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Letters and Sermons from M. Kathleen Chesnut

Kathleen is the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Dickinson, North Dakota, as well as the First Presbyterian Church in Belfield. In this space of the website, she has agreed to share her Pastor's Letters from the church newsletters. On this page we have posted the most recent letter as well as the bignning of the most recently posted sermon, which is continued elsewhere.

We hope you will enjoy these glimpses of Kathleen's wit and wisdom.

Letters - Kathleen has posted letters from 2006 to the present. The most recent is posted on this page - as is the most recently posted sermon. The rest are in our archives, with links located at the end of each recent post.

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - July 2008

"Freedom WITH Responsibility

I sit here, looking forward into July 4th weekend, pondering freedom and all that it entails.I think, perhaps, that we have gotten complacent and take our freedom for granted - both as Christians and as Americans.

I remember in the last high school in which I substitute taught teachers who were afraid to take disciplinary action against students who needed it. They were afraid of the parental response - which was usually to take the teacher to task and NOT the student.

I remember stories told by my grandmother about rationing in World War II, and how all worked for the war effort .We ARE at war today - yet only our soldiers are paying for it with more than taxes.

I think about that first July Fourth and the Declaration of Independence, that document that ended:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Many of the 56 signers of that document had to pay an extremely heavy price for making that pledge. Five of them were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. The list goes on, and yet, what do we do?

We treat our freedom as an entitlement that we are given with nothing expected in return. We have forgotten the price paid by those who have lived before us. And as Christians, we have forgotten the price paid by Christ. Where is the integrity that resulted in the willing sacrifice made by the signers of the Declaration of Independence? It is doubtful that they would have acted differently had they known the price they would pay. Because if they knew that, they also would have known of the fruit of their efforts, the country that today we call the United States of America.

Neither would Christ have acted differently had he known how entitled we also feel for our Christian freedom.

For much of my own life I have felt entitled to these freedoms. It wasn't until I substituted in that high school that I really thought long and hard about what freedom costs. Those parents who felt that their students deserved schooling without any consequences for poor behavior were undermining the foundation of our freedom as Americans. Freedom without responsibility cannot long exist. Freedom in a country cannot exist without the integrity of its citizens. For our country to continue strongly into the future we need to "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

And as Christians, we have a greater challenge, for we are challenged and called to love those who hate us. I have read on the internet that Congress is considering establishing a new Cabinet position - a Department of Peace and Reconciliation. The degree to which partisan politics has divided us threatens us as a nation.We need to remember our unity. For a Christian this unity comes from participation in the Body of Christ. As stated in 1 Corinthians 12 - "the eye cannot say to the hand 'I have no need of you'" - nor can Republicans say to Democrats "I have no need of you" - or the other way around. Independents are needed as well!

Freedom need responsibility to be accepted in order to flourish. May we stop taking our freedom for granted.

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - May 2008

"Dueling Ideologies"

(revised January not-the-Pastor's letter)

We no longer live in a world whose many cultures are foreign and therefore considered "barbaric." We travel the streets of our cities and find stores and restaurants that include the food and traditions of every continent (possibly NOT Antarctica, but then, who knows?). We travel the internet from our personal computer and find the world, with its many ideas, at our finger tips.

Humanity has two different reactions to this. One is to open up and welcome the diversity with its new knowledge and experience of what it means to be human. The second is to close down and ignore the validity of the experiences of 99% of the human race.

In October, I spoke of the difference between prescriptive and descriptive theology - in which prescriptive theology has ONE, PRECISE point of view, claiming any other to be heresy, even evil. And descriptive theology states the speaker's experience of who God is, but allows that God is much more than his or her experience of God.Prescriptive theology is exclusive, while descriptive theology is inclusive.

While prescriptive theology has been around forever and has caused countless religious wars, Inquisitions and other destruction and death (including much of the population of Germany during the Reformation), the modern version is a little different. I believe that the human race is on the edge of a new era, an era when we will finally begin to hear the call to love all of God's children. A time when we will look at those who experience God differently as an occasion to learn more about who God is, rather than as a threat to "true belief" and "right thinking." Right being will take precedence; accepting that there is a reason for all the different flowers in God's garden and enjoying the view, rather than seeing anyone different than us as a weed.

The modern version of prescriptive theology uses hate to derail the forward movement of the human race. It uses terrorism - both as a weapon and as a reason to hate those who are different. Islamic terrorists destroyed our confidence as a nation on 9/11. Domestic terrorists used that destruction as reason to beat up law abiding US citizens who looked Middle Eastern. Terrorism breaks into violence that calls the other person less than human as they are not carbon copies of those doing the violence. We have so many places that ethnic or religious cleansing has/is occurring that it is hard to see the presence of God. Hate begets hate and the forward movement of humanity grinds to a stop.Fear freezes us in place and prescriptive theology rules.

Not necessarily. God is present, even when we have closed our eyes in fear and cannot see what is in front of us. We who are Christian have a God who tells us to "fear not" on more than one occasion. We are told to "fear not" when we havelocked ourselves in that Upper Room through fear of deadly violence. "Fear not," we are told, when something new, such as the birth of a Divine Child, awaits us. We will only stay frozen if we focus on the terrorists instead of God's Divine Love. When we focus on the God of love, we move forward.

There is tremendous power in the act ofloving those who hate you.(Luke 6:27-28, Mat. 5:43-48)First, the cycle of violence is derailed.It does not go past you; it does not go past the present moment and into the future.It is thus a gift that we give to our children. Secondly, it creates peace in us. We no longer become creatures consumed with rage. We become a new creation. Third, as in nonviolent resistance, it challenges the other to accept your common humanity.In fact, this IS the power of nonviolent resistance that changed both the landscape of India and America. Many of our contemporary heroes, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, knew well the power of loving those who hate you.

The transformative power therein is unbelievable.It transforms the self, the one receiving the love, our society and the world at large. Light breaks into darkness. When we focus on the God of love, the world becomes brighter and the grip of terrorism loosens. When we focus on the God of love that vision of Isaiah wherein the lion and the lamb lie down next to each other moves closer to reality.

That vision, of the sword beaten into a plowshare, was not just wishful thinking. Yes, it did not happen in Isaiah's lifetime and probably won't in ours. But in our children's time? Or perhaps in their children's time? At some point, it will happen that "they will neither hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain." Each time we make the choice to return violence with love rather than hate that vision comes closer into being.

We who accept the call to love as God loves will win this battle. God rules, not terrorism or fear. We choose what will rule in our hearts - love or fear; inclusiveness or exclusiveness. It may take several generations, or only this one. But God's kingdom rules. Peace will reign.

First News of Dickinson and Belfield -April 2008

"On Using our Freedom"

America was founded mostly by Christians, true, but we forget that they would not necessarily have accepted each other as followers of Jesus Christ. Many early Americans left Europe as they were not allowed by their society to worship God as they were called to worship God. Puritans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists - all of these were persecuted at one time or another in the countries of Europe.T he wars of the Reformation devastated the German countryside as one group tried to push another out of power or force everyone else to worship in a particular fashion. The freedom of religion guaranteed by the American Constitution meant that this degree of conflict was to end; it was a dream of the peaceful coexistence of different visions of the God who is.

I am not going to defend the preaching sound bites that Fox News aired of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity UCC, Chicago.The appropriateness of his remarks are to be judged by his congregation and God, not by me or Fox News. I will defend Jeremiah Wright's right - and responsibility - to preach as he feels he has been called to preach.

I was offended by the "God damn America" sound bite when Iheard about it.My perspective on 9/11 is that of a pastor of the New York Conference whose church was only 140 miles north of New York City. Several members of my congregation had been working down there that day - one became sick from inhaling the dust from the destruction.

I went to youtube and watched the 8 minutes of sermon that preceded this sound bite. I was still bothered by the "God damn America" ofJeremiah Wright,but I understood it better.I t was uttered by an impassioned pastor of an inner city church - a black church with a completely different experience of 9/11 than my white suburban church in New York State. There are many examples of prophets in the Old Testament admonishing their leadership, just as Jeremiah Wright did in his sermon. The leadership then didn't like it any better than we do today.

I find that I was angry for a different reason when I watched the eight minutes preceding the "America's chickens are coming home to roost" sound bite aired by Fox News as if it was original Jeremiah Wright. (see http://youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ) es, Rev. Wright said this - but he was quoting a white American - Ambassador Peck. And the interview from which he quoted aired on Fox News. Wright said that Ambassador Peck"was upsetting the Fox News commentator to no end." Fox News knows well where the quote originated.

Yes, Fox News has free speech. But it has a responsibility to the truth as a source of news for the American public.Deliberate distortion meant to destroy is neither news nor free speech. As an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament, I am troubled when freedom is used only to destroy. Both sides of this story have not been told. In First Corinthians, Paul points out that we are free to do many things - but that, as Christians, we should use our freedom to lift up the other, never to destroy. As a Christian, I have to say that such is a misuse of our American freedoms.

The Rev. Jane Fissler Hoffman, Interim Conference Minister of the Southern California-Nevada Conference, is a member of Trinity UCC. She states:

" I have spoken with several reporters about our experience at Trinity but am never referred to in print, I presume because my experience is POSITIVE! Milt and I are members there very intentionally because it is a Christ centered, Spirit filled congregation where the worship is powerful; the preaching is spiritually insightful and prophetic; the welcome to all is warm and embracing; mission is both local and global ; tithing is encouraged and expected; members bring and read their Bibles; and disciples are nurtured in the faith…Do I agree with every word from Rev. Wright's mouth? No. (No more than I agree with every word my husband says! ) But I have seen and experienced the dominant direction of his whole ministry which is toward love and justice and peace for all people in the name of Jesus Christ. That is what I respect."

There once was a principle that ruled American media called the Fairness Doctrine. This decreed that both sides should have access to the airwaves. If this were still in effect, this misuse of America's freedom of speech would not have occurred. Fox News would have had to provide time to Trinity UCC and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in rebuttal. Freedom of speech only truly exists when all are given the opportunity to speak and be heard.

Much has been written by member of the UCC in response to this.Make up your own minds. Read the letters, watch the sermon excerpts, and pray for our American freedom.

Kathleen

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - March 2008

"The Dawn is Coming"

Dawn is coming, though it is yet still dark.

This sentence is the essence of Holy Week. Starting with Palm Sunday, we travel through a period of darkness, a period of obsessive self-interest, into the sunrise and dawn of a new age.

Yes, the crowd proclaims Christ King. But only because they believe they will get their heartfelt desires from this King. They expect their desire to no longer be last, to no longer be under the tyranny of the Romans to be fulfilled; their desire to come first in the scheme of things will finally come true. This King is for them, and them alone.

But Christ no sooner arrives in Jerusalem then he overturns the apple cart - or, literally, the moneychangers' booths. God's agenda, not the crowd's own interests, determines how things shall go. It is much easier for the foreigners to obtain the birds and other sacrifices in the Temple itself, and to change their money right there. Of course, it is much easier for the merchants as well - especially to charge double the value for providing the convenience. Self-interest and ease are chased out of God's house. And some get annoyed. They want things to go their way - and that is not Christ's way.

They plot - and darkness grows. The cries of "Hosanna" dim. Some forget the healing touch of Jesus as their fear of the Roman's swords return. Others, who never allowed that touch to occur, murmur with the Pharisees - and plot.Darkness grows.

"By what authority do you do these things?" Christ is asked by those in charge. He answers in parables, only understood by those who wish to make an effort. "Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him." They plot - the darkness grows.

Judas, one of the disciples, is upset that Christ will not use the power that he has over the people, over the government and the Romans. One who can heal as can Christ has the power to overcome everything on earth. He wants Christ to rule, to be the political Messiah telling people what to do and what to think. He offers to betray Christ - whether out of greed or an effort to get Christ to act as he wishes, we do not know. But darkness grows.

This darkness Jesus has already overcome with his sojourn in the wilderness and the temptation of the devil. His will is the freedom of humanity, the freedom to choose a life of plotting and darkness, as well as the freedom to choose alife of gift and light. This week, humanity chooses to plot.

On that Thursday, Jesus has his Last Supper with his disciples. On the same night he is to be betrayed, he gives the Christian Church the gift of his presence always with us. "Do this in remembrance of me," the disciples are told. And we do to this day, celebrating the gift to all of Christ love and grace as we come together around the table. But that week, humanity moves into its darkest days.

The next day, all desert the Christ. The crowd that had proclaimed him as King now proclaims him a criminal. The disciples hide.Peter denies his Lord. The women watched, but at a distance.

Jesus experiences the most degrading death that a first century Jew could experience - crucifixion. There is a hint of dawn in the words, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." But few see a hint of light on that day. The darkness falls and rules the world for two days.Hope seems lost while darkness rejoices.

But dawn comes on Easter Sunday. Those who persevere in the light of hope experience the greatest gift ever given a human being. "After Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb." Instead of his dead body, they experience his living presence saying to them, "Do not be afraid." Instead of mourning in darkness, they experience the dawn - and the gift of the presence of the risen Christ.

It was exceedingly dark, but the dawn came. The world has never been the same.

Whatever darkness and plotting comes into our lives, that gift of the presence of the risen Christ is ours as well. However those around us have chosen to use their gift of freedom, that greater gift of the presence of the risen Christ is there with us saying, "Do not be afraid."

We may find ourselves in darkness at some point in our lives, but the dawn comes.

Pastor Kathleen

(Bible quotations from the NIV Gospel of Matthew.)

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - February 2008

"Things . . .Happen"

There are verses in the Old Testament that imply if you are good, then only good things will happen to you. They also imply that if something bad happens, you must somehow deserve it. Taken to its fullest expression, this turns God into an elaborate puppet that we make do what we want by praying, behaving, etc. It labels us as failures when disaster strikes.

Although this concept DOES exist within the Old Testament (especially in Proverbs), the Book of Job refutes it. In the beginning of the book, Job follows the law to the letter, afraid he might have misspelled once. Always making sacrifices for his children as they might have misspelled, once or twice. Job is not a happy man.Instead he is filled with worry; he has not experienced God's love, only God's law.

Job is upright and faithful. And in spite of this, he is tested. His life falls apart.His friends tell him to admit his guilt - as otherwise why would bad things have happened? His wife tells him to "curse God and die." He suffers, holding on to his faith in God, but finally he gets angry. And asks God why.

God gives no answer to the "why." Instead, God shows Job how God holds the universe together. While the whirlwind that God shows Job does not answer the question why, it does show the presence of love within that whirlwind, of an order that does somehow exist in the chaos of life. Job has never "met" God before, but having met God in his descent into darkness, he now believes in God, a God who responds to his cries of pain. His faith is stronger at the end than at the beginning of the book. And the Job at the end, with his newfound faith in God, is a more joy-filled man.

God is not a puppet. Instead, God is the source of love, that love that helps us through when things do NOT go our way. A God who wants to gift us with love, especially that love that helps us when we travel through that "valley of the shadow of darkness", that holds our hands until we find ourselves surrounded by light once again. Nor are we failures, but rather beloved children of God.

In the Gospel, Jesus is asked by his disciples whose sin caused a man to be born blind. They expect him to say either the man or his parents - but Christ says, "Neither." Christ, himself, did not ascribe to the theology that if something bad happens to someone that it is deserved. His full answer is to heal the man of his blindness. When I preach on Job, I say that Christ's answer to Job's cry of pain was to take the road to Calvary. Christ's answer is to go through that "valley of the shadow of death" and on to the other side - the resurrection.

In this wilderness of our lives, things happen. They do not come as punishments. We can act as Job's wife and friends and claim that they do, we can get angry with God and ask why. We can ask for a reason. But there is no answer other than that of Christ holding our hands in the darkness. Nor can reason explain that love that travels through Good Friday to Easter. God's love and presence gives us answers that reason cannot. And we, as did Job, gain a stronger faith in the God of love.

We are heading into the wilderness of Lent. A wilderness that Christ himself traveled on the way to Easter. Our goal is also Easter, when we celebrate the gift of the resurrection that Christ came to give to us. Whatever darkness we may experience in this wilderness, we are not alone.Christ is with us.

Pastor Kathleen

NOT - the Pastor's Letter January 2008

"Dueling Ideologies"

In October, I spoke of the difference between prescriptive and descriptive theology - in which prescriptive theology has ONE, PRECISE point of view, claiming any other to be heresy, even evil. And descriptive theology states the speaker's experience of who God is, but allows that God is much more than his or her experience of God. Prescriptive theology is exclusive, while descriptive theology is inclusive.

While prescriptive theology has been around forever and has caused countless religious wars, Inquisitions and other destruction and death (including much of the population of Germany during the Reformation), the modern version is a little different. The human race is on the edge of a new era, an era when we will finally begin to hear the call to love all of God's children. A time when we will look at those who experience God differently as an occasion to learn more about who God is, rather than as a threat to "true belief" and "right thinking." Right being will take precedence; accepting that there is a reason for all the different flowers in God's garden and enjoying the view, rather than plucking out anything different than ourselves as weeds.

The modern version of prescriptive theology uses hate to derail the forward movement of the human race.It uses terrorism - both as a weapon and as a reason to hate those who are different.Islamic terrorists destroyed our confidence as a nation on 9/11. Domestic terrorists used that destruction as reason to beat up law abiding US citizens who looked Middle Eastern. Terrorism breaks into violence that calls the other less than human as they are not carbon copies of those doing the violence. We have so many places that ethnic or religious cleansing has/is occurring that it is hard to see the presence of GodHate begets hate and the forward movement of humanity grinds to a stop. Fear freezes us in place and prescriptive theology rules.

Not necessarily. God is present, even when we have closed our eyes in fear and cannot see what is in front of us. We who are Christian have a God who tells us to "fear not" on more than one occasion. We are told to "fear not" when we havelocked ourselves in that Upper Room through fear of deadly violence. "Fear not," we are told, when something new, such as the birth of a Divine Child, awaits us.We will only stay frozen if we focus on the terrorists instead of God's Divine Love. When we focus on the God of love, we move forward.

There is tremendous power in the act ofloving "those who hate you."(Luke 6:27) First, the cycle of violence is derailed.I t does not go past you; it does not go past the present moment and into the future.It is thus a gift that we give to our children. Secondly, it creates peace in us. We no longer become creatures consumed with rage. We become a new creation. Third, as in nonviolent resistance, it challenges the other to accept your common humanity. In fact, this IS the power of nonviolent resistance that changed both the landscape of India and America. Many of our contemporary heroes, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, knew well the power of loving "those who hate you."

The transformative power therein is unbelievable. It transforms the self, the one receiving the love, our society and the world at large.Light breaks into darkness. When we focus on the God of love, the world becomes brighter and the grip of terrorism loosens. When we focus on the God of love that vision of Isaiah wherein the lion and the lamb lie down next to each other moves closer to reality.

We who accept the call to love as God loves will win this battle.God rules, not terrorism or fear. We choose what will rule in our hearts - love or fear; inclusiveness or exclusiveness.I t may take several generations, or only this one. But God's kingdom rules. Peace will reign.

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - December 2007
"Holiday Thinking"

Okay - so I get to ask all the retailers that I blamed the Christmas rush on to forgive me.After working in a department store as a Holiday associate, I NOW have a different perspective on the matter.The problem is all those customers . . . . I also need to point out that Herberger's during the Holiday season is NOTHING like those videos of extreme shoppers that we see on the TV - but it still gives me a different point of view.So what is all this hubbub about?

People want the BEST for their loved ones.The best present, the best deal (that way they can afford to give TWO presents), the best. . . everything.Perhaps because they want to make up for a bad year, perhaps because their loved one needs uplifting,perhaps . . . perhaps because they really do love the other person.

THE BEST is really the relationship itself.Working on the relationship itself is not a showy thing - like a valuable piece of jewelry.It isn't a tangible thing that the other person can hold onto.But it is the BEST thing.Connection and relationship - that is what the Holiday season is really about.We re-connect with some, remember that the relationship really isn't what we would wish it to be with others, and celebrate the presence of Christ in our lives with more.The more fully Christ is present, the stronger the relationship is - even if the other person is NOT a follower of Jesus Christ.For Christ is most fully present in the warmth of love.

And then the New Year comes, and we make resolutions to improve those relationships that need improving, to strengthen those which need strengthening.And, most often, we do NOT keep these resolutions.We don't fix the relationship, we don't quit smoking.We are not as strong and confident, as we would like to be.

We forget that the source of strength is the same as the source of love.We forget that our relationships are only as strong as their foundation - that foundation which is our relationship with ourselves and with God.The best resolution would be to strengthen our relationship with God, and the others will follow.And next Christmas we will already have given the best gift, the gift of a stronger relationship with those we love - because we ourselves have a stronger relationship with our God.

There are many resources we can use to do this. Both our Conference and our Presbytery have websites with letters from our respective executives.I've included the December messages in this newsletter.I have also listed some of the respective national resources.Other online resources exist - as well as the traditional print resources that most of us are used to.Daily prayer, daily study - these serve to help connect.Volunteering helps as well.And don’t forget some time spent on that relationship that you are trying to strengthen.

We want the BEST for those we love - and with God's help, we can give our best.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Pastor Kathleen

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - November 2007

"Connections and Gratitude"

Let's see - November newsletter, so I get to talk about Thanksgiving.And this is probably at LEAST the tenth time I've written a Thanksgiving Pastor's Letter.What can I say that you haven't heard before?I bet that some of you could write this yourself.After all, we've all lived through LOTS of Thanksgiving dinners.

While Thanksgiving itself is a secular holiday, it is based on the important principle of giving thanks.Those of us with a thankful attitude are rewarded through the way we experience life.Those of us whose life is based on "gimmee this and gimmee that" find life does not meet our expectations.But we already know all this.What can I say that you haven't heard before?

I went to the Homiletics magazine website to find out what they have to say about it.Their article began with this idea:

"When Jesus said he was the bread of life, he didn’t mean he was to be our entire spiritual diet."

I started laughing, especially when the article told us to imagine Thanksgiving dinner with just bread and water.Perhaps if we were starving we would appreciate a dinner of bread and water - but what we really want is the apple pie, and the turkey and stuffing, and definitely something made out of chocolate, and wine and cheese and crackers, and . . . Oh, yes, and saying the blessing before we eat.

What the article reminded us of was that we really do need that blessing, that acknowledgement of the foundation of this secular holiday.That acknowledgement that the Pilgrims made when they made it through their first hard winter, a winter that only a remnant survived.That acknowledgement that God has been with us the entire year, that whatever we have been through that we are not alone.

But Thanksgiving - and our spiritual life - is much more than that.

I remember when my parents were alive and I was living on the east coast I would get in the car on the day before Thanksgiving - and the 4 hour drive would take about 7 hours.If I was lucky.And I felt that the trip was worth it, as my sister and her family would do the same - only their hour drive took only hour and a half.Visiting with her was worth that extra 3 hours.We would eat, and then play pinochle - and I would win.(Okay, I would only win 75% of the time.You need to lose every once in awhile or they won't play with you.)But it was not the winning that made this a memorable time, it was the re-connecting.

Re-connecting.We need these connections with other people - with our family and our friends.Christ is the foundation of our spiritual life, but our church and friends and family are necessary parts of a whole, healthy spiritual life.And these connections that we have are a major part of that for which we are thankful on the third Thursday of November each and every year.

Pastor Kathleen

First News of Dickinson and Belfield - October 2007

"Describing God"

How do we know that "God is good"? There's a greeting series that goes:

first person:"God is good."

second person:"All the time.God is good."

first person:"All the time."

When you hear people saying this series, their voices are filled with joy and meaning.In their own lives, the people speaking have has an intense experience of the goodness of God.They are not speaking from book learning; they are speaking from life-learning.And what they have learned is that a truth-filled way of describing God is "good."

When we do this, we are using descriptive theology.We are describing how God has worked in our lives, how we have experienced God to be."God is love", "God of grace," God of glory" are all phrases we use."Prince of Peace", "the Great Physician", "the Good Shepherd" - we use these to speak of our relationship with Christ.

Each of use have our own set of phrases that we use when we speak of our experience of who God is.That we have our own set does not invalidate the set that someone else has.My own experience of Christ focuses on Christ as healer and gift-giver.Others focus on Christ as the one who forgives us.

If I say that God is "green" in this fashion, my statement does not exclude all the others of the rainbow.You may only experience God as "blue."We could get to arguing over whether God is "green" or "blue" - at least until someone reminds me that all you need to do is add yellow to your "blue" to get my "green."

If I had been using another theological method - that of prescriptive theology - I never would accept that there is blue within my green world.Prescriptive theology excludes all who have a slightly different view of God.Some forms of prescriptive theology focus on the actual shade of green that God is supposed to be.

When we speak at this level, we are telling God who God is, rather than allowing God to just be."I am sorry God, but the devil created that shade of green - is doesn't belong to you", we say, forgetting that God created the rainbow.Forgetting, also, that God declared to Moses, "I am who am."

God created us and our ability to reason.We cannot contain God in our thoughts; we can only dimly hint at that reality of who God is.When we describe God, we include all of who God is - even those aspects of God that no human person (other than Christ) has experienced.We include all of God's children as well.

Take care,

Pastor Kathleen

Previous Pastor's Letters

2007 - July-September 2007 - April - June 2007 - January - March
2006 - October - December 2006 - to September

Sermons - this is the beginning of a sermon from Kathleen's 9-sermon series on her understanding of what makes the United Churchof Christ unique. Links to the rest of that sermon as well as any others that have been posted are after the excerpt.