Fully Alive in God

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (2 Samuel 23:1–7; Ps. 132:1–13, (14–19); Revelation 1:4b–8; John 18:33–37) Good morning. Viva Jesús el Rey! We sing in the Spanish service today and I truly believe that, depending on how we see Jesus, kingship looks different. Even though my country of birth has a king, and I respect him, Jesus is the true King of my heart. This Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, was developed around the time of World War One, when there was a sense that there were so many ideologies around nationalism that were in the atmosphere, at least in the Northern hemisphere, and they were contributing to war. People were very focused on loyalty to nation and flag over almost anything else, so the church decided to develop Christ the King, so that we would remember that, no matter what country we live in or are loyal to, that as Christians, Christ is our true model of a King and leader, rather than any earthly leader. Recently we have seen examples of leade...

  M.Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (2 Samuel 23:1–7; Salmo 132:1–13, (14–19); Revelación 1:4b–8; San Juan 18:33–37) Buenos días. ¡Viva Jesús el Rey! Cantamos hoy y realmente creo que, dependiendo en como percibimos a Jesús, se ve muy diferente el concepto de lo que es un rey. Aunque mi país nativo tiene un rey, y lo respeto, Jesús es el rey de mi corazón de otra forma. Este domingo, el domingo de Cristo Rey, fue desarrollado alrededor del tiempo de la primera guerra mundial cuando había una preponderancia de ideologías de nacionalismo. En el hemisferio norteño, había muchos conceptos de tener que estar muy leal a un país, casi a la excepción de otras lealtades. Y la iglesia quería recordar a la gente del verdadero modelo de rey y líder para cristianos, quien es Jesús. Recientemente hemos visto ejemplos del liderazgo que enfoquen mucho en el concepto del hombre grande, el hombre macho. Pienso que es un buen domingo para recordar que, tanto como tenemos un sentido na...

  Irritated into Love Hebrews 10, Mark 13 St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula, and All Santos, Oxnard The Revs. Alene and Melissa Campbell-Langdell   I will ask it again this week: how are you doing today?   I don’t mean the automatic check-in response that we are conditioned to give one another.   There’s a place for that basic level “fine” that simply says, “I don’t need you to stop and pay attention to me right now.   I’m not in immediate crisis.”   However, today I’m asking something more.   Take a quick internal scan and note the feelings that are there.   If you’re like me, there are a multitude: fatigue, anger, hope, gratitude, love, fear, grief.   How about you?   Anyone else care to throw out a few emotions stirring in the pot this morning? (Pause) The disciples in our reading from Mark have a few emotions of their own to add: pride, wonder, worry, shock, fear, sorrow.   The disciples have been admiring the size and g...

  Perturbados hacia el amor Hebreos 10, S. Marcos 13 All Santos, Oxnard y St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula Las Reverendas Alene y Melissa Campbell-Langdell   Les pregunt é a ustedes la semana pasada y lo repito hoy: ¿Cómo están ustedes hoy en día? No quiero escuchar la respuesta automática de “bien gracias” que estamos condicionados a responder. Hay un lugar para eso – dice a los demás que esta lo suficiente “bien” para que los demás no le presten atención en este momento. Sin embargo, de vez en cuando vale la pena mirar mas profundamente a las emociones que hay. Si son como yo, hay una multitud: me siento fatigada, enojada, esperanzada, pero también siento gratitud, amor, miedo y dolor emocional. ¿Qué tal de ustedes? ¿Alguien más quiere compartir una emoción que están sintiendo esta mañana? (Pausa) Los discípulos en la lectura de San Marcos de hoy tienen algunas otras emociones- orgullo, asombro, preocupación, sorpresa, miedo y dolor emocional. Los discípulos han...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Saints, Oxnard (Ruth 3:1–5; 4:13–17; Ps. 127; Hebrews 9:24–28; St Mark 12:38–44)   How are all you doing today? I know this week has been hard. Wednesday morning felt unreal, waking up to the news of the election outcome, and then the fire later in the day. My heart hurts and I am praying for all affected by recent events. Because regardless of how we each individually feel about the election outcome, there will be some who will be feeling under attack with this result. As I went to social media to try to process, I was struck by the words of Barbara Kingsolver. She said: “Truth and love have been smacked down, so many more times in history before today. Truth, because it’s often inconvenient, and love because it is vulnerable. But truth is like gravity, and carbon, and the sun behind an eclipse: it’s still there. And love stays alive if you tend it like a flame. If you feel crushed by unkindness today, it’s a time for grieving, reaching ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell Todos los Santos, Oxnard (Rut 3:1-5; 4:13-17; S. 127; Hebreos 9:24-28; S. Marcos ¿Cómo están todos hoy? Sé que la semana ha sido muy dura. El miércoles por la mañana me sentí triste, al despertarme con la noticia del resultado de las elecciones y luego con el incendio más tarde en el día. Me duele el corazón y estoy rezando por todos los afectados por los acontecimientos recientes. Porque, independientemente de cómo nos sintamos cada uno individualmente sobre el resultado de las elecciones, habrá algunos que se sentirán atacados por como salió todo. Fui a la red social para procesar, y las palabras de la escritora Barbara Kingsolver me impresionaron. Ella dijo: “La verdad y el amor han sido derribados muchas veces antes en la historia. La verdad, porque a menudo es incómoda, y el amor, porque es vulnerable. Pero la verdad es como la gravedad, el carbono y el sol detrás de un eclipse: sigue ahí. Y el amor sigue vivo si lo cuidas como una llama. Si ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Sabiduría/Wisdom 3:1–9; Salmo/Ps. 24; Revelación/Revelation 21:1–6ª; San Juan/ John 11:32–44) In Revelation, God says that God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and that death will be no more. Then we see Jesús’s tears in the loss of a good friend in this passage from John, when he mourns the loss of his friend Lazarus. We see Jesús living into that promise of what will be, but also, he knows that it is not to be yet. Perhaps this is a small part of why Jesús wept. En Revelación, Dios dice que secara nuestras lágrimas y que la muerte dejara de existir. Luego, vemos en el evangelio de Juan, donde Jesús lamenta la perdida de su amigo Lázaro. Vemos a Jesús viviendo la promesa de lo que va a ser, pero el también sabe que todavía no se vence la muerte. Tal vez por esto también lloro Jesús. This moving moment of scripture reminds us that while Jesus was God on earth, was God’s son, he was also a mortal person with all sorts of feeli...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Job 42:1–6, 10–17; Ps. 34:1–8, (19–22); Hebrews 7:23–28; Mark 10:46–52)   “What do you want me to do for you?” In seminary, I made friends with a person named Tammy. I love Tammy, who was my hallmate in the dormitory and who studied at the Franciscan Seminary. She is hilarious and brilliant. But Tammy had a problem. She was in a wheelchair, and thus people would infantilize her or presume they knew things about her and what she wanted. Her problem was not being in a wheelchair, so much as how others reacted to her being in a wheelchair.   I remember a very important lesson, pushing her wheelchair up a steep corridor in the seminary one time. I had to remember to ask what she wanted, and not just push her like she was a person without agency. That is why I think the words here that Jesus says to Bar-Timaeus are so important- “what do you want me to do for you?” Bar-Timaeus. It means, son of Timaeus, and we are told tw...