A Two Goal Lead is the Most Dangerous Lead...

And Mother’s everywhere are cringing at Nicodemus’ words, imagining their children crawling back into their wombs… The fact that Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night is significant in the writing of John. It is significant because it symbolizes the theme that runs throughout the Gospel of John, the theme of Light and Darkness. The light is always being challenged by darkness, and of course, the light always wins when it is Jesus, but for those disciples of Jesus and those disciples that follow Jesus long after John has left this world, it is a different story. Disciple’s today struggle as much as anybody has with the challenges and the evil that darkness brings. Nicodemus’ questioning of Jesus in the dark is significant for another reason. Conversion always preceded Baptism in Jesus’ time, and the early Church. They often did not have infants to baptize as we do today. They often made people go through the intense formation in the weeks leading up to Easter, as we hear on Ash We...

I was selfish yesterday. Ash Wednesday is the only service that speaks louder than the scriptural texts it has at its core. Looking back at past sermons I have rarely preached on the texts themselves, and mostly on the numerous movies and pop culture references to the beginning of the penitential season. Not so much on the different texts. I realized last night, at our 7PM service, that my sermon touched the Isaiah and 2 Corinthians readings more than it did the Gospel, so the 7AM and 12N people must have been a little baffled about why I was saying what I was saying... But back to being selfish, I decided to be the one to put the ash sing of the cross on everyones forehead. Sandy did my head, but I did everyone else's. And in my drive up to Grand Marais I really tried hard to figure out why I was so compelled to do that. I really love Ash Wednesday, there is no other season of the liturgical year that marks itself at the beginning with such a powerful symbol. We usually jus...

The Rev. Aron Kramer 2 Epiphany January 20, 2008 How many of you here today are Aries, born between March 21 and April 20? The animal symbol of Aries is the Ram, but that, it turns out, is only a recent phenomenon, it was known for many years as “teleh”, which to the Latins, meant “male lamb.” The book of Revelation identifies Aries as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. The sign of Aries was always pictured as a male lamb with its head reverted backwards, looking over its shoulder at the emerging Taurus, the next constellation arising out of the cosmos. Only a being with a broken neck could look over its shoulder as the animal sign for Aries does, and yet, the sign shows the lamb still standing, still upright even with its neck broken. It becomes quite clear then that Aries was the perfect choice with which to identify Jesus and his life that would eventually be broken on a cross, only to see him standing upright again as a resurrected being, looking back as we fo...

I like this song by Rob Thomas, and it is an interesting addition to the study. Are their songs or poems that you know of that speak about the city? Send them to me and I will post them! The city is where we work out our corporate life, becasue the city is where we gather, where we come together, all walks of like, all people, all of us. It's morning I wake up The taste of summer sweetness on my mind It's a clear day In this city Let's go dance under the street lights All the people in this world Let's come together More than ever I can feel it Can you feel it Come on over Down to the corner My sisters and my brothers of every different color Can't you feel that sunshine telling you to hold tight Things will be alright Try to find a better life Come on over Down to the corner My sisters and my brothers there for one another Come on over Man I know you wanna let yourself go Some people It's a pity They go all their lives and never know How to love or to let lo...

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. Genesis 4. With the story of Cain and Abel, everything about cities seems to get off to a very negative start. It seems that they are founded out of restlessness, out of wandering. It seems that they are rooted in being cut off from the land, and murder and violence and blood. It seems, at first glance, that the opportunities for cities are nothing but dread and death. At first glance they seem to come out of everything that is antithesis to God and community. But when we stop and look at the story closer, many more questions arise. Why did God mark Cain in such a way that no one on earth would be allowed to kill him? Why did God allow Cain to go off, seemingly of his own volition, to start a new life, away from his family? Finally, the biggest question of the whole te...

So, I have been wanting for some time to have regular posts and what not, but have never really been able to get motivated about it in one way or another. So one of my work new year resolution is to take 2 hours or so a week and blog two different things. First, the title of this post has been a phrase that has been clinging to me for some time, so I am going to do some Bible Study on the word and concept of "the City" in Scripture. I want to see how cities functioned in the OT and the NT. I want to listen to the Word of God and hear how this line, "The City is where we work out our corporate life" can change or transform or affirm our minstry here in the Garden in Downtown Minneapolis. I imagine it will be both fun and wonderful, and challenging and difficult to hear, but I want to try it. Second, the BCMS stuff is still out there, and after spending all of Advent studying it with members of the congregation there are many things to say and to think about. S...

The Rev. Aron Kramer Christmas Eve Sunday December 24, 2007 Well baby I've been here before I know this room and I've walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew you I've seen your flag on the marble arch But love is not a victory march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Now maybe there is a God above But all I've ever learned from love Was how to shoot someone who outdrew you it's not a cry that you hear at night It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Leonard Cohen caught something in the imagery of a broken Hallelujah. There is something on this night when we sing hallelujah, when hallelujah is on all our altar hangings, on this night when we give praise for the birth of Emmanuel, God with us, on this night when God puts on human flesh and walks among us, as us, with us, that rings true about a broken hallelujah. In the Gospel, the people of God are ordered to be...

One year ago today, about this time of the day, 9:30, I received a call from Sara telling me Eliot was being admitted to Fairview University for something serious. It would not be until later that evening we would find out it was Leukemia. Sara and I are reflecting on that day today, trying to remember its details, the love and support that out poured from Gethsemane, from the Diocese, from our families. It was a crazy time, and because of the generosity of so many people we were truly able to be a family during that crisis. Eliot is doing so well today, he is happy and learning to be a little kid all over again. We face a challenging remaining two and a half years, and let me tell you that last day of maintenance will be one heck of a party. Thank you to all who walked that scary time with us and supported us as we faced this scary thing. Be well Aron

The Rev. Aron Kramer Advent Sermon Series II Sunday, December 9, 2007 In the absence of Christ, what emerges? The city is where we work out our corporate life. The city is the place where we witness the emergence of Christ in ways we could only scarcely imagine. The city is the place where the poor and wealthy walk the same streets. The city is where the oppressed and the oppressors live. The city is where darkness and light wage an eternal battle. Christ set himself towards Jerusalem, towards the city so long ago, to go there and to be killed, but he was not just killed in the city. In the city, Christ was resurrected, in the city Christ ripped the curtain of the temple, blowing the box of the limitations that religion and authority had set upon God. It was in the city that Christ’ resurrection happened; it was in the city that the apostles began their work. It was in the city that Christ began to emerge. Fred Burnham, an Episcopalian I have had the pleasure to ...

The Rev. Aron Kramer Advent Sermon Series I Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007 In the absence of Christ, what emerges? If you read my email this week, you saw that I asked the provocative question, what do Jesus and slime mold have in common? Before I answer that, let me tell you a little bit about slime mold, my new favorite slimy organism. Scientists have been studying for years different kinds of systems that use simple and small components to build higher level intelligence. Essentially, organisms that have no brain or organization at all and how they come together to create a more intelligent organism that can actually get things done. So back to slime mold, say you are walking in a forest and you come across this red, orange-ish slimy goo lying on a log, or in the midst of some leaves, seemingly sitting still in a mass on the forest floor. If you were to come back later, it might be gone, or it might be in a different place, if the weather were to cool down and get rainy, it mi...

The Rev. Aron Kramer Last Pentecost Sunday, November 25, 2007 Our journey always begins with our trip to the Inn. After days of waiting and hearing rumors of a miracle in Bethlehem, we go to the Inn, but God is not there, they say God is in the stable out back. We leave the Inn and go to the stable; there the shepherds say God is not here, God has left with his family to go to Egypt. We leave the stable and go to Egypt, but the people there do not know God and we return to God’s birth place where God’s family says God is in the Temple. We go to the Temple, but God, the people say, is out in the country and by the seaside, making apostles out of some. We go to the Apostles to find God, but God, the Apostles say, is not with them, God is at the outskirts of town, with the poor, the lame, the widowed, the orphaned and the oppressed. We go to the outskirts of town, to find the poor, the lame, the widowed, the orphaned and the oppressed, some say they have been healed, others as...

Just got the newest Trinity News magazine and read an amazing interview. Read it here , it is very cool. The article is called: The Objective of Islam is Peace Be well, A+

I am studying for my sermon next Sunday and reading a little piece about the Colossians reading and discovered this little gem about the community in colossa, or whatever their name was, and the news they were receiving about the Gospel not being adequate for their faith. It reads: "There is a host of different ways in which contemporary believers can be tempted to feel that the basic gospel message is inadequate and that it needs to be supplemented by additional religious rites or disciplines, more sophisticated knowledge, or some compelling experience, if they are to be accepted by God or to reach their full potential as human beings. They need to hear... that there is no inadequacy about its basic message." Now, I don't know about you, but that was kind of wonderful to hear. It gave my heart a boost, to think that the Gospel message as we have it is all that we need to understand the basic message of faith, the basic message of Christ. We are in the midst of studying...

I am reading a new book called "Signs of Emergence" by Kester Brewin. I stumbled upon it by chance, I am doing and Advent Sermon Series on Emergence, called "In the Absence of Christ, what emerges?" Of course in my perfect world I would have blended the thought and science behind the Science of Emergence with different Anglican Theology and doctrines to make this brilliant statement of how science and theology are coming together and how are response is to be amazingly brilliant children of God. Then the boiler died, our chimney still hasn't been fixed and many other sordid things that are not making me happy. Anyway, in reading this book, I stumbled across a little quote that got me really excited: "The only way to consider whether our structures are serving us is to stop and reflect on them. To dismantle them; take them apart piece by piece. Expose them to the air. Lay them on the ground and let everyone walk around them and get a good look at them ...

You can read about this here on the Diocesan website. I wanted to post this so people could read a little bit about the goal as this network idea seems to have a lot of energy right now. So read through and make comments, I will comment early next week or later today depending on how much time I have to write. This is just the first operational strategies, #6 not the entire Goal, so the rest will come soon. Thanks! A+ Goal 3: Recreate the Diocese as a Network To redevelop the entire diocese by the end of 2009 to function primarily as a network of congregations and ministries. These networks will exercise local initiative and responsibility for shared ministry in their contexts. Recommended Mission & Ministry Initiatives Initiative 6: Develop Network Infrastructure: We need to re-conceive and redevelop the diocese as a network of congregations and ministries where organization, communication and the use of resources flow along the lines of meaningful relationships and shared minist...

I snapped this picture of Naomi yesterday, not so flattering of Eliot, but what a shot of Naomi. She was having a great time.

So I ended up speaking on the floor convention and looking back at that previous initial post, I realized I changed a lot of that. So here is the text of the statmenet I read at convention, what I actually said: It is vital to the future of the Diocese and the integrity of the BCMS work that we call a Bishop Coadjutor. To do anything else would limit the effectiveness of how we continue to discover how we will be the Church together. God is working among us, and I believe that this process is an opportunity to deepen our commitment and participation with God in the mission God is calling us all to. With the work of the BCMS at the center of all we do in the search for a new visionary leader we can be confident that we elect someone who can work collaboratively and in full partnership with all of us to continue to create a pioneering vision for the future of the Church. I imagine the demands upon the time of a bishop are great, only Bishop Jelinek can tell us what that demand is lik...

Had a Baptism on Sunday and was reminded of how core that action is to my life of faith. I love how the Baptismal Covenant, though uniquely Episcopalian, says nothing about being an Episcopalian or even for that matter, says nothing about institutional Church. It was so refreshing. It was similar to past experiences where I re-discovered those things I loved as a child or a young adult, things that gave me energy, passion and nourishment, not just nostalgia and useless memories. For instance, and laugh at your own risk, Dragonlance Fantasy novels, I love those things and read them regularly still today. They were enduring objects, hobbies or activities that I have, for a long time, enjoyed immensly. Saying the Baptismal Covenant with the members of my parish, claiming those questions as a core piece of who I am as Christian, really was like breathing fresh and new air. I heard little about our Baptismal covenant at Convention, or of what we as a Episcopalians claim as pieces of ho...

I am ever the optimist, I always assume that people are operating out of the general good of their hearts, for the betterment of whatever it is they might be working or advocating for. I am also not one to hold a grudge, and will jump on board with the decisions made by a body that they believe are what that particular body needs. So, of course, when I was on the losing end of just about every resolution presented at convention I was able to look forward to what would come next and prepare myself to support the decisions I need to support as we move forward. Tonight I put all my eggs into the basket to try to get a coadjutor process passed as the way we would proceed in calling a new bishop. We missed that by three votes, granted, a majority of the Diocese wanted to have a coadjutor, but because of a motion to have the vote by orders it lost, clergy passed it 86-59 and the laity narrowly missed it by a vote of 114 to 117. Makes for some nail biting prime time entertainment, let me t...

I believe it is in the best interest of the Diocese of Minnesota to proceed with a modified version of Bishop Jelinek’s coadjutor plan. I believe we have already completed a two year interim process through the powerful work of the BCMS and that this work needs to be the core of the Bishop Coadjutor search process. The Bishop’s Commission for Mission Strategy has looked closely at and been honest about our diocesan wide bad habits and helped us acknowledge, honor and move forward to create collaborative relationships and collegiality among laity and clergy. We have begun to overcome our bad habits and new partnerships and opportunities have emerged. We have begun to discover our gifts, talents and skills as we have heard the Good News in the ministries and missions of congregations around the Diocese. The past two years have been extraordinarily challenging and anxiety provoking. We have asked HOW we will be the Church together as we move forward. Two years of maintenance and deep s...