. They are also witness to the strengths we share. And if we are willing, friendship can grow within relationships for folks who are just getting to know each other, because we recognize the living Christ in our newfound brothers and sisters. Such is the enduring and transforming power of Christian community.

Long years ago, I was attending a preaching workshop in which the facilitator told us that there were four questions that people asked when in crisis…either normal developmental crises or those that erupt when we least expect them. Those questions are: Who am I? What do I believe? What is my life about? Who are my friends? As I grow older, and certainly as we emerge from a pandemic, I sense that the question of friendship may be the most pivotal of the four. Moreover, in a day of paralyzing polarization, the grace of friendship may help us find a path through.

In Jesus’ last night with his disciples, during the long discourse at table that we find in the Gospel of John, Jesus said to the disciples, “I do not call you servants any longer…I have called you friends.” In worship on Sunday, we’ll reflect on that statement, and pay attention to where it takes us. The sermon is titled, “With Friends Like These: Holy Friendship and Spiritual Transformation.” The sermon flows from John 15: 9-17, which will be read by Jason and Zoe Peifer. The Sanctuary Singers, led by Nara Lee, will lead us musically, and there will be a moment for children, prayers and hymns.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you in person (please register on Eventbrite) or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Last week, I drove to Kansas for a brief visit with my oldest son. I was two hours away when I heard, on the radio, that the jury had reached a verdict in the charges against Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. It would still be awhile before the announcement of the verdict, and I decided to go into Topeka to the historic site commemorating Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional.

Next to that site is an incredible mural that covers the outside wall of a building. It tells the story of Brown v. Board, but in relationship to those who came before and those who are present now. Over 2,000 individuals, of all ages, were part of creating this mural, representing how we come along side one another.

In our liturgical year, we are between Easter and Pentecost. Our scripture reading this week (from John 14:15-21) reminds us that Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for his physical death and departure from this world. He tells them that he is not abandoning them. For, he will be sending another Advocate or Paraclete (the Holy Spirit), which can have the meaning “to come along side another.” Jesus did this in his time on earth, as does the Holy Spirit, and we are encouraged to do the same with one another.

In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our singers (accompanied by Nara Lee), a children’s moment, prayer and reflection, and the reading of the scripture passage based on John 14:15-21. The sermon title is “Whispers of Wisdom.”

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Who have been, and who are, the storytellers of our lives? They may be members of our families, authors of cherished or provocative books, politicians or sages, pastors or teachers, friends or neighbors. Whoever they are, they are not simply entertaining us. And to be sure, whether we realize it or not, we are our own most powerful storytellers. Storytellers enter the mysterious world of our imagination to help us make sense of the world, and of our place in it. They help us know who we are, and who is the community that supports, embraces and challenges us. Some storytellers can stoke our fear, and some can lead us to find our courage. And the best storytellers help us discern which are the stories that, ultimately, are deadening and harmful, and which are beautiful, evocative, and life giving. And at heart, the Gospel is story.

Just to take the example of illness, appropriate to the pandemic, Arthur Frank, in his book, The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics, tells us about three “types” of stories we tell when our we, and our bodies, experience illness. All three can be powerful forms of testimony. In restitution narratives, we tell ourselves that everything will eventually get back to normal. In chaos narratives, we testify to the utter upheaval that we are experiencing, and the untethered lives we are leading when impacted by the illness. And in quest narratives, perhaps the most powerful, we determine how, even when things are truly difficult, that we find ways to grow, to connect, to learn and find great surprises, even in the midst of the unthinkable.

In Sunday’s service, we’ll enter a resurrection story involving two perplexed followers of Jesus, and a third person, a stranger, who joins them on their journey. The two are struggling to make sense of the death of Jesus. And they are baffled at the strange stories of resurrection emerging from very close-knit collection of those who knew Jesus the best. In effect, they are deciding what stories they will accept and cherish. That is key for all of us, because the stories that we embrace have the capacity to change everything.

The sermon Sunday is titled, “In This Harsh World…Tell My Story,” flowing from Luke 24: 13-20, and 28-35, which will be read by Kathy Scheid. We will have hymns, prayers and a moment for children. And musically, we will be led by the Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Nara Lee.

We look forward to connecting this Sunday, when some of you who have registered will be in the sanctuary. Most of you will share with us on the Live Stream. Wherever you are, and however you connect, and whether you are new to St. Mark’s or have been a part of the community for decades, we eagerly anticipate our time together.

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Perhaps you have had someone who is generationally different from you make a keen impact in your life. One of those “some-ones” for me is Reginald Barnard, a theology professor at the first seminary I attended. The school was quite conservative, and I was very young, very timid, very green, and secretly full of doubt. Dr. Barnard was an unusual find there, and was unlike anyone I had ever met. He was incredibly bright, deeply poetic, and I found him to have a profoundly passionate faith. He marched to the beat of his own drum. And he made sure to convey that questions were a welcome and welcoming part of faith. He not only helped me salvage my faith, he helped me chart a course to a much more invigorating experience of God. And he called all of us students his “younger friends.”

Do you think generational differences matter in our faith and life? If so, how? You’ve heard the overly simplistic but still useful breakdowns of the generations: The Greatest Generation (1910-1924), The Silent Generation (1925-1945), Baby Boomer Generation (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1983), Millennials (1983-1996), Generation Z (1997–present), and Generation Alpha (2010-2025). Where do you fall in that list? How do you think that influences your life and the way you view the world?

Long ago, the Gospel of John includes of a conversation between the young, upstart rabbi named Jesus, and a more seasoned Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus. That conversation is most memorable for the statement in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again”. Sometimes this is translated as “born from above.” However this week, as I have sat with this story, I noticed that this is a clearly intergenerational conversation. And in the flip of the traditional script in which the older mentors the younger, in this story, it is the young thirty something who is pushing the buttons of the older soul. Perhaps sitting with the story, and viewing it from that lens, could be useful for us.

We’ll play with this on Sunday, as the sermon is titled, “Questions that Can Make or Unmake a Life”. It arises from John 3:1-10, which will be read by Tom Shafer. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Nara Lee, will lead us musically. We will have a children’s moment, prayers and hymns.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, April 11, 2021

On the Sunday after Easter in 2017, Barbara Brown Taylor was the guest preacher at Duke University Chapel. She chose the scripture passage that we will be reflecting on this Sunday, which is often referred to as the story of “Doubting Thomas.” Of course, the scripture does not actually call Thomas that, and there is more to the story.

Thomas returns to the place where the disciples were gathered after Jesus’ death, and they tell him Jesus appeared to them. Understandably, it was difficult for Thomas to wrap his mind around this. He tells the others that he needs to see the mark and feel of the nails in Jesus’ hands and to put his hand in his side to believe.

As Barbara Brown Taylor notes, “If you think about it, he wasn’t any less trusting than the rest of them… The only reason Thomas got singled out was because he wasn’t there.” Mary Magdalene didn’t recognize Jesus right away in the garden, and when she told the other disciples that he was not in the tomb, they had to check for themselves.

However, Jesus’ response was not to chastise or criticize, but to meet them where they were. He helped Mary know him by gently saying her name. He came to Thomas, and reached out his hands and offered his side for him to touch. Jesus came to his disciples with love and grace. We are called to follow his example, and to pay attention to when loving grace appears in our lives.

In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our singers (accompanied by Nara Lee), a children’s moment, prayer and reflection, and the reading by Steven Fort and Tim Fort of the scripture passage based on John 20:19-31. The sermon title is “Then Grace Appears.”

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, April 4, 2021

I wonder if you have a favorite memory of Easter. Perhaps it was a time when you connected deeply with loved ones. Maybe it was a time when worship was alive with the joy of resurrection. Could it be an Easter as you were emerging from a really tough time in your life…maybe a time when something wrong was made right? It might have been just a quiet celebration in which you sensed that, as the fourteenth century Christian mystic Julian of Norwich wrote, “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

One of my memories involves a mission trip I took with other friends from St. Mark’s to Mission Guatemala. On our way to the Mission House in Panajachel, Tom Heaton and our other gracious hosts made arrangements for us to visit the city of Antigua. It was almost Holy Week. Hundreds of thousands of visitors visit Antigua each year during the Holy season. There they witness the many parades and see the colorful hand-made decorations that are used for the processions. At one stop, we went into a church that was hosting a vigil. It was completely packed, and I did not initially realize that the service was in process. I felt like, and indeed I was, a tourist who was intruding on someone’s worship. I think the worshippers there were accustomed to this, but I still felt quite conspicuous.

As we move into this Easter season, I ask myself what kind of Easter is it for which I long. This has been a tremendously difficult year for so many reasons, most of which I don’t need to rehearse for you. You know them very well. But this year, I hope to be a participant in Easter, and not merely a tourist. I long for the Easter graces to bring their help to us.

We look forward to your joining us for our online Easter Celebration on Sunday morning. The sermon is titled, “The Easter For Which We Long”, arising from Mark 16: 1-8, read by Ann Munzenmaier. We will also have a Confirmation in the service as two of our youth become full members of St. Mark’s. Our Sanctuary Singers and Nara will be presenting selections from the Handel’s Messiah, and we will conclude with the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus. We will also have a moment for children, hymns and prayers. We hope you join us online.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you. Visit www.smumc.church and click on the live stream banner at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, March 28, 2021

On July 4, 1999, I gathered with church families, children and the ‘young at heart’ who were excited to be part of the City of Bloomington Parade. Connected to our “Habitat for Humanity” Vacation Bible School, just weeks before, we built a float for the parade complete with a “house”. Those there were anxiously awaiting the chance ride on the float, or walk alongside.

Then everything changed. Rumors started weaving through the crowd. Not long afterwards, someone from the city came and told me that a Korean IU student was shot outside the Korean United Methodist Church in Bloomington. There was very little information, but we would not be risking having anyone on the float that day. We were to learn that a 21-year-old, with ties to white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups, had engaged in a string of drive by shootings in Illinois and Indiana. A number of Black and Asian individuals were injured. IU student Won-Joon Yoon and former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong were killed. That tragic memory lives in many of us, and reminds us of our call to choose paths on which we will commit to speaking out and working to dismantle systemic racism and all forms of discrimination and hate.

On this Palm Sunday, we look back to those who gathered to catch a glimpse of Jesus as he sat upon a donkey. Some put branches and their cloaks upon his path, shouting “Hosanna!” Yet, that path ahead would lead to the arrest, crucifixion and death of Jesus. This upcoming Holy Week invites us to enter into the whole of the stories of Jesus’ last days on earth. How may our reflection over these sacred days help us to choose our next steps?

In our time of worship, we will share inspiring music including hymns and musical offerings from our singers (accompanied by Nara Lee), a virtual Palm Sunday parade, a children’s moment, prayer and reflection, and the reading of the scripture passage based on Mark 11:1-11 by Jason Endris. We will also celebrate the Welcoming of New Members. The sermon title is “The Paths We Choose.”

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

“Here is a story to break your heart. Are you willing?” With these words, Mary Oliver begins a poem titled “Lead”, in which she tells the sad story of loons who came to a nearby harbor, and who died, “one by one.” She specifically mentions one who “opened the elegant beak and cried out in the long, sweet savoring of its life…” The next morning, she tells her readers, this loon, too, is lost. She then concludes, in Mary Oliver fashion, “I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world.” The poet believed that life is intended to be lived with a heart wide open to the beauty and the heartbreak of the world. What about you? Are you willing?

The prophet Jeremiah spoke to a people who had been taken into exile in Babylon in the 6th century BCE. But the days are coming, said the seer, when God is going to do a new thing. A new covenant will be established with the people, a covenant unlike the one that God established with them when leading the Hebrews from Egypt. In this covenant, God will “put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” And all, from the greatest to the least, shall know God. The great search for the beautiful and the true and the good shall not be found in the pilgrimage to the holy place, or on tablets of stone hundreds of miles away. The goodness and the glory will be found where God has placed them…in our hearts and in the hearts of our community. We just have to go there and stay there and listen deeply. What about you? Are you willing?

Let’s talk about this on Sunday morning. The sermon is titled “The One Line Already Written Inside of You,” taken from a line by a poem by David Whyte. The sermon arises from Jeremiah 31: 27-34, which will be read by Cissy Mooney. The sanctuary singers, under the direction of Gerry Sousa and accompanied by Nara Lee, will lead us in worship. There will be a moment for children, prayers and hymns. We hope you join us in this online worship experience.

If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with you on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday.