In My Lifetime

"Many Gifts, One Spirit" Sunday, January 16, 2022 Epiphany II, MLK Day, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life

Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.

 

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past

and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

 

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

 

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Excerpt from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

CLICK HERE for Audio of Reading from 1 Corinthians 12     

The Wisdom of the Apostle Paul  (1 Corinthians 12.4-11)

There are different varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different forms of activity, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

To each of us, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one, is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom; and to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit. Another by the same Spirit is granted faith, while still another is granted the gift of healing by the same Spirit.

To one, is granted the gift of mighty deeds; to another, the gift of prophecy; and to yet another, the gift to discern spirits. One receives the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing them individually to each person as the Spirit wills.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of  "One Spirit Many Gifts"  01162022     

One Spirit, Many Gifts

“To each of us, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…”

This passage from 1 Corinthians is a beautiful expansion upon the guiding principles of the great faiths of every religion on the planet… Treat others the way you would like to be treated and love your neighbor as yourself. And the great directive of theJewish tradition is the mandate to “treat the stranger as though they are part of your own family because you were once a stranger and you know how that feels.”

Never have these ideals been more important than today. As we went to sleep last night praying for the safety of the hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Coleyville, Texas we spend this day, tomorrow, and every day reflecting on the dream The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed.

We all have a part to play in this great struggle between good and evil, between racism and equality, between division and unity. Each of us are filled with the same spark of divinity, the same spirit of love, that manifests in many different ways as Paul wrote to the Corinthians. We are each called to enact our part in the drama of life, working for justice, and living in love.

None of us can do it alone. We must all work together to bring Dr. King’s dream to a lived reality.  Each of us has a gift to contribute. Each of us has our own individual part to play in manifesting justice love in this world. Just as evil can never triumph over good, darkness can never overcome light. And let us all embrace the scientific truth that light is made up of a spectrum of color that is both seen and unseen, color that gathered together illuminates the beauty of creation like the mountains bathed in sunshine and the darkness of the night banished by the light of the dawn.

In the United States, tomorrow is the day set aside to remember that dream, the dream of a young black preacher who stood up and spoke truth to power, a young person who did not capitulate to the powers that, to this day, hold a racist hierarchy in place in the US and in many other countries around the world. King dreamed of a day when there would be no “us and them” no group who would refer to their neighbors as “other.”

Today we remember that young black preacher who dreamed. His words are more eloquent than any I could offer here today. So let us hear the sacred words of that young preacher again…

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black … and white … , Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

These words cannot be realized unless we all work for justice. This dream can never become a reality without each of us contributing our own particular gifts in the battle for justice to overcome the evil that divides us. Even though our brother Martin now sleeps, we are awake and alive to carry forth his dream of justice. Ken Yehi Ratzon Let it be so. Amen

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SCSL_20220116

 

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past

and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

 

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

 

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Excerpt from "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

CLICK HERE for Audio of Reading from 1 Corinthians 12     

The Wisdom of the Apostle Paul  (1 Corinthians 12.4-11)

There are different varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different forms of activity, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

To each of us, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one, is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom; and to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit. Another by the same Spirit is granted faith, while still another is granted the gift of healing by the same Spirit.

To one, is granted the gift of mighty deeds; to another, the gift of prophecy; and to yet another, the gift to discern spirits. One receives the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing them individually to each person as the Spirit wills.

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of  "One Spirit Many Gifts"  01162022     

One Spirit, Many Gifts

“To each of us, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…”

This passage from 1 Corinthians is a beautiful expansion upon the guiding principles of the great faiths of every religion on the planet… Treat others the way you would like to be treated and love your neighbor as yourself. And the great directive of theJewish tradition is the mandate to “treat the stranger as though they are part of your own family because you were once a stranger and you know how that feels.”

Never have these ideals been more important than today. As we went to sleep last night praying for the safety of the hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Coleyville, Texas we spend this day, tomorrow, and every day reflecting on the dream The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed.

We all have a part to play in this great struggle between good and evil, between racism and equality, between division and unity. Each of us are filled with the same spark of divinity, the same spirit of love, that manifests in many different ways as Paul wrote to the Corinthians. We are each called to enact our part in the drama of life, working for justice, and living in love.

None of us can do it alone. We must all work together to bring Dr. King’s dream to a lived reality.  Each of us has a gift to contribute. Each of us has our own individual part to play in manifesting justice love in this world. Just as evil can never triumph over good, darkness can never overcome light. And let us all embrace the scientific truth that light is made up of a spectrum of color that is both seen and unseen, color that gathered together illuminates the beauty of creation like the mountains bathed in sunshine and the darkness of the night banished by the light of the dawn.

In the United States, tomorrow is the day set aside to remember that dream, the dream of a young black preacher who stood up and spoke truth to power, a young person who did not capitulate to the powers that, to this day, hold a racist hierarchy in place in the US and in many other countries around the world. King dreamed of a day when there would be no “us and them” no group who would refer to their neighbors as “other.”

Today we remember that young black preacher who dreamed. His words are more eloquent than any I could offer here today. So let us hear the sacred words of that young preacher again…

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black … and white … , Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

These words cannot be realized unless we all work for justice. This dream can never become a reality without each of us contributing our own particular gifts in the battle for justice to overcome the evil that divides us. Even though our brother Martin now sleeps, we are awake and alive to carry forth his dream of justice. Ken Yehi Ratzon Let it be so. Amen

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SCSL_20220116

"Return to Love" Sunday, January 9, 2022 Epiphany, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life

Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

            Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Readings    

The Wisdom of Nona Brooks

 “God formed the universe out of [God’s] own substance…all that is…is Spirit; for, since Omnipresence is…there can be but one substance, and that substance must be the substance that is omnipresent, the God-substance.” 

The Wisdom of Christina Knox-Walthall

“There is only one presence and power in the entire universe…God, the Good, omnipotent. God created all space, the same God of love who made our planet made all planets and stars. The same God created all [people] in [the divine] image and likeness…All of space is filled with the same loving and protecting Spirit of God. Let us trust this loving Spirit within all [people]. Let us know that it is everywhere present.”

CLICK HERE for Audio of Gospel  

A Reading from the Gospel of Luke  (3.15-17, 21-22)

As the people began to experience a feeling of expectancy, they all wondered in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.  John answered, telling them all: “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to loosen the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

After John had baptized all the people, and while Jesus was engaged in prayer after also having been baptized, heaven opened and the holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved One; in you I am well pleased.”

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of "Return to Love"     

These days we often think of fire as the great destroyer of homes, businesses, wilderness, and human life. Over these past few years out of control wildfires have swept through populated areas around the globe wiping out everything in its path. Just this past week in the United States in Philadelphia a fire claimed 13 lives in one building, 7 of them children. Just outside Denver week before last there were as many as 1000 homes consumed in a matter of hours by fire.

But fire just as often keeps us alive. Tomorrow night when the temperature hits 5 degrees Fahrenheit / -15 degrees Celsius I will be very grateful for the fire that warms the water in the heating system in my home as I lay cozy in my bed. I will be grateful for the fire the burns in my water heater for my hot shower, the gas fireplace in my office, and the blue flames of my stove and oven in my kitchen.

You see fire is fire. When it is harnessed and controlled for our wellbeing it is a life giving element eclipsed only by water in its importance to sustaining human life. When it is out of control, swept by wind and dry conditions or coming from the center of the earth in a volcano it can destroy everything in its path. So is fire good or bad, a force for good or ill? The answer – it depends.

Fire is  a little bit like humans themselves really. We can be a force for good in the world, helping others, encouraging those who are discouraged, giving a hand to those in need. Or we can become self-centered, greedy, hateful, destructive to ourselves and those around us. But in the end, humans are humans and we are all made of the same stuff, created in the image of love that we call God. But we make a choice about how we will interact with the world.

When John was baptizing people and urging them to repent from their sins he was giving them a ritual to follow to remind us that we are not by nature evil, we are by nature good. And when we forget who we are we can symbolically wash away the stain of sin and death by entering the waters of baptism. But John knew that more was necessary than a ritual or even putting our will to bear upon our short comings. John knew that what is necessary to return to our true nature is a spiritual awakening, which he described as a cleansing fire that the teachings of Jesus would bring to our consciousness.

Today we celebrate Epiphany. This feast day in the Christian calendar commemorates two events of awakening and acknowledgement of God interacting with humanity – the Magi’s journey and visit to the child Jesus and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism. In the institutional church this feast day is described as the revelation of Jesus’ divinity, first to the Gentiles in the acknowledgment of these three foreign kings who journeyed over weeks and months to pay homage to him and in his baptism to those people who were in and near his own hometown, there with his own people and his early followers.

I guess what I’m thinking about today is the miracle that is embodied in the birth of every single human child. What a miracle this is when a baby is born. If you’ve ever been at or near the birth of a child you know that feeling, that RUSH of psychic energy that moves through a room when the child takes its first breath and cries. It makes me tingle just to think of it.

And I’m thinking about all of the other people who were at the Jordan river that day when Jesus was baptized. Did they see the dove flying above them? Did they hear the voice of God saying, not just to Jesus, but to them as well, “This is my belove child in whom I am well pleased”? If we are all made in the image of the One God can one of us be more special to God than another? I don’t think so. I believe that all of the stories that depict God loving Jesus give us a glimpse of how much God loves us.

And before you ask… no I do not think that any loving parent would make a human sacrifice of their child to appease a system that they themselves set up. But that is a discussion for another day. Our focus today is on the reality that we are all made from the same stardust that is the substance of the universe, the very substance of God. At our very essence we are love. And whether we are aware of it or not has no bearing on its truth.

As we begin this New Year in 2022 let us begin the journey back to our own birth, back to that moment of pure love, pure vulnerability, pure trust in God. And let us awaken to our own essence, our own belovedness as Jesus did at his baptism. Let us return to the beginning when all we knew was love. Amen.

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SL20220109

 

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

            Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Readings    

The Wisdom of Nona Brooks

 “God formed the universe out of [God’s] own substance…all that is…is Spirit; for, since Omnipresence is…there can be but one substance, and that substance must be the substance that is omnipresent, the God-substance.” 

The Wisdom of Christina Knox-Walthall

“There is only one presence and power in the entire universe…God, the Good, omnipotent. God created all space, the same God of love who made our planet made all planets and stars. The same God created all [people] in [the divine] image and likeness…All of space is filled with the same loving and protecting Spirit of God. Let us trust this loving Spirit within all [people]. Let us know that it is everywhere present.”

CLICK HERE for Audio of Gospel  

A Reading from the Gospel of Luke  (3.15-17, 21-22)

As the people began to experience a feeling of expectancy, they all wondered in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.  John answered, telling them all: “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to loosen the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

After John had baptized all the people, and while Jesus was engaged in prayer after also having been baptized, heaven opened and the holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved One; in you I am well pleased.”

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of "Return to Love"     

These days we often think of fire as the great destroyer of homes, businesses, wilderness, and human life. Over these past few years out of control wildfires have swept through populated areas around the globe wiping out everything in its path. Just this past week in the United States in Philadelphia a fire claimed 13 lives in one building, 7 of them children. Just outside Denver week before last there were as many as 1000 homes consumed in a matter of hours by fire.

But fire just as often keeps us alive. Tomorrow night when the temperature hits 5 degrees Fahrenheit / -15 degrees Celsius I will be very grateful for the fire that warms the water in the heating system in my home as I lay cozy in my bed. I will be grateful for the fire the burns in my water heater for my hot shower, the gas fireplace in my office, and the blue flames of my stove and oven in my kitchen.

You see fire is fire. When it is harnessed and controlled for our wellbeing it is a life giving element eclipsed only by water in its importance to sustaining human life. When it is out of control, swept by wind and dry conditions or coming from the center of the earth in a volcano it can destroy everything in its path. So is fire good or bad, a force for good or ill? The answer – it depends.

Fire is  a little bit like humans themselves really. We can be a force for good in the world, helping others, encouraging those who are discouraged, giving a hand to those in need. Or we can become self-centered, greedy, hateful, destructive to ourselves and those around us. But in the end, humans are humans and we are all made of the same stuff, created in the image of love that we call God. But we make a choice about how we will interact with the world.

When John was baptizing people and urging them to repent from their sins he was giving them a ritual to follow to remind us that we are not by nature evil, we are by nature good. And when we forget who we are we can symbolically wash away the stain of sin and death by entering the waters of baptism. But John knew that more was necessary than a ritual or even putting our will to bear upon our short comings. John knew that what is necessary to return to our true nature is a spiritual awakening, which he described as a cleansing fire that the teachings of Jesus would bring to our consciousness.

Today we celebrate Epiphany. This feast day in the Christian calendar commemorates two events of awakening and acknowledgement of God interacting with humanity – the Magi’s journey and visit to the child Jesus and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus at his baptism. In the institutional church this feast day is described as the revelation of Jesus’ divinity, first to the Gentiles in the acknowledgment of these three foreign kings who journeyed over weeks and months to pay homage to him and in his baptism to those people who were in and near his own hometown, there with his own people and his early followers.

I guess what I’m thinking about today is the miracle that is embodied in the birth of every single human child. What a miracle this is when a baby is born. If you’ve ever been at or near the birth of a child you know that feeling, that RUSH of psychic energy that moves through a room when the child takes its first breath and cries. It makes me tingle just to think of it.

And I’m thinking about all of the other people who were at the Jordan river that day when Jesus was baptized. Did they see the dove flying above them? Did they hear the voice of God saying, not just to Jesus, but to them as well, “This is my belove child in whom I am well pleased”? If we are all made in the image of the One God can one of us be more special to God than another? I don’t think so. I believe that all of the stories that depict God loving Jesus give us a glimpse of how much God loves us.

And before you ask… no I do not think that any loving parent would make a human sacrifice of their child to appease a system that they themselves set up. But that is a discussion for another day. Our focus today is on the reality that we are all made from the same stardust that is the substance of the universe, the very substance of God. At our very essence we are love. And whether we are aware of it or not has no bearing on its truth.

As we begin this New Year in 2022 let us begin the journey back to our own birth, back to that moment of pure love, pure vulnerability, pure trust in God. And let us awaken to our own essence, our own belovedness as Jesus did at his baptism. Let us return to the beginning when all we knew was love. Amen.

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SL20220109

 

"Come and See" Sunday, January 2, 2022 Christmas II, Sunshine Cathedral of Second Life

Please join us in the virtual world of Second Life each Sunday at 2pm Pacific/ 5pm Eastern time. Download the interface at Secondlife.com, create your avatar, and join us at Sunshine Cathedral.

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

            Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Readings

The Wisdom of Barbara L. Wolfe

 “[Jesus]…said we were to do greater works than he did. At this stage of our development we find this nearly impossible to believe, but this is our destiny. I remember the words and the work of Jesus the Christ. I follow [the] way to the best of my present understanding. Miracles come to pass as I grow in consciousness.”

The Wisdom of Albert C. Grier

“[Jesus was] not like [God] but [was] one with God…He…many times called himself the Son of [Humanity]. That Jesus revealed God is true, but even more true it is that he revealed [humanity].”

CLICK HERE for Audio of Gospel

A Reading from the Fourth Gospel (John 1.35-46)

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus pass by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” On hearing him say this, the two disciples began to follow Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He answered them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him for the rest of that day. 

One of the two who had heard John speak and had followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. The first thing Andrew did was to seek out his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah” and he took him to Jesus. Jesus gazed at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, translated, is “Peter”).

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Encountering Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one [the One for whom we’ve been waiting]—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of Reflection "Come and See"

"Come and See"

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Sounds familiar somehow doesn’t it? We’ve all heard it … Can anything good come from Frankfurt? Can anything good come from Mexico? Can anything good come from Iran? Can anything good come from Mississippi or Alabama? Can anything good come from the south side of Chicago, or south central LA, or Harlem, or the French Quarter, or…? We make assumptions about people based on where they live or where they come from all the time.

Our reading today from the first chapter of the gospel according to John jolts me every time I read it. I can hear Nathaniel sneering… “Nazareth? Give me a break. I’m not going to hear some bum from Nazareth. The messiah coming from Nazareth, ridiculous. I mean come on, can anything good come from Nazareth?” Even today, Nazareth is known as “the Arab capital of Israel” and if you’ve ever visited Israel you know that name is not one of honor but one of ridicule and disdain.

What causes us to make judgments about people based on where they come from? When traveling in Europe, people from the US (often referred to as Americans) are often judged as boorish or rude because they have been treated badly by someone from the US in the past. We all know that people with darker skin are treated dramatically differently in many western countries because they were originally brought to these lands as slaves or came as immigrants.

This is a good lesson for us on the first Sunday in the new year 2022. I am just a guilty as anyone I know for making judgments about people’s character based on where they come from. It’s not something I’m proud of mind you but it’s there inside me. I grew up in the racist and still segregated southern US. I’ve lived outside the country and experienced how people from the US are viewed from other countries. I now live in a state with one of the highest vaccination rates, the lowest crime rates, and the best healthcare in the world. Where I’m from, where I’ve lived, and where I live now defines me to some extent but only because people make assumptions about me based on those tidbits of information about me.

Here we are on the second Sunday, the last Sunday, in Christmastide. Next week the creche will be gone, the Christmas decorations will be put away for another year and we begin again, a new year that we all hope and pray will be better but one we all dread will find some way to be even worse than last year. We’re making assumptions based on past experience. A friend of mine described anticipating the coming new year as looking at a door ajar and timidly pushing it open slowly with a long stick, terrified of what is behind that door.

We’ve also made a lot of assumptions about what Christmas is all about. Last week I said I want to know the true meaning of Christmas. Each year I struggle to understand what it’s all about. I honestly struggle to understand why the season captivates people who do not identify as Christian and those who do not view Jesus as the Messiah sent to save the world from sin.

Our reading from Albert C. Grier today contains, perhaps, one of the most important sentences I’ve ever read, “That Jesus revealed God is true, but even more true it is that he revealed [humanity].” I read it this way, the birth of Jesus reminds us that we are made in the image of the creator of the universe and that every single human being is precious to God and ought to be treated as such. The way Jesus lived, what he taught about economic justice, the way he brought healing to people in need, AND the way he spoke truth to power, when those in power were oppressing the people, IS what we are at our core.

I just do not subscribe to the doctrine that Jesus was without sin. I simply do not believe it. If Jesus was fully human then he became angry and lashed out at people and we have a record of this in the gospels. He ridiculed the Pharisees, he was hideously disrespectful to the Syrophoenician woman who asked for healing for her little daughter, he became so enraged that he overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. Jesus was no meek and mild savior no matter how he’s “white washed” by some who make his very human nature into an idol that no longer even resembles a human being.

Jesus was born to young people who were not even yet married, born into poverty, because a refugee in Egypt at a young age, grew up the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, got tired, became angry, loved deeply and I sincerely hope he had sexual experiences. He wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He even disrespected his own mother when she pushed him to help the wedding couple at the wedding in Cana when the shame of running out of wine would have been a terrible social stigma for them. He ate with sinners, disappeared into the  wilderness to rest… by all accounts Jesus was a person just like you and me.

But we try to make Jesus into something greater than ourselves. We ignore the reality that Jesus told his disciples in John 14:12 that they could do greater things than he was doing if they only believed they could do it. And this is the message of this last Sunday in Christmastide for us as well.

Jesus was born just like us. Jesus was born to unwed parents into impoverished circumstances. Jesus was taken from his homeland as an immigrant to another country to escape certain death. Jesus grew up the son of a carpenter, a tradesman, in a town that was rural and viewed with disdain. Jesus had real human experiences and showed us the way to be better people. Jesus was one of us and if Jesus is divine as most Christians believe, then we TOO are divine, made in the image of a loving creator and put here on earth to care for creation and for each other.

As we begin this new year 2022 we are not called to be meek and mild and “accept” the “choice” of those who refuse to be vaccinated and put us all at risk in a worldwide pandemic. We are called to speak truth to power, to advocate for those who have no privilege and therefore no voice. We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, work for prison reform and truly care for those who are incarcerated, and in all cases do everything we can to ensure that everyone has access to healthcare, yes that’s what all those healing miracles were about.

We can do this. How do I know? Well there was a man named Jesus, born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth who lived a life that is our pattern for living a successful, meaningful life. Yes it’s dangerous to live that way. He was brutally executed at 33 years old for refusing to capitulate to the status quo. We must acknowledge that living in the pattern of Jesus is not always easy or safe.

“Nathanael said to [Philip], ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see.’” When we get to know each other we get to know Jesus. When we see our true selves and uncover the deep love that is placed in our heart by God we have a little glimpse of what Christmas really means. Amen.

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SL20220102

 

Call to Worship

Sunshine Cathedral is a different kind of church

where the past is past and the future has infinite possibilities!

This is the day our God has made.

            Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Opening Prayer

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy names. Amen.

The Lessons

CLICK HERE for Audio of Readings

The Wisdom of Barbara L. Wolfe

 “[Jesus]…said we were to do greater works than he did. At this stage of our development we find this nearly impossible to believe, but this is our destiny. I remember the words and the work of Jesus the Christ. I follow [the] way to the best of my present understanding. Miracles come to pass as I grow in consciousness.”

The Wisdom of Albert C. Grier

“[Jesus was] not like [God] but [was] one with God…He…many times called himself the Son of [Humanity]. That Jesus revealed God is true, but even more true it is that he revealed [humanity].”

CLICK HERE for Audio of Gospel

A Reading from the Fourth Gospel (John 1.35-46)

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus pass by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” On hearing him say this, the two disciples began to follow Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He answered them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him for the rest of that day. 

One of the two who had heard John speak and had followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. The first thing Andrew did was to seek out his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah” and he took him to Jesus. Jesus gazed at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, translated, is “Peter”).

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Encountering Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one [the One for whom we’ve been waiting]—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”

Reflection by Rev. Dr. BK Hipsher

CLICK HERE for Audio of Reflection "Come and See"

"Come and See"

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Sounds familiar somehow doesn’t it? We’ve all heard it … Can anything good come from Frankfurt? Can anything good come from Mexico? Can anything good come from Iran? Can anything good come from Mississippi or Alabama? Can anything good come from the south side of Chicago, or south central LA, or Harlem, or the French Quarter, or…? We make assumptions about people based on where they live or where they come from all the time.

Our reading today from the first chapter of the gospel according to John jolts me every time I read it. I can hear Nathaniel sneering… “Nazareth? Give me a break. I’m not going to hear some bum from Nazareth. The messiah coming from Nazareth, ridiculous. I mean come on, can anything good come from Nazareth?” Even today, Nazareth is known as “the Arab capital of Israel” and if you’ve ever visited Israel you know that name is not one of honor but one of ridicule and disdain.

What causes us to make judgments about people based on where they come from? When traveling in Europe, people from the US (often referred to as Americans) are often judged as boorish or rude because they have been treated badly by someone from the US in the past. We all know that people with darker skin are treated dramatically differently in many western countries because they were originally brought to these lands as slaves or came as immigrants.

This is a good lesson for us on the first Sunday in the new year 2022. I am just a guilty as anyone I know for making judgments about people’s character based on where they come from. It’s not something I’m proud of mind you but it’s there inside me. I grew up in the racist and still segregated southern US. I’ve lived outside the country and experienced how people from the US are viewed from other countries. I now live in a state with one of the highest vaccination rates, the lowest crime rates, and the best healthcare in the world. Where I’m from, where I’ve lived, and where I live now defines me to some extent but only because people make assumptions about me based on those tidbits of information about me.

Here we are on the second Sunday, the last Sunday, in Christmastide. Next week the creche will be gone, the Christmas decorations will be put away for another year and we begin again, a new year that we all hope and pray will be better but one we all dread will find some way to be even worse than last year. We’re making assumptions based on past experience. A friend of mine described anticipating the coming new year as looking at a door ajar and timidly pushing it open slowly with a long stick, terrified of what is behind that door.

We’ve also made a lot of assumptions about what Christmas is all about. Last week I said I want to know the true meaning of Christmas. Each year I struggle to understand what it’s all about. I honestly struggle to understand why the season captivates people who do not identify as Christian and those who do not view Jesus as the Messiah sent to save the world from sin.

Our reading from Albert C. Grier today contains, perhaps, one of the most important sentences I’ve ever read, “That Jesus revealed God is true, but even more true it is that he revealed [humanity].” I read it this way, the birth of Jesus reminds us that we are made in the image of the creator of the universe and that every single human being is precious to God and ought to be treated as such. The way Jesus lived, what he taught about economic justice, the way he brought healing to people in need, AND the way he spoke truth to power, when those in power were oppressing the people, IS what we are at our core.

I just do not subscribe to the doctrine that Jesus was without sin. I simply do not believe it. If Jesus was fully human then he became angry and lashed out at people and we have a record of this in the gospels. He ridiculed the Pharisees, he was hideously disrespectful to the Syrophoenician woman who asked for healing for her little daughter, he became so enraged that he overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. Jesus was no meek and mild savior no matter how he’s “white washed” by some who make his very human nature into an idol that no longer even resembles a human being.

Jesus was born to young people who were not even yet married, born into poverty, because a refugee in Egypt at a young age, grew up the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, got tired, became angry, loved deeply and I sincerely hope he had sexual experiences. He wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He even disrespected his own mother when she pushed him to help the wedding couple at the wedding in Cana when the shame of running out of wine would have been a terrible social stigma for them. He ate with sinners, disappeared into the  wilderness to rest… by all accounts Jesus was a person just like you and me.

But we try to make Jesus into something greater than ourselves. We ignore the reality that Jesus told his disciples in John 14:12 that they could do greater things than he was doing if they only believed they could do it. And this is the message of this last Sunday in Christmastide for us as well.

Jesus was born just like us. Jesus was born to unwed parents into impoverished circumstances. Jesus was taken from his homeland as an immigrant to another country to escape certain death. Jesus grew up the son of a carpenter, a tradesman, in a town that was rural and viewed with disdain. Jesus had real human experiences and showed us the way to be better people. Jesus was one of us and if Jesus is divine as most Christians believe, then we TOO are divine, made in the image of a loving creator and put here on earth to care for creation and for each other.

As we begin this new year 2022 we are not called to be meek and mild and “accept” the “choice” of those who refuse to be vaccinated and put us all at risk in a worldwide pandemic. We are called to speak truth to power, to advocate for those who have no privilege and therefore no voice. We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, work for prison reform and truly care for those who are incarcerated, and in all cases do everything we can to ensure that everyone has access to healthcare, yes that’s what all those healing miracles were about.

We can do this. How do I know? Well there was a man named Jesus, born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth who lived a life that is our pattern for living a successful, meaningful life. Yes it’s dangerous to live that way. He was brutally executed at 33 years old for refusing to capitulate to the status quo. We must acknowledge that living in the pattern of Jesus is not always easy or safe.

“Nathanael said to [Philip], ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ Philip replied, ‘Come and see.’” When we get to know each other we get to know Jesus. When we see our true selves and uncover the deep love that is placed in our heart by God we have a little glimpse of what Christmas really means. Amen.

For a list of music suggested to meditate on for this service click the link below:

Download SL20220102