 And Abram [and Sarai] journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb. ~Genesis 12:9 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ~Matthew 9:20-22 We measure time in many ways. Journeys happen in stages, one choice is compounded on another until we have a lifetime to look back on. Sometimes things happen and decisions are made in an instance—a moment in time, a pinpoint of decision and action shaped by a decade or more of memories. What are those moments of your life that define you, that capture the essence of who you are? What are the stages of your own journey? Of our corporate journey? As you look back on your life—as long as it is—what do you notice? How are you different? How do you believe now? What has changed? In a brief nine verse narrative, Abram and Sarai twice build altars to mark holy encounters on the stages of their journey. At the crux of a healing within a healing in Matthew a desperate woman grasps for hope and the moment is caught for eternity. What do we make of this? Where and how is God present? God calls Abram and Sarai to a new land, but the Canaanites were already there. Our ears more recently tuned to the scourge of colonization cannot not hear unsettling echoes of manifest destiny in the promise that is presented here. And that this woman has been shunned for much of her life. How do we undo the trauma she has literally and figuratively held in her body? Yes, God calls. God blesses. God heals. But to reach our true home, to be made well—all of us, together—this invites a broad vision that takes all and each of us. Enter into worship. Readings: Genesis 12:1-9 † Psalm 33:1-12 † Romans 4:13-25 † Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 About the Art: Healing of a Woman with an Issue of Blood, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57961 [retrieved June 7, 2023]. Original source: http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/2048/unknown-brother-philipp-the-healing-of-a-woman-with-an-issue-of-blood-german-about-1400-1410/.
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 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. ~2 Corinthians 13:11 Put things in order. Listen. Find agreement. If you rush to the end of this blessing, you can too easily find you’ve arrived at an empty promise: live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you. Peace is not an accident; it is not simply an absence of conflict—an unresolved ceasefire, a claim lacking evidence. Peace is about right relationships. It comes by way of justice. And as long as justice is denied, as long as our most vulnerable siblings are threatened, as long as force and unilateral power is the primary lever, peace will be delayed. This is true in the international theater, in our neighborhoods, and in the quiet of our own heart and soul. “Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another…” The apostle charts the way to peace here. It is filled with active verbs, with activity. It does not stand still. So let us together, in agreement, listening to this Word, move forward through worship and through thoughtful, intentional action. Enter into worship. Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:4a † Psalm 8 † 2 Corinthians 13:11-12 † Matthew 28:16-20 About the Art: Sun and Moon, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57384 [retrieved May 16, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_and_Moon,_Nagy_Imre_Community_Centre,_2016_Csepel-Csillagtelep.jpg. Readings: Acts 2:1-21 † Psalm 104:24-34, 35b6 † 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 † John 20:19-23
 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Judeans, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” … When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ~John 20:19, 22-23 The featured story of Pentecost Sunday, of course, is the receiving of the Holy Spirit in the familiar passage in Acts 2—a sweeping and mighty telling of God’s Spirit falling on people fabulously and almost indiscriminately—much like the story of creation to which it refers. But here in John is a quieter version, an inner reading of the same thing, the same event, you could say. The context of John’s story is one failure after another of humanity—Jesus’ complete abandonment by his closest followers. When he enters that locked room, he even takes a moment to offer evidence of that betrayal: his pierced hands and feet. And what does he say? “Peace be with you.” He says it twice. And in so doing he shows the way to renewal, to a new creation of peace. And then Jesus gives them the power to do the same thing, to be creators of something new: If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. Here again we see in Jesus the image, the very light of God shining out of a life in which there is no violence, only forgiveness, only love, only new and just possibilities, only new understanding, only peace. A new heaven and a new earth. What if forgiveness is how God keeps creating the world? What is being held closed in your life that only forgiveness can open? Enter into worship. Wear red! Readings: Acts 2:1-21 † Psalm 104:24-34, 35b6 † 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 † John 20:19-23 About the Art: Miller, Mary Jane. Pentecost (A Second Version), from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59681 [retrieved May 18, 2026]. Original source: Mary Jane Miller, https://www.millericons.com/. About the Artist: Mary Jane Miller is a self-taught Byzantine style iconographer with over 28 years of experience, born in New York and living in Mexico full time. Her collections of sacred art are contemporary, with a proficient command of egg tempera. The work is extraordinarily rich in style and has been exhibited in museums and churches in both the United States and Mexico. As an author, Miller blends historical content and personal insights to arrive at contemporary conclusions about faith. Her six self-published books include Icon Painting Revealed, Mary in iconography, In Light of Women, and Life in Christ and The Stations. Miller has been published online and in publications such as Divine Temple, Russian Orthodox Journal, Faith and Forum Magazine, Liturgy Today and Profiles of Catholicism. She teaches 4 courses annually, 5-day immersion workshops throughout the US and Mexico. Website: https://www.millericons.com/, https://sanmiguelicons.com/Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iin_the_beginning_34x28_by_Brian_Whelan.jpg - photographed by Wendy Roseberry with permission from Brian Whelan.
 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. ~John 17:5 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on God, because God cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering… ~1 Peter 5:6-9 Glory is essentially reputation. Jesus isn’t looking for some big statue of himself. He is not looking for status, spotlight or spectacle. This is something more intimate and constructive. Father, glorify your son is a prayer that what is about to happen, including his own lynching as a scapegoat by bloodthirsty political and religious systems, might reveal the truth about God. But that may not be the most astonishing or unsettling part of all of this because Jesus also associates himself with his disciples. “I have been glorified in them,” he prays. In them. That we could become the bearers of this same glory, this same reputational witness, the visible presence of God’s life in the world not by way of performance or importance or status but, in fact, the polar opposite—because we have been drawn into a relationship of humility, in which being loved and forgiven is a way of life. This is the way of God’s life. And the circle of God’s life is never drawn with anyone on the outside. Not even you! Now that, once we begin to engage the implications, is a wonder! Enter into worship. Readings: Acts 1:6-14 † Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35 † 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11 † John 17:1-11 About the Art: Whelan, Brian, 1957-. In the Beginning, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57418 [retrieved April 27, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iin_the_beginning_34x28_by_Brian_Whelan.jpg - photographed by Wendy Roseberry with permission from Brian Whelan.
 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my [Abba’s] house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” ~John 14:1-3 Trouble and togetherness. Belief and belonging. We are never promised that things will go easy for us. Indeed, if things are too easy, we may need to check our privilege, to scrutinize what we may have done to ensure our safety and security at the expense of others. But in the context of a troubled time, John’s gospel reaches out again and again to remind not only those early disciples, but us as well that we are in this together, and God is with us in the midst. Even locked doors and hearts cannot keep our Abba at bay! Enter into worship. Readings: Acts 7:55-60 † Psalm 31 † 1 Peter 2:2-10 † John 14:1-14 About the Art: Andō, Tadao, 1941-. Interior of the Church of the Light, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55848 [retrieved May 2, 2023]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_Light.JPG.
 All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. ~Acts 2:44 My cup overflows. ~Psalm 23:5 Many, maybe most of us shape our lives around what we know, what we understand. We are accustomed to having a pretty good sense of reality—even if it is only our reality and not all reality. We sort inputs and collect facts and form something of a coherent sense of the world. What to do with Jesus’ John? “Very truly,” he begins his remarks in John 10. That’s code for “Pay attention, this is important.” And then he speaks in a dizzying and confusing set of images that seem to obscure more than they make clear. Thieves climb into the sheepfold, the shepherd by the gate, thanks to the gatekeeper. Jesus the good shepherd…and the gate, apparently. Figures of speech, John tells us…that the disciples did not understand. No surprise there. Trying to decipher this too completely may be a fool’s errand. “If you understand, it is not God,” Augustine wrote. And we understand…kind of. God is bigger than we are. And yet, we know the gist, don’t we. When we are among this flock, cups overflow, bread and goods and plenty are shared. Gates, fences, thieves, metaphors. The gospel today affirms the psalmist’s sense that with this Eastering God we have a Good Shepherd who provides what we need. Enter into worship. Readings: Acts 2:42-47 † Psalm 23:1-6 † 1 Peter 2:19-25 † John 10:1-10 About the Art: Koenig, Peter. I am the Gate, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58540 [retrieved April 13, 2026]. Original source: Peter Winfried (Canisius) Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.
 Were not our hearts burning within us? ~Luke 24:32 The gospel today brings us that familiar story from Luke of the two disciples on the road trying to make sense of a dizzying series of events. Disappointment, confusion, and despair are their companions on the road when they are suddenly joined by another who turns out to be the risen Christ. At first, it seems this “stranger” is the one out of touch: “Haven't you been watching the news? Do you not know who are leaders are and what they’re up to? Do you not see how finished we are? ... Then everything shifts! The scales fall from our eyes. We look for Jesus where he isn’t, and it turns out he’s right in front of us, leading us back to what saves us. “Were not our hearts burning within us?” What is it that makes for life? What is worth dying for, or better, living for? How do our expectations of how things go with this God line up with the story as it has been handed down to us? These questions accompany us today as they did in the story of these faith seekers in Luke. And we have everything they did: Personal testimony, the scriptures, the breaking of the bread—everything you need to pull you back to the center of life? Life in its fullness. In a word: resurrection! Enter into worship. Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41 † Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 † 1 Peter 1:17-23 † Luke 24:13-35 About the Art: Koenig, Peter. Road to Emmaus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58540 [retrieved April 13, 2026]. Original source: Peter Winfried (Canisius) Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.
 “Fear not; I know that you all are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, just as he said.” ~Matthew 28:5-6 How is it that new and renewed life can somehow not be good news? And yet, at every step along the way there seems to be resistance to it. Systems of power and control and those who guard them jealously show up prominently in Matthew’s story. So does our own personal “stuff.” They are no match, it turns out, for the holy earthquakes that break open our tombs and our hearts to what can be. Do you believe this? Are you willing to dare to hope for what could be among us and in our communities as light dawns on our story? Are you willing to at least entertain the possibility that the grace of forgiveness and unconditional love can actually lead us to something new? Can lead you to something new? Are you willing to consider what needs to be reborn in you, what might be made new? Something grows. A sprout of possibility. We are becoming awake. All it takes is a word. Enter into worship. Readings: Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6 † Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 † Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43 † Matthew 28:1-10 or John 20:1-18 About the Art: Koenig, Peter. Mary Meets Jesus After the Resurrection, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58538 [retrieved March 24, 2026]. Original source: Peter Winfried (Canisius) Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.
 All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Creator of All. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and I make the dry tree sprout buds. I the Ageless God have spoken; I will make it so. – Ezekiel 17:24 Rejoice heavenly powers! —Exsultet Water. Light. The Deep. The Cosmic. What do these things, both elemental and mysterious, have to say to us as we both stretch to “be still and know that God is God,” and, live actively as beloved people of God in our present context? Both our shared context and our personal context, and how they interconnect. Creation. Resurrection. Life, death, life. Is everything just a circular, repetitive cycle? Or are we gently but persistently spiraling outward? Unfolding, becoming, as we both labor and consent? Creative tensions. Both/Ands. Paradoxes that we both wrestle with and relax into. As we trust. As we watch. As we hope. Together. Enter into worship. Saturday evening at 7:43pm in the Garden. Please note this liturgy will not be livestreamed. Readings: Genesis 1:1–2, 26–27; 2:1–4 † Daniel (LXX) 3:52–60 † Genesis 21:2, 8–21 † Psalm 27:5–7, 10–14 † Genesis 21:2, 8–21 † Psalm 27:5–7, 10–14 † Exodus 14:26–29; 15:20–21 † Exodus 15:1–3, 11, 13, 17–18 † Joshua 2:1–14; 6:15–17, 22–23 † Wisdom 5:1–5; 6:6–7 † Judges 4:1–10, 23 † Judges 5:1, 4–7, 12, 24, 31 † 2 Kings 11:1–4, 10–12 † Psalm 9:1–2, 7–11, 13–14 † Judith 8:9–10, 32–34; 13:3–14, 17–18 † Judith 16:1–6, 13 † Acts 16:13–15 † John 20:1-18 About the Image: DeWitt, Sydney. Joy, Beauty, Wonder, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59758 [retrieved April 1, 2026]. Original source: Donated by Sydney DeWitt.  Holy God, Holy and mighty, Holy immortal One, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy and mighty, Holy immortal One, have mercy on us.
—Solemn Intercessions Our Three Days service continues tonight at the cross. Good Friday is a day where we give ourselves to the suffering and injustice of the world, and of us, and remember it is not the end. The church prays for the world—the whole world. It is a day where we take a close look at suffering and power—its use and misuse and we pray. We pray, and we remember that God with us—the Immanuel—remains with us through the worst that the world can give us, and the worst that we can do. God with us—Immanuel—remains with us and loves us in death, even as in life. Readings: Psalm 27 † Hebrews 12:1–4 † John 18:1-19:42 Enter into worship, 7:00pm. About the Art: Moyers, Mike. What Wondrous Love is This, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57146 [retrieved March 30, 2026]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/. |
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