I ache, I hurt, I recoil
taking a name I cherish
I am appalled, struck dumb
so many times, repeatedly
I want to cringe
when hate speech
is framed, begun with blasphemy
“as a Christian. . .”I would
I believe, I think, bile falling
from their lips, too often
an abomination, nothing of Jesus
of the man, of God, of mercy, of grace
Nothing like what Christ said
nothing like what he did
offering himself, God, the Sacrifice,
coming to this earth
to offer us life, new birth;
not the command of Jesus
to love as he loved us
Blind as the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin
those John called vipers
down at the Jordan
unable to see God’s love
hating our neighbors
Judging from self-righteousness
an unholy mob crucifying Christ
holding the hammer, the nails, the crown
finding fault in our neighbors, the stranger
stoning them to death, marginalized
not wanting to be with them
to allow them in with us
into our homes, the sanctuary
kept away by our words, our actions
as if we are right, have the power
to allow them in, to separate
anyone from the love of God
Edited December 22, 2013
As a Christian – 2 – v2
May 13, 2012
As a Christian - 2
John 15:9-17 (Common
English Bible)
Acts 10:44-48a (NRSV)
1 John 5:1-5 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “That’s
What You Call Love”
Call to Worship (Psalm
66:1-2, 4)
Unison Prayer (Worship
Sourcebook ©2004)
as we all bowed our heads
during the pastoral prayer
pastoral prayer
prayer before offering
Prayer of Dedication (GBOD 2012, John 17:6-9)
Hymn, “They’ll Know We Are
Christians By Our Love” (TFWS #2223)
(John 13:34-35; Ephesians
4:4-6)
and sermon, “I Wanna Know
What Love Is”
(with nod to Foreigner,
acknowledgement of division
at the 2012 United Methodist
General Conference on the issue of
same-sex marriage and
ordination of gay clergy,
and the announcement this
week that President Obama
believes same-sex couples
should be allowed to marry)
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
May 13, 2012
Sixth Sunday of Eastertide
Mother’s Day
&
John 15:1-8 (Common
English Bible)
Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV)
1 John 4:7-12 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “Life in
Christ”
Call to Worship
Unison Prayer
Prayer of Dedication (Acts 8:26-40)
and sermon, “Piety and
Production?”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Suncook United Methodist
Church
Suncook, NH
May 6, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Eastertide
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poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved.
Contact me at Ray Foss
for usage. See all 28,070+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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