​For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
~Galatians 5:13-14
 
So often when we think of independence we frame it as freedom from, and rightly so: Freedom from coercion of all sorts, freedom from living according to someone else’s definition of who we are or how we are being called to live among and with the whole of creation. Indeed, we are all too mindful of the ways in which the church has been among those institutions that have used the language of do and don’t, right and wrong to harm.
 
The Galatians text captures the other side of this equation: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The freedom we have is a freedom for life in community that is rich and varied and blessed. Elisha is so compelled by Elijah’s life that he can imagine no greater gift than a double portion of that spirit. Jesus grasps the power of such a spirit that he sets his face toward a way of self-giving that turns the world upside down. You see it in evidence here: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Freedom not from but for—for love, for connection, for life. No matter the season. No matter the facts on the ground.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 and Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 † 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Psalm 16 † Galatians 5:1, 13-25 † Luke 9:51-62
 
About the Art: Swanson, John August. Elijah, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56543 [retrieved June 11, 2025]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.

​When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?... Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him.
~Luke 8:28,30
 
[God] said [to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
~1 Kings 19:11-12
 
So. Much. Noise. So many voices.
 
It is constant, this cacophony of sound. Why does Legion shout if not to be heard above all those voices in his head? And what is it about the silence that signals to Elijah that God’s voice will be present there? The noise in our own time seems especially chaotic and disorganized—fake news here, wars and rumors of wars there, a cacophany of hard to navigate claims of one kind or another. Nonsense and deceptive speech, wise counsel and reasoned conclusions compete in the same marketplace. And, if we know anything, we know we aren’t well. We know the kids aren’t alright.
 
But it isn’t just us.  Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong notes that humans, by flooding the environment with light and sound, have confounded the senses of countless animals and drowned out the cues they depend upon to survive. How do we find that quiet center, that wise counsel, that shared welfare that lets us thrive, and all creation with us?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a and Psalm 42 and 43 † Isaiah 65:1-9 and Psalm 22:19-28 † Galatians 3:23-29 † Luke 8:26-39
 
About the Art: Sounding Silence, Richard Tipping, 1998. Granite blocks, engraved and finished with goldleaf. Cataract Gorge, Launceston, Tasmania. Collection of Launceston City Council.  https://richardtipping.com/artworks/public-art/sounding-silence.html [retrieved June 16, 2025]. 

​Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
~Proverbs 8:1-3
 
The wisdom of proverbs is anything but inactive or even gentle. She raises her voice. She situtates herself in commanding places and busy intersections. She causes a ruckus and protests.
 
But to what end?
 
“I was there, beside creation, from the very beginning,” she says. And here is the kicker: “rejoicing in [the Creator’s] inhabited world and delighting in the human race” (Proverbs 8:31). The urgency to call out, to take a stand, even to protest, is rooted in the extraordinary, sacred beauty of creation, of human life and relationships of peace and mutual well-being. Urgency, determination, resolve…to celebrate, to rejoice, to dance.
 
And why would we expect otherwise when the very nature of God is relationship, mutual well-being, peace and creativity? God is a dance, after all—a dance of Love. Shall we join in?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 † Psalm 8 † Romans 5:1-5 † John 16:12-15
 
About the Art: Latimore, Kelly. Trinity, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57123 [retrieved June 11, 2025]. Original source: Kelly Latimore Icons, https://kellylatimoreicons.com/.
 
About the Artist: [from: https://kellylatimoreicons.com/about-2/] I started painting icons in 2011 while I was a member of the Common Friars from 2009-2013. Our collective work was about being more connected: to ourselves, each other, our surrounding community and the land. This manifested itself as a place called “The Good Earth Farm” where we held weekly services and meals, and grew produce for our community and local food pantries.

Iconography has since become a practice of more considerations: of color and light, of brush stroke and form, symbol and meaning...However, I do not wish to approach Iconography as an art form that simply follows an inherited tradition, knowledge and practice. I want it to be a creative process, meditation, and practice that brings about new self knowledge for the viewer and myself. Who are the saints that are among us here and now?

I was not taught by a traditional Iconographer, and so to some, I am breaking many rules. There are icons here that people may find theologically unsound and wrong, or for others, helpful and inspiring. I think both reactions are important. My hope is that these icons do what all art can potentially do, which is, to create more dialogue.

The other may have something to teach us about what we know, about who God is, the world we live in and who are our neighbors. This is the real work of being human and of art. Being more present.

And there came suddenly from heaven a sound like the sweeping of a mighty wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
~Acts 2:2
 
New voices. Fresh winds of the Spirit. Chaos. Yet, from it, something new and true. And with it, as with anything new, or sometimes, ancient, came resistance: They’re just drunk! They aren’t reliable. We have what we need. It’s all there in these eras of change. Some days it all feels just so fragile and brittle and unfinished. Sometimes it is just infuriating, the degradation of the things we value, hope for, work for. We live in a binary time. Either or. Yes or no. True or false. Good or bad. Us or them. But truth embedded in our stories is always more complex and nuanced than the ways we talk about it. It can seem easier to just back away than to fail or flail or flame out.
 
But, understood differently, there is nothing new under the sun. This is always the way it’s been. Let Wil Gafney have this last word as we spend this last Sunday with her texts: While the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost might have marked the dawn of the Church, it did not mark the dawn of the Holy Spirit. She was there at creation. She is with us now. She always is. Spread the word!
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Isaiah 44:1-8 † Psalm 104:1–4, 10–15, 27–30 † Romans 8:14–17 † Acts 2:1–18
 
About the Art: Kraut, Ronald. Pentecost, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56950 [retrieved May 20, 2025]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0329jfOur_Lady_of_Pentecost_Parish_Church_Quezon_City_Loyola_Heightsfvf_25.jpg.

​Greet all the people! Greet one another with a holy kiss! All the churches of Christ greet you.
 
Our Romans reading this week is like a roll call. So many names, and so many descriptions. But all
are offspring of God, all are coworkers. The names are delicious. Imagining them all in their work: the joy and the difficulty. Adronicus and Junia are “eminent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” Apostles had seen the risen Christ, and were not limited to the chosen disciples, or men. And so many saints, workers and companions of Paul. What a full and fruitful and diverse life. And it all began with a small movement, small as a mustard seed. The seed grows into a full tree that flourishes along with the birds that use it for their nests.

As we gather for worship, may we be a people and a place for flourishing, seeing Christ in all we meet and greet.This morning at 10:00am in-person or online.
 
Readings: Acts 17:22-18:4 † Psalm 149:1-6 † Romans 16:1-16 † Luke 13:18-30
 
About the Art: Anonymous. Parable of the Mustard Seed, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55890 [retrieved May 26, 2025]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tin-g/90272565.