Mail Archive of the old Santa Clara Valley Lutheran Parish

I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brethren. (Thessalonians 5:27)
Subject: Re: [SCVLP] belated devotion for the 13th
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:38:55 -0700
From: Bob McKee <pastor.mckee@gmail.com>
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Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:38:55 -0700
Message-ID: <BANLkTimxuAhw4SxFYcdc4h0gYq6eTZiRuA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [SCVLP] belated devotion for the 13th
From: Bob McKee <pastor.mckee@gmail.com>
To: scvlp@googlegroups.com
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Amen Brother!

On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 5:59 PM, David Bonde <pastorbonde@gmail.com> wrote:

> (from my newsletter for July)
>
> If we don=92t want to grow, we don=92t have to grow.  If we don=92t want =
to
> be disciples of Jesus, we don=92t have to be.  We can be a cozy little
> religious club that sings songs we like, sits in the pews we want,
> drinks coffee with the people we like.
>
> We don=92t have to feed the hungry, heal the sick or proclaim the
> Kingdom of God.  We don=92t have to welcome the outcast or love our
> enemy.  We don=92t have to give the first fruits or share our abundance
> with those in need.  (Well, technically God demands that we do all
> these things, but we come from a long line of apple-eaters choosing to
> go our own way, to be our own gods.)
>
> We don=92t have to read the Bible.  We don=92t have to pray for the world
> and those in need.  We don=92t have to gather for worship.  We can do
> whatever we want.  But we cannot imagine that Jesus has any interest
> in a religious club.  Pretty much everything he did was to shatter the
> club mentality: healing on the Sabbath, picking grain on the Sabbath,
> eating with outcasts and sinners, knocking over tables in the temple,
> feeding the 5,000, talking with the woman at the well, raising the
> dead =96 even eating with =93good religious people=94 like Simon the
> Pharisee =96 all of it a stunning and powerful challenge to comfortable
> religion.
>
> Faith is comforting.  It doesn=92t comfort me in my prejudices.  It
> doesn=92t comfort me in my self-righteousness. It doesn=92t comfort me in
> my love of money, sex and power.  It doesn=92t bless the American way of
> life or my preferred political party.  It does comfort me when I stand
> beside the grave.  It does comfort me when evil seems to abound.  It
> does comfort me when my faults get the better of me and I am convicted
> of being an apple-eater.  It does comfort me when I am beaten down.
> It lifts up the lowly, as Mary said, but casts down the mighty from
> their thrones.
>
> Christians throughout history have been very good about being a
> religious club.  But what amazes me is that we keep telling Bible
> stories, and those Bible stories keep getting lose and changing
> everything.  Christians in this country used religion to support
> slavery, but that troublesome story of God setting slaves free in
> Egypt got loose.  The Renaissance papacy had a great thing going
> selling forgiveness to an anxiety-ridden people, but Luther read
> Romans and Galatians and suddenly the Bible got loose and changed
> everything.  The period known as Lutheran Orthodoxy was very good at
> getting God back in the box, and then along came people like Spener
> and Hauge who dared to pray and read the Bible together and upset the
> applecart.  (They put Hauge in prison, but that doesn=92t stop prayer =96
> and then there are all those troublesome Bible stories of God opening
> prisons.)
>
> So we can be what we want.  But God is who he is.  And God=92s Word will
> do what it does.  And with us or without us God=92s message will break
> out and change things.  God doesn=92t care about religious clubs; he
> cares about grace for those in need.
>
> I suggest we follow.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "SCVLP" group.
> To post to this group, send email to scvlp@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> scvlp+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/scvlp?hl=3Den.
>
>

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Amen Brother!<br><br>
<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 5:59 PM, David Bonde <sp=
an dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:pastorbonde@gmail.com">pastorbonde@gma=
il.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex=
; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=3D"gmail_quote">(from my newsletter for July)<br=
><br>If we don=92t want to grow, we don=92t have to grow. =A0If we don=92t =
want to<br>
be disciples of Jesus, we don=92t have to be. =A0We can be a cozy little<br=
>religious club that sings songs we like, sits in the pews we want,<br>drin=
ks coffee with the people we like.<br><br>We don=92t have to feed the hungr=
y, heal the sick or proclaim the<br>
Kingdom of God. =A0We don=92t have to welcome the outcast or love our<br>en=
emy. =A0We don=92t have to give the first fruits or share our abundance<br>=
with those in need. =A0(Well, technically God demands that we do all<br>the=
se things, but we come from a long line of apple-eaters choosing to<br>
go our own way, to be our own gods.)<br><br>We don=92t have to read the Bib=
le. =A0We don=92t have to pray for the world<br>and those in need. =A0We do=
n=92t have to gather for worship. =A0We can do<br>whatever we want. =A0But =
we cannot imagine that Jesus has any interest<br>
in a religious club. =A0Pretty much everything he did was to shatter the<br=
>club mentality: healing on the Sabbath, picking grain on the Sabbath,<br>e=
ating with outcasts and sinners, knocking over tables in the temple,<br>fee=
ding the 5,000, talking with the woman at the well, raising the<br>
dead =96 even eating with =93good religious people=94 like Simon the<br>Pha=
risee =96 all of it a stunning and powerful challenge to comfortable<br>rel=
igion.<br><br>Faith is comforting. =A0It doesn=92t comfort me in my prejudi=
ces. =A0It<br>
doesn=92t comfort me in my self-righteousness. It doesn=92t comfort me in<b=
r>my love of money, sex and power. =A0It doesn=92t bless the American way o=
f<br>life or my preferred political party. =A0It does comfort me when I sta=
nd<br>
beside the grave. =A0It does comfort me when evil seems to abound. =A0It<br=
>does comfort me when my faults get the better of me and I am convicted<br>=
of being an apple-eater. =A0It does comfort me when I am beaten down.<br>It=
 lifts up the lowly, as Mary said, but casts down the mighty from<br>
their thrones.<br><br>Christians throughout history have been very good abo=
ut being a<br>religious club. =A0But what amazes me is that we keep telling=
 Bible<br>stories, and those Bible stories keep getting lose and changing<b=
r>
everything. =A0Christians in this country used religion to support<br>slave=
ry, but that troublesome story of God setting slaves free in<br>Egypt got l=
oose. =A0The Renaissance papacy had a great thing going<br>selling forgiven=
ess to an anxiety-ridden people, but Luther read<br>
Romans and Galatians and suddenly the Bible got loose and changed<br>everyt=
hing. =A0The period known as Lutheran Orthodoxy was very good at<br>getting=
 God back in the box, and then along came people like Spener<br>and Hauge w=
ho dared to pray and read the Bible together and upset the<br>
applecart. =A0(They put Hauge in prison, but that doesn=92t stop prayer =96=
<br>and then there are all those troublesome Bible stories of God opening<b=
r>prisons.)<br><br>So we can be what we want. =A0But God is who he is. =A0A=
nd God=92s Word will<br>
do what it does. =A0And with us or without us God=92s message will break<br=
>out and change things. =A0God doesn=92t care about religious clubs; he<br>=
cares about grace for those in need.<br><br>I suggest we follow.<br><font c=
olor=3D"#888888"><br>
--<br>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Gr=
oups &quot;SCVLP&quot; group.<br>To post to this group, send email to <a hr=
ef=3D"mailto:scvlp@googlegroups.com">scvlp@googlegroups.com</a>.<br>To unsu=
bscribe from this group, send email to <a href=3D"mailto:scvlp%2Bunsubscrib=
e@googlegroups.com">scvlp+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com</a>.<br>
For more options, visit this group at <a href=3D"http://groups.google.com/g=
roup/scvlp?hl=3Den" target=3D"_blank">http://groups.google.com/group/scvlp?=
hl=3Den</a>.<br><br></font></blockquote></div><br>

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