Hi Readers,
It’s the fourth Sunday after Pentecost - and the fourth Sunday in the church season known as “Ordinary Time,” however, as I noted three years ago - there’s nothing ordinary about the weeks ahead on our secular cultural calendar.
In an age of rising Christian Nationalism and America’s upcoming semiquicentennial (or 250th Anniversary) - there is much commentary about what it means to be Christian in America, and how this nation has or has not lived up to the Gospel of Jesus.
All of that commentary is important, and I have a lot to come for you when it comes to addressing the Fourth of July in our sanctuaries. (Also, I wrote last week about Flags in Sanctuaries - you can find it here):
Flags in Sanctuaries?
·
Jun 9
Note: I’m sending out this week’s Sunday Stretch a few days early, in hopes it might prove helpful to preachers and church leaders preparing for Sunday worship on Flag Day.
But for now … today is yet another secular (Hallmark?) holiday in the church. And because Mother’s Day is often overemphasized in churches (due to the fact, I think, that many churches limit women’s roles to mothers to the exclusion of other gifts) - I think it’s important to at the same time lift up Father’s Day - and how we view God as Father.
Also because I covered Flag Day last week, we didn’t get a chance to review the Lectionary Scriptures for that Sunday - which happen to fit really well for Father’s Day! So I am going to go ahead and share them below, including a meditation for Father’s Day from 2023.
Some words of introduction from 2023:
Now, much like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day can sometimes be an interesting holiday to navigate as a church leader, or just a person in general! People have complicated feelings about their dads; many are grieving dads who have died, and others are experiencing the loss of not being able to become a father for a number of reasons. Others are estranged from their dad or from their kids, or there is latent “unfinished business” that brings uncertainty when it comes to recognizing this holiday.
But unlike Mother’s Day, Father’s Day doesn’t come with a lot of resources in the church. I think some of that is cultural coding, which tells us that women are more “emotional,” and somehow men are supposed to be simpler, content with barbecue and beer. Now as any parent of boys knows, this is a myth. Boys have big feelings, too!
So what I wanted to do for all of us today is to step away from our “ordinary” format, and share with you a mediation on Father’s Day and a fathering God that I wrote for Church Anew a few years ago, with updates for 2023. You’ll find that meditation below.
I’m also preaching this morning again at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Park, Minn., at 9:30 a.m. CT. You can view the livestream here (click the LIVE tab), and it’ll be available as a recording after the fact. In that sermon, I’ll be focusing on three attributes of fatherly love we find in the Bible, from Psalm 100 (LAUGH), Romans 5 (ENDURE) and Matthew 9-10 (DO). I encourage you to read and meditate on the texts below. And after the meditation, I will include our usual prayer space and requests space. Thanks for joining me each Sunday!
Love to you and to all those (of any gender!) who’ve played a fathering role in your life,
Angela
Projects with Dad in the late ‘80s - early ‘90s
Bible Readings this Week
Psalm 100 | LAUGH
Psa. 100:0 A Psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Psa. 100:3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psa. 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
Psa. 100:5 For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Romans 5:1-8 | ENDURE
Rom. 5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Rom. 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
Matthew 9:35-10:8 | DO
Matt. 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Matt. 10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
Matt. 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
I encourage you to do these readings and meditate and each word above as an aspect of a God of fatherly love.
God, Our Father: A Meditation for Father’s Day
Originally published at Church Anew
Each day before meals or bed, my 5-year-old son, when called upon to pray, recites a simple prayer he learned during a short-lived stint at an Evangelical preschool:
God our Father … God our Father …
The prayer is simple and short, and every time I hear him pray it, I am simultaneously so grateful that my 5-year-old knows how to pray, and also chiding myself that I should teach him that God is not exclusively male.
Such are the complications of an over-studied faith life.
Whatever my own misgivings about how popular culture continues to depict God, the truth is that God as Father remains the most predominant motif for God in American Christianity - and beyond. Many a camp counselor or worship leader has begun a prayer in this way: Father God … we just …
Almost every Sunday, church leaders across America begin worship with an invocation: in the name of the Father …
I wonder this year, as Father’s Day 2023 emerges out of the (still ongoing) shadow of a global pandemic and national unrest, reckoning with racism and ongoing sexual abuse crises in the American church, if we should begin not by dismantling the language or gender of the Trinity itself but simply by reclaiming what it means that the masculinity of God is defined by the relational role of Father, and not by the cowboy, gun-toting masculinity popularized by many an American Christian leader or politician.
I’ve been thinking about this idea this week as Father’s Day approaches, because I’ve noticed a certain discrepancy in how the American Church approaches Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Each year that I’ve spent in pastoral ministry, nearly a decade, I’ve been inundated by a horde of think-pieces and conversations about how the church ought to approach the secular holiday of Mother’s Day.
Some churches overdo: with chrysanthemums and applause and photo booths; other churches decide not to mention mothers at all. There is important and needed conversation about approaching Mother’s Day in church for all women: those struggling with infertility, those who are childless by choice; those who have recently lost their mothers; those who have a complicated or difficult relationship with their mothers.
As a mom myself, for almost 11 years, even I found it a little bit exhausting. There didn’t seem to be a right way to do Mother’s Day in the church. Every approach seemed over-studied and under-practiced. I did my best to pray an inclusive prayer this year and left it at that.
Now, it is Father’s Day again in 2023, and I’ve heard almost nothing about how churches and church leaders plan to address Father’s Day in the church, save for perhaps singing Chris Tomlin’s Good, Good Father, if your worship is led by guitars; or Faith of Our Fathers; if you rely on an organ. There is no hand-wringing about honoring fathers but leaving out men who aren’t dads, by circumstance or by choice. There is no exchange of prayers and litanies, or discussions about how much or how little to honor dads on Father’s Day.
What little conversation there is about Father’s Day too often seems limited to beer and barbecue, if the cards I saw at Trader Joe’s are any indication. And this in itself is a sad commentary, for the ways it isolates and ignores the reality of alcoholism among American dads and families.
This vast discrepancy between over-conversation in the church regarding Mother’s Day and utter silence on Father’s Day reveals to me the very different ways that men and women have their identity constructed in much of American Christianity and American culture in general.
Women are almost always identified relationally: by our roles and relationships to others. We are valued for being kind, considerate, communicative and cooperative. In the church, we are too often viewed as analogous to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Motherhood has been called a Christian woman’s greatest calling, which does a great disservice to the broad and long history of female prophets, preachers and teachers, many of whom were never married.
For American Christian men, on the other hand, identity is constructed individually. The cult of rugged individualism does its greatest disservice to American men, who are encouraged to aspire to be the “strong, silent type.” After all, “there’s no crying in baseball.” The ideal American man needs nothing but his muscles, his pick-up truck, and his guns. If he is defined relationally, it is of a hierarchical sort, where he is the head of his wife and his children and his house, rather than coexisting in a symbiotic relationship.
Here’s where we must consider God the Father, however.
The idea that the Christian God has always been defined only in relationship strikes a mortal wound to the idea that the ideal Christian man must be an island, entire of himself.
After all, defining God predominately as God the Father means that the God who Christians worship is defined by God’s relationships, and as such, can exist only in relationship to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit: God in three persons, blessed Trinity.
What does this all have to do with Father’s Day in the church? Well, I’m not suggesting pinning flowers to the breast of each man in attendance, though it might be a fun idea and a good photo op. Instead, what I am suggesting first for American churches and church leaders is to simply imagine the transformative power of a witness for American masculinity that is rooted in relationship and family. Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11 notwithstanding (and these words in context depict a familial mutuality rather than hierarchical headship), the Biblical view of fatherhood is one of quiet gentleness, forgiveness, and strength rooted in what often appears to be weakness.
This Father’s Day, if you think about or pray about or preach about fatherhood in your church, I encourage you to wonder about how differently Americans might view God if we constructed an image of God based on the father of the Prodigal Son, one of Jesus’ most powerful parables.
This father gave freely to his son what he had not earned, and then after his son abandoned him and his work, when the son returned to his father, contrite and penniless, his father did not kick him when he was down, demand restitution with interest, or spew hateful words about freeloaders and those who do not work hard enough. Instead, this gentle, forgiving, and relational father instantly forgives his son, and throws him a welcome party. Because more important than his money or his honor, this father, acting in the image of God the Father, valued love, and the dignity of each individual human life in relationship to his own.
PRAYER
Dear God,
On this Father’s Day, I’m grateful that you have chosen to interact with your creation in a model of mutual submission, love, forgiveness, and generosity. Today I pray for the fathers and father figures in my life, and I give thanks for the memories and all the times we’ve spent together, learning, laughing, and growing, even when it’s hard. I pray today for all those who are grieving the loss of a father or father figure in their life. I pray for Dads and kids whose relationship has become strained or irretrievably broken. I pray for Dads and kids who want to apologize or ask for forgiveness but haven’t been able to find the words. I pray for a line of communication in your time, dear God. I pray for release for those whose relationship with their father has been painful or even abusive, that they would find safety and hope and endurance. I pray for those who long to become dads but haven’t been able to. For those dads who have suffered the heartbreaking loss of a child. And for all those God, seeking to love as a father in the model of your self-sacrificing, honest, forgiving, patient, and welcoming love.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
AMEN
This has been a special free edition of the Sunday Stretch for all subscribers. Typically this Sunday newsletter is only for paid subscribers. Thank you all for subscribing and to paid subscribers for keeping this effort one that is sustainable for me! I look forward to sharing this time with you each week.
An Invitation
A Community that prays for one another is transformed by the power of the Spirit. We’ve been praying for and with each other now for more than three years! About once a quarter, I will re-start this space for prayer requests and praises. Please email with your own requests and I will share here with your permission!
Today is the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. We re-started prayer requests for Pentecost. Please do send your requests to add here to the list!
We pray today on Father’s Day for all fathers and father figures, giving thanks for the gift of relationship and family - that goes beyond our narrow understanding of both to encompass the love of a generous Creator.
That last month’s reminder of a Triune God would invite all of us to consider that God’s power lies in partnership, mutuality, and relationship - rather than violence, dominance, and control.
That the world might experience renewal and connection by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; that we would take time to listen and try to understand each other, across language, culture, religion, and life experience.
For legislators and staff as sessions end in State Houses, and as voting rights for Black Americans and all marginalized people, including women, are threatened by a Supreme Court influenced by Christian Nationalism and exclusionary ideas - may those who govern seek to listen to the least of us, and remember that they are elected to serve the people, to serve justice, and not monied interests or personal power.
For the Iranian people, that their land and lives might be preserved, and that they might have respite from targets both external and internal.
For American and Israeli military members, that they might be able to exercise individual conscience, and evaluate the justice of orders they’re asked to carry out. And that their lives might be preserved and protected.
For all living at risk of war and bombing in the Middle East, from Palestine and Israel to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, Dubai, Iran - and many other countries in the wake of war - may God protect civilians and slow the murderous rage and bloodthirst of politicians, especially Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth and Bibi Netanyahu.
For all those who have family members and loved ones serving overseas, with the military or living overseas as civilians, may God provide comfort in the midst of fear and worry for all those in the path of missiles and bombs.
For those who have lost their lives already in the conflict with Iran, Israel and America, especially schoolgirls who lost their lives in Iran, after all that women and girls there have already faced in their struggle to get an education and maintain their human freedom.
For Iranian democratic protesters who are glad to see Khamenei gone, but who still face huge challenges in overturning the theocratic and fundamentalist regime there.
For the loved ones of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, tragically murdered by ICE agents in South Minneapolis this year. For their families who must listen to the tarnishing of Alex and Renee’s good names by powerful people. For all those who risk their lives to be legal observers and document and challenge the violent tactics of ICE. For all in South Minneapolis rocked by tragedy after tragedy, from George Floyd to Melissa Hortman to Justine Damond to Annunciation - and too many more deaths to name.
For immigrant communities in Minnesota, especially Hispanic and Somali communities, for their leaders, for all who risk arrest and violence from ICE. For faith leaders who step out in bravery to care for neighbors.
For Venezuelans as their country is in turmoil with Maduro in custody in the U.S.; for American military personnel in the midst of uncertainty. For national leaders who respect the rule of law and a check on vigilante justice and extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean.
For all those enduring war and suffering in Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, Russia - and so many other places around the world - that world leaders might prioritize human lives, peace, and safety over profit and power.
For protesters for democracy and human rights in Iran, that they will be protected and their voices will be heard by their leaders and by the world.
For all those who have risked their lives to protest and resist the violent and unjust tactics of ICE. For local clergy leaders and activists. For neighbors who care for neighbors. For all those who continue to build networks of compassion and trust in resistance to violent authoritarian rule. For all immigrants and migrants who are unjustly detained and separated from their families.
For all those, especially parents of young children and caregivers for young children, who are weighed down by the pressures and stresses of anxiety and relentless financial pressure. Help us to find ways to care for one another as communities, in faith communities and beyond, and as neighbors.
For comedians, artists, musicians, and all those who dare to criticize those who hold worldly power. Help us to protect the truth-tellers, and not bow to threats against them.
We cry out with grief and lament for the loved ones of all who were victims of the school shooting at Annunciation in South Minneapolis at the end of August. We pray for healing and repair for all those who continue to heal and suffer from injuries experienced during the shooting. We pray for mental health resources and support for all who were impacted, and for government leaders to take action against the easy availability of deadly automatic weapons.
For teachers, students, and all who are facing illness as Covid and other infectious diseases continue to spread at higher rates and affect the vulnerable. God bring healing and support for all those who work in healing professions. May our government leaders be humbled to listen to scientists and doctors, and prioritize health and life over profit and grift.
Thank you for the blessings and support I’ve received as I have launched my new book and traveled to speak again. Please continue to expand this community of listening, understanding, and inspiration - and may my words be received with open hearts and new questions and opportunities for growth.
We pray for immigrants, migrants, and all those who are undocumented. May they be given sanctuary and support in America. May our churches find ways to resist the politics of demonization of immigrants.
For American federal government employees: may they continue to do their work with dignity and honesty and without the threat of political retribution. Also for aid workers and organizations who have been threatened and who have lost their funding access: that they may be given pathways forward to continue their work.
For brave faith leaders who dare to speak out against powerful political leaders, including those who wrote a new courageous faith statement in Idaho.
May all those who are providing aid and food, and seeking assistance in Gaza be protected in the midst of violence around food distribution. For the protection of journalists in Gaza.
For all immigrants and migrants around the world, far from home, seeking a new and safe homeland. Might they be embraced where they go, offered assistance and solidarity and friendship.
Be with all American lawmakers in this time of political upheavals and corruption by business leaders and wealthy individuals. Give them courage to speak truth and govern with care for humanity and life.
For so many loved ones of mine who have recently been diagnosed with cancer and are undergoing treatment. May they have caring and high-quality care, rest as needed, and loving support of family and friends.
We also pray for all those who are caring for loved ones who are going through myriad health challenges, including mental health and addiction. Grant them rest and relief in the midst of difficult and tiring times.
For all those who don’t have a safe place to live or enough food to eat, that they might be first and receive what they need.
For all around the world who face persecution for their religious beliefs, especially for religious minorities in places where governments sanction religion-based violence
For Christians to be emboldened to speak out courageously against anti-semitism and to acknowledge how we have been complicit in anti-semitic actions and speech against our Jewish siblings
For governments and leaders to prioritize climate change solutions and not be only ruled by profit or big business
For journalists, who risk their lives and livelihood to write and report truth - even against the wishes of media ownership and administration
For all the concerns deep on our hearts, that you hear and know and acknowledge, we pray …
In the boundless joy of a Spirit-filled existence, to worship God with exuberance, excitement, love, and inclusion,
In Jesus’ name we pray,
AMEN
P.S. …
A Few Notes:
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