"Unexpected Encounters" @ King's Cross as Martha Stearns Marshall Preacher

On March 4th, 2018, King's Cross Church called me as their Martha Stearns Marshall preacher.  

Here's a link to that sermon:

Unexpected Encounters Sermon

What is Church?

I find this question to be frustrating mostly because the answers often point us to faith, denominational, and doctrinal divisions.  And life in our silos is not terribly helpful to the work of creating and sustaining community, but I also find this question to be fundamental.  And I’m not sure if the answer in its entirety remains static over time. 

Because my faith tradition makes much of scripture – as it should – I started considering this question by looking at the texts that reference church.  Here’s a link in case you want to review them.  Not surprisingly, we get big dose of New Testament early church chatter when we go that route. 

Is that a complete answer?  Perhaps so since those writings reflect themes people wanted to capture as the first generation of Christians began to pass away.  Perhaps not since we have no references to Jesus’ Judaic roots in the Hebrew Bible.  So, maybe we need to ask the question differently…

Following the lectionary as a means of personal devotion was something I discovered in adulthood.  I’m always amazed at how the text selected for the week speaks to me in surprisingly powerful ways.  This year’s Thanksgiving Day texts include Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Psalm 65, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Luke 17:11-19.

In Deuteronomy we are called to praise God as the providential provider, both in the scarcity of wilderness wanderings and on the solid ground of plentiful resources: 

8:17 Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth." 8:18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is God who gives you power to get wealth, so that God may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as God is doing today.

The Psalmist praises God for answering prayers and blessing the Earth with bounty.

65:9 You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. 65:10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

The writer of 2 Corinthians encourages us to take risks, to sow bountifully and to be generous in sharing that which God has given.

9:13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 9:14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.

The gospel words cause us to imagine Jesus on a journey toward Jerusalem.  He has a destination in mind but that doesn’t stop him from meeting needs along the way.  When 10 lepers call out to him, scripture says he “makes them clean.” He goes on to tell the one leper who praises God -- a foreigner -- that his faith has made him well. 

17:19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

Do these observations about God as providential provider and prayer answerer have any bearing on our risk taking journey toward church?

 

3 Lessons from TN Baptists' Decision to Oust Church

Published today at Ethics Daily:

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/3-lessons-from-tn-baptists-decision-to-oust-church-cms-24481

Mothering like God

And, my second blog post from CBTS WLI, earlier this year:

http://cbts.edu/mothering-like-god/

Elephants and Jesus

This was my first blog post for Central Baptist Theological Seminary's Women's Leadership Initiative Blog:

http://cbts.edu/elephants-and-jesus/

Following Jesus

The following words were spoken at the 143rd Annual Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Summit on Tuesday, November 14, 2017.

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Did Jesus tell you to do this?

This is my honest question to the credentials committee.  Did Jesus tell you not to seat the messengers of First Baptist Church Jefferson City? 

I am Kelly Moreland Jones, messenger from cooperating church, Nashville First, where we enjoy unity in Christ and diverse theological opinions.  We align with the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message and benefit regularly from the leadership gifts of both men and women.

I understand that there are brothers and sisters in this room today whose churches operate both similarly and differently than my congregation. 

I’m here because I believe deeply in the necessity of soul competency, the priesthood of the believer, and the autonomy of the local church.  Those are not just words thrown around in news articles.  Without these principles we are not Baptist.  The only way to show evidence of those principles is by our actions.  For this reason I urge you to vote against the motion.  I am in favor of seating First Baptist Church Jefferson City.  I hold a letter in support of Reverend Di Giosia and her church signed by several members of my church and members of other TN Baptist churches.  We trust in God to connect pastors with churches.  To do anything less is idolatrous.

With regard to whether women should be entrusted with the position of senior pastor I ask that you consider our denomination’s progression with regard to slavery and racism. 

When slavery was contested, proof texts were invoked to support slavery as the God-ordained order for man.  Our forebears’ response to the brutality of slavery was to insist on separate churches and Sunday schools for enslaved people.  It didn’t occur to them that the institution of slavery was anti-Christian, but we know and accept today that it was. 

Perhaps they were asking the wrong questions.  Perhaps they should have asked what Jesus would have them to do.

In 2015 the SBC adopted a resolution saying, “Racism is sin because it disregards the image of God in all people and denies the truth of the Gospel that believers are all one in Him.”  We were right in repenting and correcting the sin of racism.

Today we should ask: what Jesus would have us do?

As racism was declared a sin in 2015, so sexism also disregards the image of God in all people and denies the truth of the Gospel that believers are all one in Christ.  If we vote to exclude First Baptist Jefferson City on the basis of their calling a woman as a senior pastor then we are denying the reality of these truths and our Baptist principles.  What would Jesus do?  I think he is calling us to seat FBC Jeff’s messengers and bless the ministry of Reverend Di Giosia.