No Limits

Isaiah 49: 1-7 & John 1: 35-42

Roger Lynn 

August 27, 2017

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Isaiah speaks of being called by God for a grand and glorious purpose. The “servant” he writes about is not a single individual, but rather all people. Specifically he speaks of the people of Israel, but I do not believe it is too much of a stretch to hear in his words a bold proclamation for all of us. He writes at a time when the Hebrew people were living in exile in Babylon – far from home, far from the place where their faith found expression, far from all that was familiar and comforting. And into these bleak circumstances Isaiah speaks a powerful word of hope – that God is calling them to a life of meaning and purpose beyond anything they can possibly imagine. He challenges them to begin thinking in truly grand, global terms – to lift their eyes beyond their own perceived limitations and recognize the ways in which they can impact the world. “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) Their purpose in life is far beyond merely taking care of themselves. They are called to be the bearers of God’s light into the whole world.

Remembering Our Roots

Psalm 104: 1-23

Roger Lynn

August 20, 2017

Outdoor Worship

(because this was an informal outdoor worship experience it was not recorded, so there is no audio for the sermon this week)

We are people of the earth. The stuff we are made of is the stuff the earth is made of. We are a part of creation. We are connected to the rest of creation. In the mythic, poetic imagery of the creation story found in the second chapter of Genesis, we are formed from the dust of the earth. Unfortunately, we sometimes seem reluctant to recognize and acknowledge that part of our human heritage. It seems beneath us somehow. We would much prefer to focus on the part of the creation story where God breathed life into us with the divine spirit. The rest just seems far too messy for our tastes.

But when we forget, or refuse to remember, our earthy roots and our connection with the rest of creation, then all sorts of unfortunate and destructive consequences seem to follow. We lose track of who we are. We lose track of the part we play in keeping the world in balance. We lose track of how vitally important it is to stay connected with each other, with the world around us and with God. We start to believe that we can get along just fine on our own. Pretty soon we find ourselves treating other human beings with less respect than they need. We start treating the planet and her resources with less respect than is healthy. We read the newspapers and listen to the news and wonder how in the world things got this bad. And the answer, at least in part, is that we, as a society, as a people, individually and collectively, have forgotten to remember our roots. We have forgotten to remember our heritage as people who are intimately and inextricably connected to the earth.

The Path to God: Love One Another!

1 John 3: 16-24

Roger Lynn

August  13, 2017

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Believing in God can be a rather nebulous thing sometimes. We say we trust, but we are, after all, only human. We get distracted. It’s hard to stay connected with a God we can’t touch or see. So, down through the years, various people have come up with various ways to make sure – pray a particular prayer, with your body in a particular position, at a particular time each day; profess belief in a particular statement; give a specified amount of money to a particular organization; sacrifice an animal in a particular way; eat certain foods; don’t eat certain foods; cut your hair; don’t cut your hair; obey certain rules; associate with certain people; don’t associate with certain people; and on and on the list goes. Admittedly, there can be a certain comfort that comes from knowing what you have to do to be in God’s good graces. Except it’s hardly ever quite that simple. What if I didn’t do it just right? What if I made a mistake and didn’t even notice? What if I do everything just exactly right, and it still doesn’t feel like God is with me? What if . . . ? What if . . . ?

It Happened at Dance Camp

2 Samuel 6:5
Roger Lynn
August 6, 2017
(click here for the audio for this sermon)

I spent this past week basking in bliss at Wilderness Dance Camp on the shore of Flathead Lake. The Dances of Universal Peace are a deeply spiritual practice for me, and they are also an experience that is difficult to describe. They consist of simple body movements done with a group in a circle, combined with the singing of songs which are inspired by the faith traditions of the world. They are heart based, rather than head based. And they help me remember that in spite of the different words and different images being used, faith, wherever and however it appears, is about helping us connect to Sacred Source. This is what I posted on Facebook last Sunday when we arrived at camp: 85 open-hearted people + a beautiful, colorful, open air tent + amazing musicians + singing beautiful sacred songs from the world's faith traditions + dancing barefoot on grass = an absolutely perfect way to spend a week. It is an experience that feeds all my senses – from the visually beautiful tent we dance under, to the acoustically wonderful music, to the taste of delicious food, to the smell of the trees, to the feel of feet on grass and hands holding hands – and that whole delicious sensual feast feeds my soul. Our guest dance leader, Grace Marie, introduced us to a Shamanic Creation Prayer which expresses all of this quite wonderfully.

Every leaf of every tree feeds my soul.

The sun and the rain feeds my soul.

And every creature of the earth, and of the air, and of the waters feeds my soul.

And every being that I meet feeds my soul.

All of creation feeds my soul.