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Thomas is Us

Peace Be With You
John 20: 19-31

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Thomas’ doubts are really ours. That’s why the Gospel of John tells this story. The gospel writer tells us himself that there are so many stories that could be told about Jesus, that he couldn’t begin to tell them all; so he clearly has chosen the story of Thomas’ doubts to make a point. And the point is that Thomas doubts the same thing that we do. How does a pie-in-the-sky religion address our concrete reality here on earth? People are wounded, people are bleeding. A spiritualized, other-worldly faith really doesn’t offer much hope for a wounded, bleeding world, does it?Read More »Thomas is Us

Stop Trying to Understand, and Believe!

Appearances Deceiving
By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
Easter Day, 2015
John 20: 1-18
Isaiah 25: 6-9

How do we believe what we don’t understand?

That’s what happens to the disciple who loved Jesus when he entered the tomb and saw Jesus’ shroud lying there where Jesus’ body had once lain. The Bible says, “He saw and believed,” but then adds, “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” So the disciple who entered the tomb—John, the gospel writer—believes, even though he doesn’t understand. Apparently his theology is not sufficient to cope with what he is experiencing. Apparently he doesn’t fully grasp the intricacies of the Chalcedonian Definition of the Dual Nature of Jesus, or the Five Points of Calvinism. Worse, he doesn’t understand the most basic, basic, core principle of Christianity: the actual resurrection of Jesus our Lord. John, the apostle, the Gospel writer, the Disciple who Jesus loved, John himself doesn’t understand that Jesus is raised from the dead!

And yet, he believes.Read More »Stop Trying to Understand, and Believe!

The Irresistible Gravity of the Grace of God

The Irresistible Gravity of the Grace of God

John 12:20-33

Jeremiah 31: 31-34

Probably the best known story about Jesus is the story of his prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, before He is about to be arrested, tried, and executed. Jesus knows what’s coming, so he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. As Mark tells it, Jesus “fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

After he prays though, God has shored up his confidence, and Jesus goes to his sleeping disciples and says, “Awake, the hour has come.” And right then Judas comes leading a mob to capture Jesus and take him to the high priest.Read More »The Irresistible Gravity of the Grace of God

Hoping Against Hope

Hoping against Hope
Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16
Romans 4: 13-25
Mark 8: 31-38

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Several years ago I was feeling a bit depressed about my kids. You know how it is with kids: They’re born and it’s great, but it’s downhill from there. My daughter was getting ready to go off to college, and I was concerned that I hadn’t done enough to prepare her. It suddenly seemed that time had telescoped, and that I only had a few months to teach her everything she needed to know to be an adult, and that I should have done more to get her ready for the real world. I was talking to Shirley Meinen about it, and she said the most amazing thing. She said, “You know, our kids are in their forties, and our relationship to them is better than ever. It’s grown and changed over the years. Your relationship with your kids doesn’t end when they go off to college. You have it the rest of your lives.”Read More »Hoping Against Hope

The Myth of Redemptive Violence

Rainbow Connection
by Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
February 22, 2015
First Sunday of Lent
Genesis 9: 8-17

Chaos. Disorder. That’s what seems to be on the news all the time. The rise of ISIS. The spread of diseases. Civil unrest. And let’s be honest—ever since 9/11 people have been afraid. Certainly we’ve been afraid of things real and tangible, but fear has also been exploited—by politicians, by the news media, by entertainment. It’s a fear of a rising tide of chaos and unrest.

And yet, our Gospel tells us (Mark 1: 9-15) that Jesus came to proclaim “good news.” How can we proclaim–and believe–good news in these challenging times?Read More »The Myth of Redemptive Violence

St. Stephen's Resurrection Windows

Sin: Off Target

 

Off Target

by Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch

Ash Wednesday 2015

2 Corinthians 5: 20b-6:10

I’ve only shot a firearm once, when I was pastor of my first church in Virginia. It was not AT one of my parishioners, but WITH one: one of my deacons, Don Herring, was a retired Navy firearms instructor. He took me out to his private firing range out in the woods to fire a musket–Don and his wife were big Civil War re-enactors as well. He showed me the complicated loading process, which involved ramming the powder, wadding, and ball in exactly right, and in the right order. He pointed out that to this day they’re finding old muskets on Civil War battlefields loaded with unfired balls stacked up on top of one another, from panicked troopers loading their muskets incorrectly.Read More »Sin: Off Target

What Do We Have in Common?

What Do We Have in Common?

Mark 1: 21-31

Friday night, a number of St. Stephen folks went to Congregation Beth El to celebrate their annual Sisterhood Shabbat, sponsored by the Women of Reform Judaism—like our Presbyterian Women. It was a beautiful evening. There were a number of us, but also some folks from Broadway Baptist. Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger and I preached a dialogue sermon. There was the naming ceremony for a new baby girl, after which a quintet of women came up and sang a simply beautiful blessing to the baby—it brought tears to some folks’ eyes. Afterward, we all gathered for a seeming feast of desserts and socialized for about an hour. One of Jewish hosts commented to me, “I think there’s a Christian in every Jew, and a Jew in every Christian, don’t you?” All I can say is, I hope so. Jews and Christians clearly have a lot in common.Read More »What Do We Have in Common?

God is a Warrior? Dialogue Between Rabbi Mecklenburger and Dr. Ritsch

“God is a Warrior”

Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger and Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
Sisterhood Interfaith Shabbat, Jan. 30, 2015
Exodus 14: 3-15: 6, 11

Rev. Dr. Ritsch was invited to do a dialogue sermon with Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger of Temple Beth El in Fort Worth. Each contributed a portion, to which the other responds. The Temple graciously hosted the event, at which many St. Stephen members were present.

Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger:

That is quite a Torah portion from which we just read! The exultation which Moses, Miriam and the Israelites felt is understandable and very human. They had been slaves. They finally escaped. And then suddenly they saw the Egyptian armies chasing them–to kill them, or return them to slavery. But (we all know the story) they escape on dry land through the sea. The Egyptian armies chase after them. Just as they (we!) reach safety on the far shore, God commands the waters to return, drowning Pharaoh’s legions. So the Israelites break out in songs of jubilation.Read More »God is a Warrior? Dialogue Between Rabbi Mecklenburger and Dr. Ritsch

Witness of Resurrection for Charlie Bourland

Psalm 34
First Corinthians 13
Mark 10:13-16

Jesus loved children. In those days, children were treated as just slightly a higher life form than animals, but Jesus saw something different in them. It was consistent with Jesus’ approach to everything and everyone. The self-important, those that the world considers successful and important–those people Jesus considered irrelevant, often evil, and certainly lost and in need of direction. It was the poor—the marginalized—the disabled—the diseased—the low class—the humble—the least of these that He thought were the most important. And so he didn’t consider adulthood to be of much account either. Childhood is what matters. “To such as these belong the Kingdom of God.”

To such as Charlie.Read More »Witness of Resurrection for Charlie Bourland

Mark Scott’s Sermon

Mark’s Sermon

by Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch

Phil. 4: 4-9
John 15: 1-13

Mark’s sister Sue says that when Mark was about 11, he decided he wanted a desk for his room. He cut a deal with a local furniture store to buy himself a very nice desk for which he’d pay a dollar a week. So far as I know it’s paid off. Anyway, his mom wanted to check his desk drawers to find out what was in them, I suppose for the usual reasons moms do such things; and discovered to her chagrin that even though there was no lock on the drawer, she could not open it! And though she demanded an explanation, or a key, Mark never let her open it. It turned out that Mark had taken a drill, drilled holes on both sides of the drawer from underneath, and stuck nails in either side so it couldn’t be opened.Read More »Mark Scott’s Sermon