Fully Alive in God

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Hosea 11:1–11; Ps. 107:1–9, 43; Colossians 3:1–11; St Luke 12:13–21) “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” This is easy for the letter writer to say, you might say. I have bills to pay. I must remain grounded. And yet, those of us who tie our worth to our wealth can feel that all that is so easily stripped away. And I think of the difficulty of reading this passage as an immigrant who just wants to get ahead in this country. It makes me think of a parishioner who remembered his father saying that “teachers rarely have two story houses” because they were always giving resources away. While in the Christian tradition, we value sharing resources, it is true that society seems to reward those who save for their families’ futures. A completely different example is to be found in the comedy show “Schitt’s Creek” (2015-2020, Netflix) that gained such popularity at the beginning o...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Oseas 11:1–11; Salmo 107:1–9, 43; Colosenses 3:1–11; San Lucas 12:13–21)   “Piensen en las cosas del cielo, no en las de la tierra.” Pueden decir, esto es fácil para el escritor de la carta a los Colosenses decir, pero ¿qué tiene que ver con nosotros quienes tenemos que vivir en el mundo real? Pero sabemos que no debemos juntar nuestro valor como personas con lo que esta en la cuenta de banco. Porque el dinero es lindo, pero viene y se va. Y nuestro valor integral queda por siempre. Este pasaje nos hace recordar que la verdadera riqueza se encuentra en las relaciones- la relación con Dios y la relación con otras personas. Noten- el hombre rico aquí parece estar completamente encerrado en si mismo. Hasta se habla a si mismo en vez de a Dios. Dios ha dado el fruto de sus granjas, pero el vea la abundancia como algo que solo el produce. Me hace pensar, ¿no hay personas con hambre a las que el pud...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Hosea 1:2–10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6–15, (16–19); St Luke 11:1–13)   “Dear White Evangelicals, I need to tell you something: People have had it with you.” Thus began a letter I read this week by Pastor John Pavlovitz of N. Carolina. In it, Pavlovitz showed how, from his perspective, white evangelicals have abandoned their Christian faith and that “pigmentation and party are [their] sole deities (Published on Facebook).” As I read the letter, I agreed. Yes, I thought, those people have really messed things up for the rest of us Christians. Because of them the word Christian is less esteemed in many circles, and is even feared. Christians are taking away women’s rights, gay rights, and are continuing to make the world worse for immigrants and people of color. Those people- that is when you know the devil is working. Because of course, while I am not “that kind of Christian,” I am European-American Ch...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Oseas 1:2–10; Salmo 85; Colosenses 2:6–15, (16–19); San Lucas 11:1–13) Leí una carta esta semana que un feligrés me mand ó que rega ñ aba a los evangélicos blancos. Un pastor de Carolina del Norte dijo que los evangélicos euro-americanos han perdido su fe cristiana y lo han intercambiado por una fe basada en la raza y la patria. Mientras que yo leí la carta, me dije, si esas personas realmente han hecho un desastre de todo para nosotros. Por ellos, la palabra “cristiana” ha bajado en estima en varios círculos, y hasta la gente tema que los cristianos están sacando sus derechos. Dicen que los evangélicos blancos están quitando los derechos de las mujeres, de la gente gay, y continúan de hacer el mundo peor para los inmigrantes y la gente de color. Pero esto es cuando me di cuenta de algo. Sabe que el diablo quiere hacer su trabajo cuando empieza a decir – otras personas hacen esto… Porque yo soy una cr...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Amos 8:1–12; Ps. 52; Colossians 1:15–28; St Luke 10:38–42)   “Do Swedish People Feed their Guests?” This question recently arose on the internet as people, especially those of my generation and older, remembered not being called to family dinners when hanging out at friends’ houses. The internet threw up its arms and Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman, lamented that her late grandmother was not still with us to airlift tamales to Sweden! [1] With globalization and easier access to food, this is no longer so much the case, but come to find out that, in Sweden, families traditionally only had three months to gather food for the whole year during harvest season. As such, each family would store just enough for themselves. Spur of the moment dinner parties with friends were not a thing, because it was considered a matter of pride for each family to provide for their own family members’ needs. Instead ...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Amós 8:1–12; Salmo 52; Colosenses 1:15–28; San Lucas 10:38–42)   “¿Los suecos alimentan a sus invitados?” “Do Swedish people feed their guests?” Esta pregunta surgió recientemente en Internet cuando algunas personas, especialmente las de mi generación y mayores, recordaban que no las incluían en las cenas familiares cuando pasaban tiempo en las casas de los amigos. ¡El internet estaba horrorizado y Lynda Carter, quien fue Wonder Woman, lamentó que su difunta abuela no estuviera todavía con nosotros para transportar tamales a Suecia! [1] Con la globalización y un acceso más fácil a los alimentos, este ya no es tanto el caso, pero sucede que, en Suecia, las familias tradicionalmente solo tenían tres meses para recolectar alimentos para todo el año durante la temporada de cosecha. Como tal, cada familia almacenaría lo suficiente para ellos mismos. Las cenas improvisadas con amigos no eran una cosa, porque se...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Amos 7:7-17, Ps 82, Col. 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37)   “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength; and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).” The young lawyer, or scribe, got it right!  If there is a theme to last week’s collect and this week’s scripture, it is this, our golden rule.  Loving God and neighbor.  But then the rubber meets the road.  How do we do it?   Who is our neighbor?  And that is what this week’s scripture speaks to.  But first, I was reminded that in Matthew, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44).”   I think that Jesus’ words about neighbor and enemy-love here are important.  How exactly do we love our neighbor well?  And how do we love th...