Fully Alive in God

The Rev. Dr. Joel Chan All Santos, Oxnard Proper 25 A + 10.25.26 Scripture readings: Deuteronomy 34:1–12; Psalm 90:1–6, 13–17; 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8; Matthew 22:34–46. At our latest Welcome Table gathering several nights ago, I sat next to an attendee who said, “You cannot love God without loving others!” The comment was in reference to the rejection her niece experienced from her mother when the niece came out. Although the attendee was talking about her niece’s specific situation, she was articulating a common disconnection. Even though we Christians all consider ourselves loving and God-fearing people, we forget sometimes that loving God means loving others. They are inseparable ways of acting and being. However, we all seem to forget this Truth – I will call it a truth. To address this, I want to offer a way that could make it easier for us Christians to remember this Truth. I offer a technique that could help us internalize and reflexively remember: “That we cannot love ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Exodus 32:1–14; Ps. 106:1–6, 19–23; Phil. 4:1–9; Matthew 22:1–14) Do you remember the film “Wayne’s World” (1992) from the 1990s? It is beautifully silly and very profane at times. But many of you might remember its refrain: “Party on, Garth. Party on, Wayne!” I think this parable might be teaching us a thing or two about how to party on. But let’s talk about that parable. Ah, the parable of the wedding feast. So beautiful and thorny at once.   Everyone is welcome. But if you aren’t wearing the right shirt, you are tossed into howling darkness. Uh, Matthew, when did you go nutso? How do we make sense of this? To me, this parable raises two big questions. One is about who we invite to the table, be it a wedding feast, or a church. But another is about how we respond when we are invited to the table, and how do we interact with the other guests. The wedding feast is both a parable for the ways of God’s kingdom but is also ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Éxodo 32:1–14; S. 106:1–6, 19–23; Fil. 4:1–9; Mateo 22:1–14) ¿Algunos recuerden una película "Wayne’s World" (1992) de los años 1990? Es bien tonto y muy profano a veces. Pero muchos de ustedes puedan recordar su refrán bonito: "Party on, Garth. Party on, Wayne!" Creo que esta parábola puede enseñarnos un par de cosas sobre cómo ser parte de la fiesta. Así que, hablamos de esa parábola. Ah, la parábola del banquete de la boda. Tan bella y dura a la vez. Todos son bienvenidos. Pero si no lleva la camiseta correcta, va a estar botado a la oscuridad. ¿Eh, Mateo, when did you go nutso / cuándo te puso loco? ¿Cómo hacemos sentido de esto? Para mí, esta parábola nos habla de dos grandes preguntas. Uno es sobre quien invitamos a la mesa, ya sea una fiesta de boda, o una iglesia. Pero otra es sobre cómo respondemos cuando somos invitados a la mesa y cómo que nos relacionamos con los otros huéspedes. La fiesta de bodas ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46 ) Del Salmo: Sean gratos los dichos de mi boca y la meditación de mi corazón delante de ti, * oh Señor, Roca mía y Redentor mío. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, * O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. Good morning, everyone/ buenos días a todos y todas! Today’s gospel speaks to us of a vineyard, a powerful biblical symbolic image, with meaningful roots in the book of Isaiah. La lectura del evangelio del hoy nos habla de un viñedo, y tiene simbolismo en el libro de Isaías, a lo que seguramente refiere Jesús. Nosotros no tenemos que trabajar duro para imaginar un viñedo así, porque estamos rodeados de granjas y aun algunos viñedos en nuestra área. We don’t have to stretch our imaginations too far to imagine this scene, surrounded as we are by fields and even some vineyards. We see a co...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Exodus 17:1-7;   Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 ) Some of you are familiar with the farm church that was formed around the Abundant Table farm, and which now continues in a different iteration. When I would join the farm church for worship at a local community garden, often with Ted, our music director, I loved a simple moment in which we passed a container of water and used it to bless ourselves, lifting up water as a holy source of life in our area of Southern California and the Central Coast. Local theologian Ched Myers calls all of us in his book Watershed Discipleship to connect with and claim a relationship with our local watershed. For those of us in the Oxnard plain, we are part of the Ventura River Watershed. As we spend time at local sources of water, we feel more connected to our local ecology and also to our forebears on this land, and the indigenous people who continue to reside here as ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Éxodo 17:1-7; Salmo 78:1-4, 12-16; Filipenses 2:1-13; Mateo 21:23-32) Algunos de ustedes conocen la iglesia agrícola que surgió en torno a la granja *Abundant Table* y que ahora continúa bajo una nueva modalidad. Cuando participaba en el culto de esa iglesia en un huerto comunitario local —a menudo junto a Ted, nuestro director musical—, me encantaba un momento sencillo en el que pasábamos un recipiente con agua y lo usábamos para bendecirnos, elevando el agua como una fuente sagrada de vida en nuestra región del sur de California y la Costa Central. En su libro *Watershed Discipleship* (Discipulado de Cuenca), el teólogo local Ched Myers nos invita a todos a conectar y establecer una relación con nuestra cuenca hidrográfica local. Quienes habitamos la llanura de Oxnard formamos parte de la cuenca del río Ventura. Al pasar tiempo junto a las fuentes de agua locales, nos sentimos más conectados con nuestro entorno ecológico y con los ...