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Sermons

Hearts Wide Open

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
The title for today’s reflections, Hearts Wide Open, initially emerged from one of the assigned bible readings for today that we didn’t hear read from 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians was going to be one of our two readings on which to reflect, but through the events of this past week the Spirit has shifted our attention to the Psalm instead. However, the title of the sermon—Hearts Wide Open—is what I would like to offer before you in this sacred space this morning. For, Beloved, in a time of desert places and wild seas, I am going to ask you to turn away from the turmoil. Get comfortable. If y...
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Holy-Scattered-About

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
From the mustard seed to the cosmos, the complexity of everything that surrounds us is unveiled today in its simplicity through the parables. A person scattering seeds with wild abandon. Who is it? God? Jesus? Us? It is as if we grasp it all… but yet not. There is a grand Truth here that we understand, but don’t quite get. Here in this space faith, science, technology, and Word intersect. Merge. Stretch. It is as if Jesus was calling on us to see things differently. This isn’t so dissimilar from what the world of science is revealing to us. In his chapter on The Architecture of the Cosmos, ...
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Too Jesus-y?

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
This morning I am coming back to Wisconsin following a week of listening to 20(ish) amazingly amazing preachers, with an unlikely question. Last week I spent 6 days in Washington, D.C., at the Festival of Homiletics. Homiletics. One of those funny church words that my husband always accuses me of making up. As in, when I say “homiletics,” and he says “you are just making up words now…” Homiletics. Preaching. From sessions entitled, “Preaching to Save the Soul of a Nation,” with Rev. Cynthia Hale, to “Jesus vs. Rome: The Biblical Politics of Gratitude” with Diana Butler Bass, to attending Hi...
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Overhearing God

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
Shhh!!! Listen. We are given opportunities to overhear. Overhear God. God’s prayer. God’s prayer for creation. The world. The Church. Us. A word of hope. Love. Support. Transformation. A sending out. Continuing the story. But too often we miss out on the opportunities to be fully immersed in God’s prayer. We miss out on the opportunities right before our eyes. Jesus here. Jesus now. Praying. Through every breath, every movement, every conversation that we have: with young, old, family, friends, strangers. All too often we don’t see, don’t hear, don’t get—what is… right… here… And this is...
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Becoming God

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
Imagine a world free from disease and hunger. Cancer is cured. Genetic imperfections are corrected. Transmittable diseases are prevented. You never get the flu or a cold. No one has diabetes and heart disease. Children never die of malnutrition. Imagine a world like that. Then try to imagine the consequences. The story of Adam and Eve is a creation story. But its purpose was not scientific or historical accuracy, but rather to account for why people are the way they are. It is a story about mortality, the loss of innocence, self-awareness, responsibility and consequences. Let’s take a look....
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Will We Find… ?

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
Wondering about the wandering sheep. Lost. Snatched. Scattered. A sin revealed, named, in the simplicity of a hashtag. The complexity of a movement. Before I step too far into the reflection for today, I wanted to take a moment and remind you about those elusive hashtags that can be so unsettling. Just what are they? You have likely heard about hashtags, and seen them embedded in news reports and advertisements on T.V. and social media. For example, from the Super Bowl, do you remember Coke’s #AmericanIsBeautiful? Or Amazon’s ad, “#JustAsk Alexa”? No? How about the, “It’s a #TideAd”? Has...
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Moved to Hunger

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
I have learned, that in my personal faith journey, issues of hunger, feeling fed, and the community that is built around food, are important lenses through which I encounter God—and this has been revealed for me through a variety of life moments. For food is an integral part of our culture. Our identity. Our wholeness. Our survival. Our relationships. Our sacraments. Food is infused with Holiness. In the first creation story, God provides a healthy vegetarian diet for us, the human creature saying, “…every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed ...
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Touch Deeply

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
The story begins with: A locked room. Fear. Across the eons—how many locked rooms? People gathered in fear. Alone. In fear. Grief. Pain. Panic. Anger. Shame. Guilt.   Last week, on Easter morning, we encountered Mary Magdalene in her own moment of grief. Her need to immerse herself in the horrific loss she had witnessed. In the darkness of the early morning, she needed to be there. At the grave. With the death. There, as other disciples peaked in and saw emptiness, she wept. And then-the unexpected-Jesus shows up. There, Mary saw… Jesus. There, she talked… with Jesus....
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Something Unexpected

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
There is something about Easter morning. The resurrection. For while we know the story, this is something unexpected. This has to be an April Fool’s joke, right? An empty tomb. Life overcoming death. But we also know the science. We have definitions for “life,” and descriptions of “death.” God breaths into the human creature. Life emerges. The heart beats. Brainwaves pulse.   And now, today, we gather here as a people of the resurrection. That ridiculous idea of life overcoming death. The proclamation that love reigns over fear. In the mystery, theologian Marjorie Suchocki notes, “That whic...
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Were You There? Marching for Our Lives

Posted on by Kristin Gorton
This morning, having heard the retelling of Jesus entering Jerusalem, I have to ask you – were you there? They were marching for their lives. So many people had gathered at the gates to enter the city. Were you one of them? The dust and the colors that swirled around as people pushed in the mob to celebrate Passover. Ahhh. How I loved the excitement, the thrill of being in the midst of the crowd. The smells of so much life, so many people, animals, food, pouring together out onto the streets was penetrating. And then the singing began. People shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed by the...
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