Seattle Mennonite Church Sermons

I can talk about ... forgiveness

Pastor Megan dives into both the thorns and roses of Matthew 18 and dares to say a few things about the fraught and tender topic of forgiveness. [Photo by Megan Ramer, Warm Beach WA]

Weeds, Wheat, & Yeast

"I gotta say: I really hate it when one of Jesus’ stories ends with evildoers getting thrown into fire. Don’t get me wrong, I dislike 'evildoers' as much as the next person, but burning them alive seems a little extreme..." Pastor Megan dives into some challenging parables, searching desperately for some good news, and wondering what each parable might contribute to our composite image of God's kin-dom, as revealed in Jesus' many, varied, and mystifying stories. [Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash ...

An episodic exploration of generosity

Pastor Megan took us on a journey in this sermon. It is - to start - an invitation to prayer, then a snapshot, a wondering, a snippet, a slippery word, a preference, a story, a question, a complication, an affirmation, an encouragement, and - at last - a prayer. Come along for this exploration of generosity in the spirit of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and the prayer he taught in Matthew 6. [Photo: Ñuke Mapu (Mother Earth), by Alicia Fernández ]...

Telling Stories of Land and Ancestors

"We want our forbears to stand on the right side of history...perhaps these cognitive gymnastics are a vain attempt to justify what is actually untenable." Jennifer Delanty talks about her realization as an adult the way the stories she'd been told as a child about one grandfather's infidelity and another's profitable land dealings erase the victimization and appropriation of indigenous persons and their land. "I still remember the deed of our land in Oklahoma, signed over by the Cherokee nation...

Power of Ritual

Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. This water ritual does more than simply mark his shift to public ministry; it effects that significant transition. Pastor Megan explores the inherent power in ritual to help effect transition in our lives - from the big to the small. And yes, pour over coffee is involved... [Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash .]...

Refugees & Weeping

Jesus was a refugee. Jesus IS a refugee (and their name is Jakelin Caal Maquin, Felipe Gomez Alonzo). A weeping mother refuses to be consoled. What if the truest thing we can say from this Scripture is that we too ought to be inconsolable in the face of the horrific? Pastor Megan preaches a word of lament. [Image = detail from "Refugees: La Sagrada Familia" icon by Kelly Latimore]

I Am From

Matthew's first verses may sound like a list of boring names. But these names tell the story of where Jesus came from. They tell the story of brokenness and triumph of loss and discovery, of exile and return. And especially when you look at the stories of the women, they tell the future of who Jesus will be and be with.

Roots for Windstorms

Here in Seattle, we've experienced an unusually windstormy couple of weeks, which makes an apt metaphor for our lives of gusty national politics, devastating news cycles, and the sturm & drang of December activities, expectations, and negotiations of awkward or painful or painfully nonexistent family dynamics. What will root us in these days? Pastor Megan mines Matthew's narrative of the birth of Jesus for roots to steady us in the windstorms of our world and lives.

No Justice, No Peace: The Courage of Esther

Esther was more than just a vapid beauty queen. When her people were in danger she put her life on her line and used her power and privilege to accomplish justice. Esther's risk can teach us something about when and how we can examine our privilege and risk our comfort, security and power for the sake of a just peace.

Nevertheless: An Advent Sermon on Lament & Hope

A sermon from the depths of my soul for my favorite season of the year, Advent. On the lovely (accompanied by strings) and dangerous (banned by Nazis) Habakkuk, waiting, and the purest form of faith and hope summed up in a single word: nevertheless. ~Pastor Megan

Tender & Infinitely Fallible

Like a good spiritual director who knows we are both tender (in need of care) and infinitely fallible (in need of challenge), the prophet Jeremiah attends to a people in despair, and Pastor Megan invites us to receive his care and challenge in our own time and place.

SMC Storytellers - Pete Lagerwey

Creative Peacemaking in an Age of Perpetual War

What does it mean to be Christians in an age of perpetual war? Seminary Intern Christie, explores this question as we hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah, of swords to garden tools and nation not rising sword against nation; juxtaposed with a story of Assyria conquering Judah, a political circus of taunting and violence. Within this question, Christie explores the invitation to creative peacemaking, the need for church to do this work with, and the call to not grow numb as we engage in work for...

SMC Storytellers - Anna Maguire

When you seek a cure, but find healing instead

We hear the story, rich with details and characters, of Naaman seeking a cure for his leprosy. Naaman's dogged pursuit of a cure is transactional and full of all the power plays he's accustomed to utilizing to his advantage, and it turns out he needs to be healed from all that at least as much as he needs a cure. Listen as Pastor Megan wades into delicate waters and reflects on her own experience of seeking cures and instead (or additionally) finding healing.

A Jubilee Epistle for All Saints

"To the angel of the Mennonite Church of Seattle..." Our 50-year-anniversary celebration weekend built toward our All Saints worship in which we heard letters of greeting, remembrance, and blessing from many of our former pastors. Pastor Megan shared her own epistle, honoring the saints whose vision gave birth to our church community, the saints who have walked alongside for the past 50 years, the saints who are yet to come, and the saints who have passed on from this world but never from our me...

Not of this world?

King Solomon plays a deadly game of chicken, with an infant's life at stake, and for this is he is called wise. Pastor Megan explores the anti-monarchy sentiment buried within this and other stories related to ancient Israel's kings, and considers the rotten-to-the-core empires of our own day. What are Mennonites, traditionally "in but not of this world," to do? Listen as she reflects on generational shifts in political engagement, doing ALL the things, and (like Jesus!) finding sustaining rhyth...

SMC Storytellers - Rita Kowats

A story that moves from the quickstep to the tango. I the first minute or so of the recording is missing, with Rita's introduction of that key image of formality to freedom that she uses throughout her story.

Bathsheba's #MeToo

Every woman has a story in which her body was in some way violated by a man. In which her consent was not sought. For Bathsheba her #MeToo moment changed the entire direction of her life. When David assaulted her she had no recourse. While there's very little redemption in this story, there's a little good news if we can learn from the prophet who confronted David in his sin. We too are called to prophetic naming and calling out of those who use their power to hurt, take and abuse.

SMC Storytellers - Hannah Notess

Hannah shares her experience in community, benefiting from the fruit that other's planted and nurtured, and in turn sowing seeds that will grow plants from which others can harvest.

Final Words

We continue our journey with the Narrative Lectionary into Joshua. Pastor Megan reflects on Joshua's final oration to his beloved people. You'll have to listen to figure out what on earth Yoda's got to do with it.

SMC Storytellers - Bob Pauw

On his 40th Anniversary with his late wife Linda, Bob reflects on the way community has made God present over his and Linda's relationship with our church.

How Do You Feel About Boundaries?

The ten commandments. They are often co-opted by institutions and governments as a litmus test for political affiliation. What they were in context was a covenant: identifying community, limiting the powerful and protecting the vulnerable. They were an offering and response to the God who raised up a people as on eagles wings. Photo by Theo Leconte on Unsplash...

The Bad Guy Needs to Die

Pastor Amy explores why the destruction of Pharaoh's army is so important to the story of the deliverance of the people of Israel and how, when it's used as a recurring chorus of salvation, a people oppressed need a God who is powerful enough to conquer armies. And also Disney.

A Can of Worms & Immigration Stories

What a week to hear this story! Listen as Pastor Megan exposes some of the troubling and resonant layers of our Genesis story of Joseph and Potiphar's unnamed wife. And yet heed the call to mark (Just)Peace Sunday with our Mennonite kindred across the country and world by reflecting on the sorry state of our immigration system here in the U.S. What might Joseph's story have to offer those of us distressed and those of us whose lives are disrupted by the vulnerabilities of migration?

A Call No One Would Want

Pastor Megan explores the extreme vulnerability Abram & Sarai must have experienced as part of their call to leave their land and kindred.

Wrestled Claims About God

On this first Sunday of our Narrative Lectionary adventure, we start at the very beginning: Genesis. Pastor Megan wrestles with how Creator God becomes Destroyer God in the story of the flood, and the re-covenanting that takes place after. [Image: The Deluge, by Nicolas Poussin]

Choosing Armor

SMC member Melissa Kelly invites us to consider what the armor of God, fighting racism, the Deathstar takedown and attachment parenting have in common. And how we are called on as followers of Jesus to take off the armor of empire and put on the armor of God.

Holy Desire, Sacred Sensuality

The explicit desire expressed in the Song of Songs can make us squirm, which is why we don't hear it in worship very often. But this book gives voice to human longing and and expression to the the desire between two lovers. It's been explained away by making it about God's love for humankind but really it's about two lovers who are really into each other - and that can tell us something about God too.

Forgiveness

Pastor Megan reflects on the people we carry around within us, "releasing" and "retaining" the sins of others, and the ongoing practice of forgiveness.