Acts - Beach Theology

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Many years ago I was the interim pastor at a small church and was free to celebrate Pentecost without regard to that congregation’s tradition. We decided that it would be confirmation day for the small group of youth who had been going to classes and they wanted red balloons among other things. This was long … Read More

No Distinctions

by Rachael Keefe

Welcome. Inclusion. Hospitality. These are all church words, words we try to embody to the best of our ability. Yet, not everyone feels welcomed. Not everyone experiences inclusion. Not everyone receives hospitality. There are limits to our being church, aren’t there? We aren’t perfect and we sometimes get it wrong. True. However, what about that … Read More

Resurrection is Now

by Rachael Keefe

Words, actions, and promise chase each other through this week’s readings. Peter speaks and Tabitha returns to life in Acts. The Shepherd’s promise of life and presence is clear in Psalm 23. Revelation is all about the promise of life yet to come. In John, the crowds have seen Jesus’ actions and they want clear, … Read More

Never Beyond Redemption

by Rachael Keefe

During my years as a clinical chaplain in a psychiatric facility, I met several people who had committed horrific crimes while in a psychotic state. Generally, these were individuals who were kind and gentle when they were well. They also struggled to believe that they could be forgiven for what they had done. I had many … Read More

An Important Little Celebration

by Rachael Keefe

I have mixed feelings about the events of the first Pentecost. It’s one of those things that I wish I had directly witnessed. What must it have been like to experience that much power in one place. On the other hand, I am also extremely grateful that I have not ever seen such things! Whatever … Read More

Being Church

by Rachael Keefe

This week my Facebook feed has filled up with articles about church. How to be a vital church, how to attract Millennials (back?) to church, how to welcome children in church, how to create intergenerational church, and a few other topics I’m not remembering at the moment. Maybe it’s the coming of Pentecost that is … Read More

Post Resurrection Thoughts

by Rachael Keefe

Easter is all about resurrection and new life. On the surface it’s easy to preach. But dig a little deeper into what resurrection means and it isn’t all that easy. To make it worse, I find myself distracted by thoughts of the Second Coming. I mean, really, who thinks about the Second Coming while everyone … Read More

Whether We Know it or Not

by Rachael Keefe

I can’t shake the idea that Paul’s sermon to the Athenians could take place in almost any town in the U.S. today.

There are many churches. Just as Paul could tell those Athenians that it was easy to see how religious they are, it would be easy to see how religious we are too. Right? There are churches everywhere. While our churches are all clearly labeled and no altars are inscribed ‘to an unknown God,’ some could be. Paul found a single altar ‘to an unknown God’ and used this to tell the people about Jesus. What would he say to us now? How well do we really know this God of ours?

This week’s text from John’s Gospel opens with Jesus saying, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments.’ Jesus’ commandments are simple enough in theory – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

The kind of love that Jesus embodied has been distorted by rules and tradition. We like things to feel safe and predictable, familiar and comfortable. It’s good to know the rules. The problem is that the love Jesus offers isn’t something that can be contained like that. It’s meant to be challenging and sometimes discomforting. Loving God and loving our neighbors and ourselves does not leave room for hatred and judgment. It does not endorse violence or war. It does not attribute higher value of one person over another.

It’s easy to claim that God is on our side or preach that God loves this kind of person but not that kind of person. It’s easy to let ourselves think that our thoughts and actions are what God wants. It’s much more difficult to contemplate a God who might want different things, things truly grounded in love.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Jesus broke Jewish laws and traditions all the time to reach human beings and change their lives. I don’t think he’d be thrilled with all the laws and traditions we’ve placed between ourselves and those real human beings who need to experience the transforming power of love. It is easy to fool ourselves into believing that our God needs traditions because we feel that we need them.

What it comes down to is this: Has God become unknown to you?

RCL – Year A – Sixth Sunday after Easter – May 25, 2014
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:8-20
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21

Now or Later?

by Rachael Keefe

The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.
Acts 11:12

I was reading the passages from this week’s lectionary, especially this verse from Acts, and what keeps coming back to me is the whole idea that we keep pointing toward a time when Christ will come back and the world will be perfect. And yet we believe we are the body of Christ here and now. Then why are we not embodying these ideals here and now? Why do we make distinctions between one another? Why are we not doing more to alleviate sadness, and grieving and mourning? Why do we not love one another the way Christ told us to? We say that we are Christians and that we love one another, and we forget that we also say that we are the body of Christ. We are supposed to be embodying this new heaven and new Earth, now. So may it be.

God of All Creation,
Move us out of complacency into love. May our love for you overflow into love for ourselves, other people, and all of creation. Amen.

RCL – Year C – Fifth Sunday of Easter – April 28, 2013

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

The Sights and Sounds

by Rachael Keefe

This week it’s all about sights and sounds. The Acts passage tells of Saul’s conversion to Paul. It’s a dramatic story if ever there was one. Saul sees a bright light, hears Jesus’ calling him, loses his sight, and falls to the ground until Jesus sends Ananias to open Saul’s eyes. Next the Revelation reading actually contains the words, “Then I looked” and “Then I heard.” The scene described is countless angels and other creatures singing to Christ. The drama continues in the Gospel reading. Jesus “showed himself” by the Sea of Tiberias. There was a miraculous catch of fish, a recognition of the risen Christ, and the echoing question of “Do you love me?”

I keep trying to pull them apart to allow them to stand on their own. But this week, I can’t do it. Instead, I find myself asking a lot of questions.

To what Truth of Christ am I blind? Who is trying to remove the scales from my eyes?

Is Christ asking me to open someone else’s eyes? Am I listening? Am I willing to do what is being asked?

What change is at work in me that I am resisting?

Who or what is singing praise to Christ right now? Me? The Church? People? Creation?

Why does this Revelation text fill me with such longing?

What does it mean to love Jesus and what does feeding his sheep look like now?

Is there a difference between loving Jesus in a human way (philios) or in a godly way (agape)? (Jesus gave Peter the same response, but the question was different. It must mean something?)

How would these passages be heard differently in different places in the world – Syria? North Korea? Israel? Ireland? China?

What sights and sounds point to transformation in the world today?

These are my questions. If you have others, please feel free to share post them. Or, if you are inclined to answer any of them, please do that as well.

Sing praises to God, O you God’s faithful ones,
and give thanks to God’s holy name.
For God’s anger is but for a moment;
God’s favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

RCL – Year C – Third Sunday of Easter – April 14, 2013

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

No Distinctions

Resurrection is Now

Never Beyond Redemption

An Important Little Celebration

Being Church

Post Resurrection Thoughts

Whether We Know it or Not

Now or Later?

The Sights and Sounds

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