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Sunday, January 29, 2012

WWJD?
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 86 Views :: 1 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

WWJD? Those letters have become somewhat campy, perhaps clichéd, from such frequent use. They show up on ball caps, bumper stickers, and rock singers’ tattoos. Our response to them has been diminished, mostly now falling somewhere between apathy and a dismissive rolling of the eyes. And yet, as people who operate within the theological and philosophical framework of Christianity, the question represented by those four letters is central: What Would Jesus Do?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Kudos to the Kid
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 167 Views :: 3 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

Okay, I admit it. I like Tim Tebow. He seems authentic to me. Perhaps he expresses his faith a bit more enthusiastically than some, and many of us who are not fundamentalists can find that a bit uncomfortable. But from what I hear, he’s sincere. And, I much prefer someone who is sincerely faith-filled (even if a bit over the top) than sincerely cynical.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Basic Human Needs
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 229 Views :: 2 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

Before the tents came down, I walked through Occupy Wall Street, read the signs, listened to the voices, and tried to discern what was at the heart of their message. What I heard was: “We want jobs, we want affordable mortgages, we want to be able to feed and educate our children. And the current economic system is not delivering.”

You know who else is saying that? (And when I had this epiphany, it almost knocked me over because the two groups are polemically opposite.) The other group who has been saying, “We want jobs, we want affordable mortgages, we want to be able to feed and educate our children, and the current economic system is not delivering” is the Tea Party. How strange to realize that those two groups, so profoundly different, are singing the same refrain.

Monday, December 26, 2011

What God Wants
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 104 Views :: 0 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

The story of the Wise Men who brought gifts to Jesus has been incorporated as part of our Christmas tradition. In truth, however, it is an Epiphany story. Matthew clearly states that the Wise Men did not go to the manger, but rather "When they entered the house, they saw the Child with Mary, his mother." (MT. 2: 11) By this point in time, Joseph and Mary had apparently found a dwelling in Bethlehem. How old was Jesus? Probably not old at all, since the Holy Family did not intend to move to Bethlehem as a permanent residence, but rather just went there for the Caesar's enrollment. On the other hand, perhaps they were for some reason detained, as Herod slaughtered all the male children in Bethlehem "who were two years old or younger." (MT. 2: 16) Since Herod simply intended to kill Jesus, there would have been no need to slaughter two-year-olds if Jesus were still a newborn.

Where this story connects so richly with our experience of Christmas is at the point of giving gifts. "And they offered Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (MT. 2: 11) That one verse was the origin of our making gift-giving part of the Christmas experience.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Thanks
By webmaster @ 12:02 AM :: 196 Views :: 0 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

I am writing this blog on Tuesday night at 8:35. It’s only five more days till Christmas. I am not ready. I mean that on two levels. On the surface level, I have not completed my shopping yet. That’s okay. It is my annual routine. Two days before Christmas, I will be scurrying about, chastising myself for not being better organized (and vowing to get things done earlier next year – a vow I am totally confident will not be honored).

Sunday, December 11, 2011

As I Wait
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 204 Views :: 1 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

I write this as I wait to attend a holiday gala here in the city. The people who are taking us said they would be by in another thirty minutes. I didn’t want to be late, so I got ready early. Now I wait.

Today I waited for service in a busy December store, then waited to check out, then waited for a taxi home. I stopped by the shoe repair shop on the way to the apartment. They said to come by Friday afternoon, and my shoes would be done. When I went to pick them up, I was told they weren’t quite ready yet. I would have to wait.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

It Is Time. Advent Is Here.
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 224 Views :: 0 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

'Tis the season! No way around it. Advent is upon us (and, by the time you read this, will have officially arrived).

I was walking down 50th Street this morning, watching city workers put lights and wreaths on lamp posts. Store windows are dressed and ready. This week I am writing two sermons – a Thanksgiving sermon for WeWo and then my first Advent sermon of 2011 for Sunday morning.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

No One Can Do Everything
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 254 Views :: 1 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

As you know, Marble Collegiate is living into a year-long theme, One Spirit, Many Gifts. We are trying to assist one another in discerning how God has gifted us and how God wants us to use that equipment for church and world.

There's a powerful old adage we've all heard a thousand times, but it bears repeating: "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something!" That is undeniably true. We are all equipped by God to some something... something to make the church stronger, something to make the city better, something to make someone else feel safe or valued or loved. Jesus said to his disciples: "Take up your cross and follow me." In other words, He told them it wasn't enough merely to believe, but that our belief is meant to give birth to action. We are meant to take up our equipment for life and do something with it. Some actions are visible, some more subtle, but all are vital.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Okay
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 252 Views :: 1 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

One of my favorite preachers was William Sloane Coffin, for years the Senior Minister at Riverside Church here in the city. He was controversial, a political activist, not always warm and fuzzy, an incredibly bright biblical scholar, and a dynamite voice in the pulpit. Coffin had a knack of cutting to the chase, whatever the topic.

Years ago there was a best-selling book entitled I’m Okay, You’re Okay. It was a pop-psych self-help volume about learning to accept ourselves and others in a fully affirming way. Shortly after the book hit the shelves, Coffin said in a public setting that its title was incorrect. "The truth is," he said, "I'm not okay, you're not okay -- and that's okay!" You just had to love Bill Coffin!

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Joy
By webmaster @ 12:01 AM :: 323 Views :: 2 Comments :: Dr. Michael Brown

On the corner of 30th and Fifth one afternoon last week stood a man playing the saxophone. Most of us pedestrians hurried by, hardly noticing. We had places to go, people to see, things to do. But there he was, in spite of the hustling crowds, playing like Charlie Parker. His case was not brimming with donations, nor do I imagine he expected it to be. But still he played, almost oblivious to the lack of attention or lack of funds. He seemed to play for the pure joy of playing.

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