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The Good News Written

Daniel 7.2-3, 15-18 (NRSV)

²I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, ³and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. ¹⁵As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. ¹⁶I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: ¹⁷“As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. ¹⁸But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever — forever and ever.”

Luke 6. 20-21, 28-31 (NRSV)

²⁰Then [Jesus] looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

The Good News Proclaimed

The Marvelous, Magical Message of Halloween

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins Oct. 31, 2010, Sunshine Cathedral

“I Put a Spell on You” (video clip)

I love that campy rendition of “I Put A Spell On You”. Before the movie Hocus Pocus, the song was made popular by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Nina Simone, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and others. I wonder why it is so appealing that multiple artists record it and we love the various renditions that they put out.

You know I think that art is a spiritual medium, and so what is communicated through novels and poetry and television and film and theatre and music may be more than just entertainment…these seem to be venues through which the spirit of Life tries to be abundantly experienced and expressed. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

2 Timothy 4.16-18

¹⁶At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! ¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for [the] heavenly kingdom. To [Christ] be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18.9-14 (NRSV)

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, [one others call] a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Good News Proclaimed

Losing My Religion (Thank God!)

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins:  Sunshine Cathedral, Oct. 24, 2010 (2^nd Timothy 4.16-18; Luke 18.9-14)

Confessional video; Losing My Religion video

Our readings today do not protect us from heartbreak; they merely help us heal from heartbreak. They offer no magic; and yet they remind us that a miracle, that is, a change of perception is always possible.

Writer Anne Lamott tells us that the mystery of grace meets us where we are BUT it does not leave us where it found us.

Grace, divine favor that can be neither earned nor lost is available to us no matter who or where we are, and yet, being divine, it is creative, it is disturbing, it is life-changing, it is mold breaking…it will enfold us and fill us unconditionally but it will not leave us unchanged. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

Exodus 17.8-13 (NRSV)

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. ¹³And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

Luke 18.1-7(NRSV)

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. ²He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. ³In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ ⁴For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” ⁶And [Jesus] said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God grant justice to [those] who cry [out] day and night? Will [God] delay long in helping them?

Don’t Lose Heart

The Good News Proclaimed

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins @ Sunshine Cathedral (Luke 18.1-7)

At the end of the first century or shortly thereafter, Luke is writing his gospel. Jesus has been gone for 2 or 3 generations. The Temple had been destroyed 4 decades after Jesus’ crucifixion. And those who thought Jesus would somehow literally and quickly return to their world to fix all their problems were getting discouraged…they’d been waiting for almost a century, and the imminent return never happened. People were tired, and afraid, and losing hope. And in response to their despair, Luke puts this parable into the mouth of Jesus…about a woman who was desperate but who would not give up, who would not lose heart until finally she achieved some peace, some resolution, some breakthrough.

A lot of times when we hear this parable we approach it with an understanding of the divine that we had when we were children. We are tempted to think of God as a puppet-master in the sky pulling all the strings of our lives to make whatever happens happen. So, we if we don’t like the way our lives are unfolding, we sometimes hear this story and imagine that what Luke is having Jesus tell us is that if we simply pray hard enough, long enough, or often enough, God will do for us what God otherwise would not have been inclined to do. And then, if our prayers continue to fall flat, then we find ourselves very disappointed and wondering why the magic didn’t work. Continue reading »

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The Good News Written

The Wisdom of the Dalai Lama

“May I become at all times,
Both now and forever,
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.”

Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Agents of Healing

The Good News Proclaimed

Rev. Dr. Mona West

Sermon preached at Sunshine Cathedral  October 10, 2010

A Baptist couple decided they wanted to get a dog. As they were walking down the street in town, they noticed a sign in a pet shop was advertising ‘Christian puppies.’  Their interest was piqued, so they went inside.

They asked the owner of the pet shop, “How do you know these are Christian puppies?”  The owner takes one of the dogs and says, “Fetch the Bible.”  And the dog runs over to the desk and grabs the Bible in its mouth and lays it at the owner’s feet.  The pet shop owner says, “Find John 3:16.”  The dog flips through the pages with its paw and stops at John 3:16. Continue reading »

Faith

The Wisdom of Ernest Holmes

“God can only give us what we take, and since taking is a mental act, we can take only what we believe we already have! This is in accord with the teachings of Jesus: that when we pray, we must believe we already have the answer to our prayer.”

2 Timothy 1.6-7

I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Luke 17:5-6 (NRSV)

⁵The apostles said to [Jesus], “Increase our faith!” ⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

We Will Not Be Silent

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

When I was in college as an undergraduate, my friends and I…also known as the Theatre Department…formed a sort of cult…our highest ritual was to watch the Big Chill. We knew all the lines, and we took great pride in reciting them along with the characters in the film.

The film begins with the funeral of a man named Alex. Alex had tragically taken his own life. His friends from college came from all over to attend the funeral and they had a sort of reunion in his honor. The rest of the film is about that reunion. But the film begins with the funeral, and at the funeral an unnamed country parson says very simply of Alex’s death, “It makes me angry and I don’t know what to do with my anger. Where did Alex’s hope go?” Continue reading »