Sermons

1 Samuel 17: 38-54 * Roger C. Lynn * June 25, 2006
"The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community," in the Summer 2006 edition of Yes! Magazine

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It wasn't always this way, but for the past 5,000 years or so most of the cultures of the world have been dominated and shaped by what some scholars refer to as the Empire model. David Korten, in his article in the Summer 2006 edition of Yes! Magazine, "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community," describes it this way, "Empire organizes by domination at all levels, from relations among nations to relations among family members. Empire brings fortune to the few, condemns the majority to misery and servitude, suppresses the creative potential of all, and appropriates much of the wealth of human societies to maintain the institutions of domination." It is a way of living in which violence is so intricately woven into every aspect of life that it is simply taken for granted and assumed to be "just the way things are."
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Genesis 1: 29-31 & Psalm 8 * Roger C. Lynn * June 18, 2006

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We live in an amazing world! We all know that it's true, but sometimes we are fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and be awake enough to notice. This past week was one of those times for my family. We spent a week on the Olympic Peninsula, looking at the waters of the Puget Sound, Hood Canal, the Elwha River, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. We walked through beautiful forests, sat in hot spring water bubbling out of the side of the mountain, listened to sea lions barking on the rocks, marveled at the otter who swam in the stream beside our campsite, watched eagles and herons and seagulls soar on the wind, and fell asleep to the crashing of the waves. It was breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and deeply, deeply satisfying. The hymn writer got it right - "For the beauty of the earth . . ." We live in an amazing world!
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Ezekiel 37: 1-14 & Acts 2: 1-21 * Roger C. Lynn * June 4, 2006 * Pentecost

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Both scripture stories today are filled with powerful, dramatic, mythic imagery - dry bones reforming, wind, fire, a cacophony of sound. When God's Spirit is allowed to really come into play the status quo is in for a serious shakeup. And for many of us, that can be an uncomfortable place to live. When the wind begins to howl and the bones begin to rattle we tend to get a little bit unsettled. We prefer more control in our lives. We'd rather have some predictability. Instead, we get the Holy Spirit.
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