Monday, January 3, 2011

Preaching With Technology--Sermon Start

I'm thinking ahead to first call here, so I have selected Easter 5B (2012) as my lectionary week. After taking the Ecology and Religion class here at the seminary, I got the idea to take an opportunity during each of the four seasons to focus on stewardship and care of creation. For now, I'm calling the idea "Eco-Sundays." These Sundays will give us a chance to think about all that God has made, and we can put some thought into our role in God's global work. Eco-Sundays aren't here for the purpose of figuring out how to save the environment by ourselves; rather, they give us pause to celebrate God, our creator, as the common unity that all of creation shares.

For this first Spring Eco-Sunday, I have selected a week that lifts up love between people and connects that with God's love. It is good to love flowers, trees, bunnies, and bugs, but our love and care for God's broader creation starts with the same for our fellow humans. It was hard to select a text to preach on for the week, as all of the lessons are wonderful:

  • First Lesson: Acts 8:26-40 (Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch)
  • Second Lesson: 1 John 4:7-21 (a classic wedding text)
  • Gospel: John 15:1-8 (Jesus is the vine, we are the branches)
So far, my first inclination is to go with the gospel lesson and expound upon the ecologically-friendly image of vines. In particular, the intertwining of the branches of vines is an interesting visual way to think about our coexistence with each other and all that God has made. On the theme of interconnectedness, I may also be able to draw in a bit from the second lesson. John and 1 John were written for the same community and are highly compatible, and I love a lot of the writing in 1 John.
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2 comments:

  1. Jean Clark CaudillJanuary 3, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    Micah, I'll be taking the Ecology class that is to be offered this Spring semester with Dr. Waldkoenig. I really like your idea of "Eco-Sundays". When I was a member of the Episcopal Church I especially liked Rogation Sundays because they reminded us of the people who provide food for our table and how God is at the heart of their work. So it is with our eco system at large.

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  2. JimGJanuary 4, 2011 at 5:20 AM

    Micah,

    I like the fact that Dr. K's class made an immediate impact upon you, and that your method is to work with rather than hammer a new direction for the congregation.

    The image of the vine and connectiveness is a good one. You can work the angle from many further directions, from vines which destroy (ivy and buildings) to vines that are symbiotic and support the material they are climbing. You can also add the beauty aspects of vines (climbing roses and maybe epiphytes [may not actually be a vine]), and how a vines growth is relatively consistent in striving to "get to the light." (Now I'm thinking of the Poltergeist movie, "Go to the light")

    Looks like a good start.

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