a priest's musings on the journey

Well, I was a bit nervous about this sermon, because I preached this in the parish (not at the Canterbury Eucharist) and this IS the diocese of Va after all. Most people received it and either thanked me for it or said they would give it more thought. A few were very upset with me, including one who told me gays were welcome in the church as long as they knew they were sinners (to which I wanted to say "as long as you know you are a sinner too... but I didn't) and another who told me I was an immoral infidel for refusing to abide by the rules set by the Jerusalem Council- and I'm still not sure what he was talking about, although it hurts to be called an immoral infidel. I did, however, tell him I was glad that we could pray together despite our disagreement and hoped he wouldn't let my position keep him away. But, since I am an immoral infidel, I suppose that is unlikely.

Well, if my brothers and sisters in Burma can endure their sufferings in their present condition, then surely I can take the lip from these men (o yes, interestingly they both were old, white men).

Pray for Burma.
and while you're at it... Pray for me a sinner.

And you are surprised they were old white men?

not surprised... but still disappointed. Sometimes I don't know what God was thinking.. I'm too thin-skinned for this sort of encounter. But, at least the Canterbury students had a good chuckle at the story. They are a wonderful group; there's great hope for the future of the Episcopal Church.

While in seminary I was told that unless you had people mad at you you were not doing the job right. I often believe that our job as preachers is to make people squirm. Move them out of their comfort zone and make them think. Sounds like you did that! Good job brother keep it up. Oh by the way welcome to the heritics club.

Dear fellow heretic,

Come visit my blog, I have a lovely Ethiopian icon of Theotokos and Christ and angels. It will make you feel better. :-)

Well, I'm sure you know the rule... or maybe you haven't heard it put this way... if you're not pissing someone off you're not preaching the gospel.


Good job! Don't let them scare you.

Leslie