THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, July 25, 2021, Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Gather and Devotion on Zoom. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Servant Pilgrims,
Slowly, but surely, our lives are coming to be, in this post-COVID period (sort of), a now-new-normal. We will probably depend upon FaceTime and Zoom more than we did 16 months earlier. We will most likely keep a mask in the car and the house, “just in case of an emergency,” a “lock down” or mask mandate, and we will comply for the greater, common good with this order of science and health professionals. I went to my first indoor live music concert last night, at Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, listening to the music from various music groups at Chamber Music NW, masked, and still washing hands. And so we move forward, open to more gatherings with family and friends, in this new-ish normal of a kind of post-COVID day. Stay tuned!
While working out in the gym, I listen to MSNBC (I know, no surprise). And yesterday I listened to the public figure Fran Lebowitz with Ari Melber on MSNBC’s “The Beat.” I was struck by something she said that helped me decide which passage I should preach on this Sunday, July 25th, either from Hebrew Scripture, the Gospel, or one of Paul’s (or someone like Paul) letters. Talking about today’s modern political culture, she said, “Shameful and shameless share the same root word: Shame. And shame is everywhere around us today.” There is the title for my sermon! Shame, Shameful, and Shameless. And who would fit this word the best but King David. The focus Scripture is 2 Samuel 11:1-15, and it is the story of King David’s affair with Bathsheba, wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah, and his “offing” of Uriah. Here was God’s chosen, God’s beloved, God’s appointed King, David, who is shameful in his affair with Bathsheba, and shameless in killing her husband, Uriah. The word “shame” came quickly to mind as I read the story and heard Lebowitz talk about shame. That’s what this story is about: shame. But this is not the only point as I talk about this historical, biblical figure. We also have shame in our lives. We have done things towards others, or ourselves, that are shameful; in which we are filled with shame. And we’ve acted with no mercy towards others in shameless ways, feeling no shame as our will, our might, our actions, win the day, for us, at least. And yet, God loves us still. Amazing. There is still grace. Astounding. There is still faith. Astonishing. God didn’t give up on David because of David’s actions, though they were part of the messy legacy of David. And David happens to be part of the lineage of Jesus. In other words, David was one of Jesus’ forbearers. Join us this Sunday in which we will talk about shame. And if you don’t join us, shame on you…just kidding. See and hear you then.
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Events!
July 25, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Aug. 1, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Aug. 8, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
Aug. 15, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
· Mark Weinress, husband of Tom Donegon who died this week of esophageal cancer.
· Dean's mother Caroline Blackburn who has stopped treatment for cancer.
· Marty Cauley, one of Brett’s students from Duke, who recently died of cancer.
· F___ cancer. Three deaths in two weeks.
· Thanksgiving for the special Ansel Adams exhibit in Portland Art Museum.
· Comfort for Jane Wickston who lost her partner to cancer.
· All those celebrating difficult birthdays and anniversaries.
· Prayers that we get through this pandemic. Cases are increasing.
· Thanksgiving for the vaccines. Operation Warp Speed was good.
· July birthdays--Brett, Ray, Tamio, and Happy 44th wedding anniversary to Kathy and Tamio.
· An end to the gun violence in Portland where shootings are on the rise.
· Summer in Portland with its long days, mild temperatures, and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
· New tiny home communities for homeless people.
· Control of massive wildfires predicted in Oregon and other states.
· Humans to address climate change and global warming and horrendous floods, and that we take better care of our earth.
· Safe travels for all those on vacation or business trips.
· Thanksgiving that Eddie, Deborah Marie's cat, has been found safe and unharmed.
· A safe start to the Tokyo Olympics.
“God, in your love, attend our prayers…”
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Poem
Nothing is Far, by Robert Francis
Though I have never caught the word
Of God from any calling bird,
I hear all that the ancients heard.
Though I have seen no deity
Enter or leave a twilit tree,
I see all that the seers see.
A common stone can still reveal
Something not stone, not seen, yet real.
What may a common stone conceal?
Nothing is far that once was near.
Nothing is hid that once was clear.
Nothing was God that is not here.
Here is the bird, the tree, the stone.
Here in the sun I sit alone
Between the known and the unknown.
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Buen Camino! Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.