PastorSarah

by Rev. Sarah Buteux                           March 8, 2020, Lent 2, Year A, Genesis 12:1-9   John 3:1-6 “The difficult is what takes a little time. The impossible is what takes a little longer.”  – Fridtjof Nansen I voted this past week and I wore a little sticker to prove it. Did you all vote if you were able? Good.  Like many of you, I thought long and hard over these last few months about who I would vote for when the primary finally rolled around. And like everyone else in America, I wrestled with the question of electability vs. each candidate’s ability to do the job and do it well. And until this past weekend, I still wasn’t entirely sure who I was going to vote for.  But then Tuesday came [...]

Rev. Sarah Buteux Epiphany 7, Year A  Matthew 5:21-48 To view sermon click here O.K. time for a little spiritual inventory. In your program this morning you will find one of those little tests like the ones you find in magazines or on buzz feed to help you determine whether or not you’re a good manager, or friend, or kisser. Only I based this one on Matthew 5, to help you determine whether or not you’re a good Christian.  You all know how these things work. So let’s run down the list and see how we do. Circle 1. if you think the statement is true all of the time, 2. most of the time, 3. some of the time, and 4. if it’s not true at all. 1 always 2 most of the time 3 some of the time  [...]

Rev. Sarah Buteux   February 3, 2020 Epiphany 6, Year A   Deut. 30:15-20  Mat. 5:1-12   I think I can honestly say that there was a point in my life when I had parenting all figured out. I really understood the importance of discipline and consistency, obedience and tough love.  I shook my head at all the other parents out there who would count to three, not get their way, and then count to three all over again. I chuckled at the bribes and shuddered at some of the threats I overheard at the grocery store, in the parking lot, on the playground.  And I’d think to myself: come on people, it’s not that complicated. Seriously, it’s all about follow through. If you say you’re going to take the toy away when you get to three, then just take the [...]

Rev. Sarah Buteux January 5, 2020 John 1:1-18 Second Sunday after Christmas/Epiphany Year A It is words that brought this world into being and sometimes I fear it is words which will bring it to an end.  “Let there be light,” said God, and there was light. God said - just said - “Let the waters bring forth living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth… and let the land bring forth living creatures…and (with those words) it was so.” Playing off that great mystery, John begins his gospel with a tribute to the Word personified, claiming that the Word made flesh - the one called Jesus - “was in the beginning with God. All things - the sun, the moon, the stars, all the creepy things and the crawly things and the cuddly things (like baby Yoda) - [...]

by Rev. Rev. Sarah Buteux         December 22, 2019 Advent 4, Year A Matthew 1:18-25   There is this meme floating around by Carlos Rodriguez that begins, “Christmas is about believing what a woman said about her sex life.” Have any of you seen it? It’s a pretty audacious statement coming from an evangelical pastor, but it’s true. It goes on to say: Christmas is about finding safety as asylum seekers.  Christmas is about a child receiving support from the wealthy.  Christmas is about God identifying with the marginalized, not the powerful.” It’s good stuff. How many of you have seen it?  How many of you have shared it?  And how many of you, going back to that first line - “Christmas is about believing what a woman said about her sex life” - have found yourself rethinking [...]

Rev. Sarah Buteux               November 3, 2019 To watch the sermon click here Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Luke 6:20-31 All Saints Year C Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Luke 6:21 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4   O God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. May they bring the comfort we long for. May they be the words we need to hear. Amen.   Barbara Parsons. Denise Karuth. Margery, Paul, Robin, Cammi,… some of these names are being read for the first time today and the pain we feel as the chime rings for them is as cold and bright as a new blade.  It is a grief so sharp, it [...]

Rev. Sarah Buteux October 20, 2019 Luke 18:1-8 Proper Year C (Click here to watch) A few weeks ago we had a half day planning retreat here at the church and Todd and I thought it would be a good idea to have us all begin by talking about where we were at spiritually.  So he led off with the question: “Where are you growing in your faith?” And the people at my table all looked a little bit stunned. And I thought, O gosh, what were we thinking. Who asks a question like that to a group of mainline protestants on a Saturday morning.  “Where are you growing in your faith?”  I think half the people in the room would have felt more comfortable talking about their net worth or using a group-on for simultaneous root canals. New Englanders [...]

The Rev. Sarah Buteux      September 8, 2019  Luke 14:25-33, Philemon 1 Proper 18 Year C Everyone says, this love will change you.  Well, I ask, isn’t that what loves supposed to do.  - The Weepies   Friends, our first reading this morning is all about the cost of discipleship. Jesus doesn’t just come into the world to save the world, he comes to change it, disrupt, and upend it.  He comes to give sight to the blind, set the captives free, and provide the poor with the good things they need by emptying the rich of those things they don’t really need at all.  And Jesus knows that as happy as that will make people on the outside and underside of the empire, it is going to greatly upset those in positions of privilege and power. Which is [...]