Fully Alive in God

( https://interruptingthesilence.com/2010/10/18/ overruling-the-unjust-judge-a-sermon-on-luke-181-8/ ) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8 ) Once there was a very mean judge who sat on his high chair in his dusty courtroom and loved putting on his robes so he could show everyone how important he was. His father had been a plumber but he was a judge! And he loved to hand out judgments when it suited him but he didn’t much like other people coming in to tell him how to do justice. Well, the widow who came to visit him didn’t much care what the judge liked or didn’t like. She knew she was the victim of an injustice and so she came to the court every day, rain or shine, to argue her case. The judge thought, “Who is this woman? She isn’t a lawyer; she can’t even speak properly about her case! I shall ignore her.” But time after time, she came back, until the judge said, thinking out loud,” OK, what will...

( https://interruptingthesilence.com/2010/10/18/ overruling-the-unjust-judge-a-sermon-on-luke-181-8/ ) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Jeremías 31:27-34; Salmo 119:97-104; 2 Timoteo 3:14-4:5; Lucas 18:1-8 ) Una vez hubo un juez muy malo que se sentó en su sillón en su polvorienta cámara de la corte y le encantó ponerse su túnica para poder mostrarles a todos lo importante que era. Once there was a judge who thought himself very important. ¡Su padre había sido plomero pero él era juez! Y le encantaba emitir juicios cuando le convenía, pero no le gustaba que otras personas vinieran a decirle cómo hacer justicia. But he didn’t like other people telling him what to do. Bueno, a la viuda que vino a visitarlo no le importaba mucho lo que le gustaba o no al juez. Ella sabía que era víctima de una injusticia, por lo que acudía a la corte todos los días, lloviera o brillara, para argumentar su caso. The widow who came to see the judge, rain or shine, didn’t much care wha...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Lamentations 1:1-6; Lamentations 3:19-26 or   Psalm 137 ; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10 ) Sometimes it is easy to be a pastor. Things are going well for folks and for the church and you just feel like you could celebrate God’s love and goodness in your life and in others’ lives every day. But then those other moments hit you. When someone comes to you in real pain. And there are no easy answers. There is always hope to offer in Christ, but you know if you jump to it too fast, you are just adding to the pain. Those are the moments when I see folks who feel like the city envisioned as a woman abandoned here in the passage from Lamentations. She feels left all alone, desolate. That is what it feels like when something happens that is too hard to understand. Life is good. Then it is not. And what do you say to that? If you jump to fast to God’s promises, you might miss the opportunity to grieve with someone, to hear their pain, if o...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Lamentaciones 1:1-6; Lamentaciones 3:19-26 or   Salmo 137 ; 2 Timoteo 1:1-14; Lucas 17:5-10 ) A veces es fácil ser pastora. Las cosas van bien para la gente y para la iglesia y sientes que puedes celebrar el amor y la bondad de Dios en tu vida y en la vida de los demás todos los días. Pero entonces esos otros momentos te golpean. Cuando alguien viene a ti con verdadero dolor. Y no hay respuestas fáciles. Siempre hay esperanza para ofrecer en Cristo, pero sabes que si saltas demasiado rápido a este tema, solo estás aumentando el dolor. Esos son los momentos en que veo personas que parecen a la ciudad que se imagina como una mujer abandonada aquí en el pasaje de Lamentaciones. Ella se siente completamente sola, desolada. Eso es lo que se siente cuando sucede algo que es demasiado difícil de entender. La vida es buena. Luego, no lo es. Life is good; and then it isn’t. What do you say to that? ¿Y qué dices a eso? Si saltas demasiado r...