Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Christ of the Lakeshore

10 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Poems, Prayers, Reflections

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Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center, Lake Tahoe

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my eyes soak in
the blueness spread before me
geese gliding effortlessly
inches above placid waters
slender pencils of pine
garbed in glorious green
a light blanket of snow
draped over neighboring peaks.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my ears take in
the songs of the birds
the lapping of the surf
the laughter and crying of a child
the soft whispering breeze.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
as my heart lets in
the pain of the world
of immigrant and refugee
the poor
the houseless
the lonely
the pushed aside
the wounded
the broken-hearted.

Christ of the lakeshore,
come beside me this day
that my praying
my dreaming
my hoping
my longing
may be in conversation
with yours.

Words (c) 2017 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Love. Period

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Justice, LGBTQ, Sermon portions

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Interfaith Pride Celebration Santa Barbara, CA

Interfaith Pride Celebration, July 12, 2015, Santa Barbara, California

Members of our church recently participated in the first Interfaith Pride Celebration in Santa Barbara. I was pleased to be part of this outdoor worship service in support of the LGBTQ community. There were about 20 sponsoring faith communities, including ours, and an estimated 250 to 300 people in attendance.

The reason we were there is simple really – if Jesus were here it’s where he would be. We are Christ’s body on earth and so it follows that we will go where Jesus would go, and we will spend time with people with whom Jesus would spend time, and we will be the bearers of grace and peace to those with whom Jesus would do so.

It was a beautiful afternoon, with great gospel music and inspiring speakers. I was among the faith leaders who read a Confession written by the Rev. Frank Schaefer acknowledging the wrongs that faith communities have done to LGBTQ persons. We have not always been welcoming and affirming of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. We have failed as churches and people of faith to acknowledge the human dignity and worth of LGBTQ persons. We, the Church, have treated them as second-class believers and have harmed them with words of exclusion and hatred, defining them as “sinners,” “perverts,” and “abominations.”

We have not given them their own voice to express their love of God. We have subjected them to abusive “religious counseling” and harmful “conversion therapy” in a misguided effort to fix them. The heterosexism and homophobia of our faith communities has caused real suffering in the lives of our sisters and brothers in the LGBTQ community. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, told us to “Do no harm.” But we have been doing harm for decades now.

Following the service, a woman came up to me with a couple of her friends, and with tears forming in her eyes she said, “It was very moving for me to hear the words of confession. It is the first time I have heard anyone say they were sorry for the hurt we have felt. Thank you so much.”

My heart is with my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, who have been harmed by the Church’s message of exclusion and condemnation in the past. I have been involved over the years in advocating for marriage equality. I have been involved in trying to change the language in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church so that it no longer singles out one group of people based on sexual orientation to deny them the ability to be ordained as ministers or to receive the blessing of the church for their committed relationships. I will continue to do these things because I owe my primary allegiance to Jesus Christ and his reconciling grace and not to the United Methodist Church.

I want to be unequivocal and stand on the side of love, because as I see it, “love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). “Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 John 4:16b). As long as I am the Pastor-in-charge in the church I serve, we will be working toward full inclusion of all people in the church’s ministry, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other ways we have of dividing people into classes.

Christ is our peace, my friends. Christ has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. We become people after God’s own heart as we continue this work of tearing down the walls that have harmed others, and indeed have harmed us all.

Words (c)2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo credit: Dallis Day Richardson

What Grows in God’s Garden?

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by in Sermon portions

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I don’t usually post entire sermons, but on Sunday, June 15, I preached my final sermon among the wonderful congregation at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Maria, California, and am being appointed now to the First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, California, as of July 1st. So here I am including my final sermon called “What Grows in God’s Garden?” based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.

As I look over the vastness represented in Scripture – the many voices, times, cultural and historical contexts, the personalities, and the ways of expressing faith – a consistent theme is faithfulness. It is a theme that encompasses the relationship between God and creation, and between God and humankind.

Scripture portrays God as always faithful to the people God has called for particular purposes – first Abraham and his descendents, the Israelites, and then the early communities who gathered around the story of Jesus and moved out under the Spirit’s power to change the world.

Those who seek to live according the commandments of God in the Hebrew scripture are themselves called the faithful. Those who seek to live according to the way of Jesus and the greatest commandment in the New Covenant are also called the faithful.

In other words, faithfulness is somehow sown into the very fabric of this divine-human encounter toward which each of us is drawn.

The Psalms lift up this theme of faithfulness repeatedly. In Psalm 145:10 we hear:

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.

Then just a few verses later, after extolling the glorious splendor of God’s everlasting kingdom, the psalmist adds (vs. 13b):

The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

As we theologize on Scripture and consider how God is revealed in this world, in the church, and in our lives, and as we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are aware of only glimpses of the kingdom here and now. Yet we still believe God’s kingdom will come in the fullness of glory someday! We believe that God is always faithful and that as we contribute our own faithful witness and actions, the kingdom is revealed a little more and a little more.

We celebrated 140 years of Christian ministry in this valley last year – 140 years of people doing their utmost to be faithful to the call of God so that this congregation could be part of what God is doing in the world.

Imagine the settlers of this town and others who followed them putting their sweat and their tears and the joy they had in Christ and their Wesleyan spirit of grace all out on the line so that a Church could be planted here and so that all who would listen would hear of God’s faithful love.

Think of how many Sunday School classes have been taught and how many children have been touched by the story of Jesus in those years!

Think of the worship that has been conducted in several different locations, and now in this place, and of all the worshippers who have felt the strange warming of their hearts in the presence of Christ expressed through word and sacrament!

Think of the caring fellowship that has been expressed among the faithful in this church over the years, moving beyond the superficial to love one another as Christ commands us!

Think of the mission trips, service projects, outreach efforts, and ministries that have been undertaken by this community of faith … and more importantly, think of the lives that have been changed, the addictions that have been overcome, the meals that have been served to the poor, the lonely who have been visited, the lost who have been redirected, the grieving who have been comforted, the showers that have given a new sense of self-worth to so many, and the homes that have been rebuilt or repaired!

These are all validation of God’s faithfulness to us and our faithfulness to God. These are a confirmation of the fruit of the Spirit in our life together. These are an authentication of the presence of Christ in this community.

I commend you for carrying on the vision of this faith community after 140 years – building beloved community and helping people commit their lives to Christ and grow in grace.

All of the beautiful ways that this church has witnessed to the faithful love of God over many years continue to this day. We can look upon all of it and see what God has done in our midst, and be grateful.

As I came here four years ago, I told you that I was pleased and proud to be appointed to this church. As I leave here I want to express the same sentiment – I am pleased and proud that I was given the opportunity to be your pastor and to provide spiritual and temporal leadership for a time.

You will continue to be a witness to the love of Christ through your ministry presence in this community. You will continue to give spiritual nurture to children and people of all ages.

You will continue to serve others with tangible signs of God’s gracious kingdom, by visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, encouraging the stranger, praying for those in need, and serving the poor.

I have no doubt of any of this because I believe God is faithful, and I believe you are faithful, and that is enough.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, says that he is one of the “servants through whom (they) came to believe” (1 Cor. 3:5). But he acknowledges he isn’t the only one. Paul says to them, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (3:6-7).

In the United Methodist Church, appointments are made and ministers are moved, and congregations must rely upon the growth that God gives. None of us is indispensable, but each of us is necessary. Our gifts are necessary. Our hearts are necessary. Our love is necessary.

Like Apollos, I have carried the water pail for awhile, and have tried to give the right amount of attention to the needs of the church, and now another one of God’s servants is coming to be in ministry with you, to help you grow in faith and trust, to listen with you for the promptings of the Spirit, and to walk with you in discipleship and mission. You are called to live out your baptisms and be the people God created you to be – generous, giving, hopeful, loving, gracious, Christ-like.

Paul uses a metaphor for God’s people not used anywhere else in scripture. In the midst of his observation of how God desires growth in the spiritual life, Paul says to the people of God, “you are God’s field” (vs. 9). This is an intriguing way to think of ourselves, as a field in which things grow, things of beauty and things of usefulness. God’s field – a place of growth and emerging life. As I look over the past four years and consider the growth that God has caused in our lives together, I am glad that I could be a part of your journey for this brief time.

A father and daughter prepared to part at the airport one day. After a hug the father said, “I love you. I wish you enough.” His daughter boarded the plane, and a few moments later, a woman who overheard their conversation asked the father what it meant to wish someone “enough.” He said that wishing someone “enough” was a tradition in their family. There was even a short poem attached to it.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough ‘hellos’ to get you through the final ‘goodbye’.
(Mennonite pastor and author Ralph Milton in an e-zine titled Rumors)

The life of faith provides us with the opportunities to be generous and supportive of one another. As Paul says, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share it abundantly in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). That’s a pretty healthy way to think about our discipleship – seeing our lives as full of enough of God’s goodness and grace, and choosing to help other people see their lives as full of enough too.

I close with a Franciscan Blessing that makes me want to be a Franciscan:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those
who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

God is faithful.
You are faithful.
That is enough.

Words & photo (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

What Gift Can We Bring?

05 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in Poems, Reflections

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wise-men-1Today is the eve of Epiphany, a day celebrating the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the world, and especially to religious outsiders and seekers. It also marks the one-year anniversary of this blog, in which I have endeavored to share a word of grace, hope, and peace with my readers. My posts have included prayers, poems, portions of sermons, and other reflections on spirituality and the life of faith from a progressive Christian perspective.

Pastoral ministry is demanding. Most of the time I feel as though I’m way behind in doing what needs to be done to strengthen the church I serve and help people become more faithful and fruitful in ministry to the world. So my posts have sometimes been few and far between. Still I value those who read, and especially those who trouble themselves to make a comment or offer feedback.

For me the most important qualities of Christian disciples are humility, compassion, a desire to serve humankind, and a heart for all God’s children. Beliefs and theologies can vary. Religions and traditions can vary. If you are convinced that every human being is a child of God and you want to bring people together to build a shared humanity and strengthen the common good, then I don’t care if you are an atheist, an agnostic, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Sikh, a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew! Please, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, for the sake of the natural world and all its creatures, and for the sake of our future on this planet, let us work together to make a better world.

I am a Christian pastor, but I have great admiration and respect for people of all faiths and people of no faith, because I have been around long enough to understand that religious beliefs don’t always make people more compassionate or kind or loving. Sometimes, in fact, religious beliefs just inoculate people into thinking they don’t need to change or embolden them to be boisterous in their condemnation of those who think differently than they do. Sometimes religious beliefs make people less tolerant, less trusting, less loving, and (to be honest) a pain in the neck. Still I believe in the power of love to transform the world.

On this twelfth day of Christmas and Epiphany Eve, I share a poem I wrote ten years ago.

What Gift Can We Bring?

No one dare boast of her place in God’s Kingdom.
No one dare brag of his place in God’s Realm.
We are but children reborn of our Mother,
And in the arms of our Father beheld.

Still, in this season we sing out God’s glory —
We who have come to experience God’s grace.
Still, in this time when a star shines out brightly —
We come rejoicing, and look on Love’s face.

How is it that we can sing when we’re lonely?
How is it that we can stand while afraid?
How is it that we still love the Old Story
Of all creation made new and reclaimed?

We are not brighter or richer or stronger,
We are not privileged alone to know Love.
We are with all of God’s children together
Graced by the Christ here on earth and above.

What can we bring to the Child born among us?
What can we offer our Savior and King?
All that we are is a gift we’ve been given —
Our grateful hearts the best gift we can bring.

Words (c) 2002 Mark Lloyd Richardson

From Our Present Abundance

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

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On the first Sunday of each month our faith community gathers around the Table of our Lord to receive the gifts of God in bread and cup. We also bring our gifts to be shared with those in our community who find themselves hungry and in need of food.

This coming Sunday’s Opening Prayer (for Proper 8, Year B, in the Revised Common Lectionary) is based on 2 Corinthians 8:7-15. Please feel free to use this prayer in worship, whether it be your own private prayer or that of your community of faith.

Generous God,
whose very word is life,
whose presence is peace,
and whose promise is hope,
we give thanks for this new day!

Your grace unfolds before our eyes
as we come face to face with the One
who though he was rich became poor for our sakes.

Through this generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ
we are invited into a rich relationship with you.

Grant that as we worship and grow in grace
the genuineness of our love for you
will excel in our eagerness to live generous lives
and to give from our present abundance
to meet the needs of our neighbors the world over.

So that we might live into your coming Realm. Amen.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Permission to use with attribution.

Gather Around the Table of Grace

31 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Prayers, Worship Liturgy

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Here is a prayer that may be used as a Great Thanksgiving or Eucharistic Prayer in celebrating Holy Communion on Trinity Sunday, coming up in a few days.

It is always good to give you thanks, O God, for our lives are brought forth and renewed by your creating Spirit. You form us in your image and breathe into us the breath of life. You love us with an undying love.

You call us by name and bring us on a journey filled with wonder and amazement. In spite of the dangers and worries of this life, you challenge us to live in just, loving, and humble ways for the sake of the world you love.

When we fail to be the people you need us to be, you continue to draw us toward the light and life of your presence. You offer us grace to become new people, redeemed by the ministry of Christ, empowered by the Spirit of love, blessed by the gifts of Creation.

So as we gather around the table of grace this morning, seeking strength for the journey we are on, we raise our voices with all who have gone before us, with all creation, and with all the company of heaven, to sing your praises: (“Sanctus,” #2257-b in The Faith We Sing)

            Holy, holy, holy Lord; God of power and might.
            Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
            Hosanna in the highest! (3X)
            Blest is the one who come in the name of the Lord.
            Hosanna in the highest! (3X)

Holy God, you sent us your beloved Son Jesus, who identified fully with our humanity, taking on the same flesh we do, knowing the same grief we know in the losses and deaths that accompany life, suffering the same pain we suffer because of the grip of sin upon the world.

Jesus became one of us and one with us in life’s journey.

He welcomed all to the table of grace and gave these common elements of the earth and the vine in celebration of the great gifts of life and joy in the eternal kingdom.

Jesus took the bread, and having blessed it, he gave it to his friends, as he gives it to us today, saying, “This is my body broken for you.”

Jesus took the cup, raised it in blessing, and shared it with his friends, as he shares it with us today, saying, “This is my life poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. Whenever you receive these gifts of bread and wine remember me and remember the life that I offer you this day.”

O God—Mother, Father, Spirit, Christ—giver of all good gifts, hope for the weary, strength for the disheartened, peace for the grieving, mercy for the sinner, grace for us all, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us gathered here and upon these gifts. May they become for us the presence of Christ, in whom we find our life and our joy.

By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one in communion with one another, one in solidarity with all who hunger for justice and righteousness, one in harmony with all creation.

Through your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory be yours, loving God, now and forever. Amen.

Words (c) 2009 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson
(Permission granted to use this prayer in worship with credit given.)

Let’s not talk about love

29 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in Sermon portions

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Mission tripOver 100 years ago, the Christian philosopher Soren Kierkegaard pointed out that Jesus was looking for followers, not admirers.

Jesus invites people to go with him into the world and to serve others in his name. Jesus calls people to an active form of believing, not a set of propositions. Jesus challenges people to believe in the power of God to repair what is broken in the world.

We encounter problems when we think that being Christian means believing a hundred impossible things before breakfast! Furthermore, we begin to think that perhaps we are not real Christians, never were, and cannot ever hope to be.

As First John states this dilemma, there are days when “our hearts condemn us” (3:20). There are days when we wonder if we are good enough to call ourselves Christian.

Thankfully, by a miracle of God’s grace, our hearts do not have the last word. As John says, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

God sees with a Father’s eyes of unconditional love the goodness that resides within our hearts, yearning to break free. God sees with a Mother’s eyes of unmerited grace the blessing we are when we are able to embrace the truth about ourselves. For in the end, it is truth, and only truth, that sets us free.

In his book Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller writes, “There is a lie floating around that says I am supposed to be able to do life alone, without any help, without stopping to worship something bigger than myself. But I actually believe there is something bigger than me, and I need for there to be something bigger than me. I need someone to put awe inside me; I need to come second to someone who has everything figured out.”

That someone is Christ … the very One who meets us in worship and in life … the very One who invites sinners and outcasts to the banquet table … the very One who ushers us into the company of God.

Our best response to Christ is to live in the awareness of God’s Presence, to give thanks for the blessedness that follows us all the days of our lives, and to “love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action” (1 John 3:18).

We needn’t worry about whether we’re doing it right or not. We needn’t become self-critical about how we feel toward others – that we’re not getting that warm, fuzzy feeling. We just need to act in loving ways, leaving the feelings to sort themselves out.

John says we do this by laying down our life – that is, laying down our normal human inclination to live for ourselves only, laying it down at Christ’s feet, and then allowing God’s love to reorient us toward the needs of others.

Someone has called this our core competency as Christians … loving one another. Clarence Jordan captures the concrete practicality of this everyday love in his Cotton Patch Version of 1 John 3:18: “My little ones, let’s not talk about love. Let’s not sing about love. Let’s put love into action and make it real.”

Father Thomas Keating, in his book Invitation to Love, writes, “To love one another as Jesus loves us is to love one another in our humanness—in our individuality and opinionatedness, in personality conflicts and in unbearable situations. It is to continue to show love, no matter what the provocation may be to act otherwise.”

Jesus responded to human need around every corner, and expects his disciples to do the same – feeding the hungry, healing the sick, forgiving the sinner, loving the despised and forgotten ones of the world.

So, we throw our lot in with Jesus, the crucified and risen One! We see in his self-giving life and death, what love truly is. We practice that love through lives of integrity and grace. Most of all, we let Christ’s love grow within us so that our love is tangible and healing, and is true to the love Christ has for all people.

We move from admiration of Jesus to following him on the Way. We don’t merely talk about love, or sing about love. We put love into action, and make it real.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photos of Sierra Service Project the summer of 2011 with sixty high school youth