Author: J. Barrett Lee

The Feast of Stephen

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Today is the feast of St. Stephen, deacon and martyr.

Folks think of deacon’s work as charity, but that was certainly not the case according to Acts.  The office of deacon was created as a ministry of social justice to overcome racial inequality and ensure a just distribution of resources.  The apostles thought this work was so important, they created a separate ordained office.  Stephen also became known as a great teacher and healer.  According to the Book of Common Prayer, part of the deacon’s job is to “interpret to the church the needs of the world.”

St. Stephen’s life ended with him becoming a victim of religious intolerance and an example of nonviolent resistance.  He practiced what he preached to the end.

O Come, All Ye Faithless

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December 24, 2002

I was alone in a bar on Christmas Eve.  Freshly graduated from college, returned to my hometown, and in a state of spiritual free-fall as I came to realize that I was no longer a fundamentalist, but did not yet know whether there was another way to practice my faith (as it turns out, there is… thank God).  In that season of darkness and doubt, I could not honestly celebrate Christmas as one of the “faithful, joyful, and triumphant.”  I decided that I needed a Christmas carol for people like me… grubby shepherds, unsanitary stable-dwellers, and all who make their way home “by another way.”

I procured a piece of paper and a pen, then rewrote the old hymn in a more applicable light.  This would be a hymn I could sing with honesty.

I played it for friends over the years, who circulated the lyrics.  Eventually, I found out that a Methodist congregation in Johannesburg, South Africa had made it part of their regular Christmas Eve liturgy.  I offer it now to anyone who does not/cannot feel “faithful, joyful, and triumphant” on this Christmas day: sinners, doubters, drunks, junkies, queers, screw-ups, freaks, geeks, weirdos, skeptics, loonies, rejects, and failures… It is for those like us that Christ is born.

O Come, all ye faithless, beat-up, and defeated,
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the friend of sinners:
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Sing, choirs of vagrants, sing in desperation;
sing, all ye denizens of streets below:
Glory to God!  Glory in the highest!
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

Yea, Lord, we greet thee: born this dreary evening.
Jesus, to thee be all glory given.
Hope for the hopeless, now in flesh appearing.
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

The Work of Christmas

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When the song of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the brothers,
to make music in the heart.

-Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman

Gravity

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We had to cancel Sunday service at North Church this past Sunday, so I’m posting this sermon from Rev. Tamara Lebak of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK.

‘Gravity’ was already my favorite new movie of the year and Rev. Tamara’s sermon exponentially deepens my appreciation of its artistry and meaning. This sermon will appeal to lovers of science, spirit, and art, no matter what their ‘theological orientation’ may be.

I’ve said before on multiple occasions that Rev. Tamara and her colleague at All Souls, Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, are (to put it bluntly) the finest preachers I have ever heard. This message is worth every minute of your time that it takes. So pour another cup of whatever makes you feel spiritual and sit back for “one hell of a ride,” as they say in the film…

The “Perfect” Christmas?

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I was privileged to be a guest blogger at ‘That Reformed Blog’ yesterday. Here is my post…

J. Barrett Lee's avatarThat Reformed Blog

One of the most memorable nights of my life came when I received a phone call from my sister, telling me she was pregnant.  She was young, unmarried, and not yet finished with school, so the news came with not a little trepidation.  Another relative called me later that night to talk about this news.  To say he was upset would be an understatement.

“She has ruined our perfect family!”  Is what he said.

I was taken aback.  Perfect?  What family was he living in?  Our family was about as far from perfect as one could be.  Poverty, unemployment, mental illness, domestic violence, drug addiction, and divorce were part of our lives.  While most of us had made it through the hard times and managed to do okay, any claim to perfection was just a boldfaced lie.

We weren’t perfect and she didn’t “ruin” us.  Sure, things had certainly not…

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Don’t Call Us Marxist Because We Critique Capitalism — Call Us Christian

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Don’t Call Us Marxist Because We Critique Capitalism — Call Us Christian

Great defense of Pope Francis’ statements about poverty, plus a bonus introduction to one of my all-time favorite theologians: Walter Rauschenbusch… and it’s written by his great grandson, Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch

It is commonly agreed that for the first time in human history we can put an end to extreme poverty if we have the economic, political, moral and spiritual will to do it. Let’s do it.

In the meantime, if you are Christian and someone calls you a Marxist just because you are questioning why extreme poverty persists in era of such extravagant wealth, know that you are in good company — because Jesus did it first.

A Faith that Dares to Question

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northchurchblog's avatarNorth Presbyterian Church

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.”

That’s what Jesus said about John and it’s significant that Jesus would say that at the particular point in time when he did because John was going through a rough patch in life.

As we know from last week’s reading, John was a fiery preacher who lived in the wilderness outside Jerusalem.  In keeping with the tradition of the old-timey prophets, John ranted and raved against corruption and hypocrisy in the culture around him.  He had harsh words for the people in power at the time; they didn’t much like what he had to say.  He called them “You brood of vipers!”  And he said vaguely threatening things like, “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut…

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Promises To Fix Mental Health System Still Unfulfilled

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northchurchblog's avatarNorth Presbyterian Church

Promises To Fix Mental Health System Still Unfulfilled

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., one year ago sparked a national conversation about the country’s troubled system. Politicians convened task forces and promised additional funding and new laws. But today, despite those promises, patients and advocates say treatment for mental health is still in shambles…

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