EcoPreacher: The Preacher Persisted: Finding Courage in the Pul...: The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade I was recently invited to supply preach at a congregation to cover a colleague during his vacatio..
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade
I was recently invited to supply preach at a congregation to cover a colleague during his vacation. I had been told by several different people that the congregation had a reputation of being a politically progressive church. So I crafted a prophetic sermon that engaged contemporary issues for the assigned lectionary readings for the day.
In the sermon, I never referenced any political party or figure, but clearly named the systemic loss of an ethical and moral center in our country of late. I also reiterated Moses’ call to follow God’s commandments to turn away from death and embrace life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
True to my commitment to include God’s Creation in my preaching where appropriate, I critiqued the ways we have abused this Earth in violation of the command to choose life. But I ended by pointing out that God is still at work calling people to rise up in defense of the vulnerable and answering the call to justice along with people of other faiths and nonreligious people of good will (you can read my blog post based on the sermon here).
In the sermon, I never referenced any political party or figure, but clearly named the systemic loss of an ethical and moral center in our country of late. I also reiterated Moses’ call to follow God’s commandments to turn away from death and embrace life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).
True to my commitment to include God’s Creation in my preaching where appropriate, I critiqued the ways we have abused this Earth in violation of the command to choose life. But I ended by pointing out that God is still at work calling people to rise up in defense of the vulnerable and answering the call to justice along with people of other faiths and nonreligious people of good will (you can read my blog post based on the sermon here).
The reactions of the listeners in the days following the sermon revealed a much more politically diverse congregation than I expected. The pastor told me he had received numerous emails and phone calls from his parishioners – some who had expressed appreciation for the sermon, and some who expressed strong anger at what I had preached. So the pastor asked if I would be willing to come back to the church to talk about the sermon with anyone who wanted to discuss it further.
I was open to this suggestion for several reasons. Read much more here: http://ecopreacher.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-preacher-persisted-finding-courage.html
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