(Photo by Luke van Zyl)

At some point this afternoon, Charlie Kirk will be laid to rest. I hope I am wrong, but given the preliminary line up of speakers including:


President Trump,

Vice President Vance,

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,

Secretary of State Marco Rubio,

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth,

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,

Donald Trump Jr.,

Tucker Carlson,

and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller



- something tells me that his funeral is going to feel more like a political rally than a somber memorial for one whose life was taken far too soon.



I know Kirk was a ...

Photo by Sam Carter https://unsplash.com/@samdc?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash


Way back in 2013 when I was still pastoring in Hadley, there was a bit of a dust up over here in Northampton. The Pioneer Performing Arts School staged a production of the “Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” at the Academy of Music and let’s just say it caused something of an uproar, even here in the valley. 

The play is a biblically inspired, gay affirming satire featuring Adam, Steve, Jane and Mabel rather than Adam, Eve, Cain and Able and, believe it or not, the Preforming Arts School received over 3500 e-mails and letters asking them not to proceed with the performance.

Word on the street was that local churches were going to come out en-masse on opening night to protest the use of “tax payer dollars to mock the Bible,” and everyone was on edge about it.
 
But then the members over at First Church in Amherst came up with the brilliant idea. They...

Note: Our livestream did not work on Sunday, so we re-recorded the sermon on Monday. Below is the text.

Luke 14:25-33

25 Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” 31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions

"The Cost of Discipleship"

I can't say I wasn’t warned.

It’s not like no one told me how hard it would be.

Aside from all the horror stories about what it would do to my body, my career, my bank account, my freedom to do as I please, people also warned me about just how vulnerable it would make me…"like having your heart walk around outside your body,” said one.

People told me there was no one right way to do it, but there were millions of wrong ways and that no matter how hard I tried I’d invariably get it wrong at some point.

They said cryptic things like: if you knew how hard it would be you’d never do it, but having done it, you’d never go back.

So of course, I did it anyway...

The very first story in the Bible is the story of creation. In the first 3 chapters of Genesis, God creates the day and the night, the sun and the moon, the land and the sea, fish and fowl; animals to walk the land and a couple who are blessed to live in the midst of it all.



Adam and Eve have everything they could ever want or need, but a serpent tempts them into wanting even more which leads to their exile from the garden. By the end of chapter 3, it is clear that they cannot just feed off the land God has made and enjoy what it has to offer. Now they will need to claim a plot, toil, and till it in order to feed themselves and their family.



Which leads us to chapter 4 - the second story in the Bible - the one about their sons, Cain and Able.



Cain was a farmer. Able, a shepherd.

Farmers are settlers. Shepherds are nomads.

Farmers need to work the land to grow food and shepherds need to roam the land to find it. Farmers need to establish boundaries. Shepherds need to cross them.



There is a tension built into this story....

Anyone want to take a guess at what this is? It’s a lovely little pouch with a print of a night sky on it. I made it many years ago while on retreat with our youth. We did a lot of retreats back before covid that focused on things like how to keep sabbath and how to have a healthy relationship with your smart phone; both of which connect to this little pouch.

Anyone want to take a guess at what it might be?

It’s a cell phone sleeping bag…a cell phone sleeping bag that I’m ashamed to say, has never been used. I made it with the intention of...

This week, in her Piloting Faith devotional, Cameron Trimble reminded me of an old story that she thinks originates with the Quechua people. I perked right up when I read that because you may remember that for years we had a Quechua church worshipping right here at First Churches.
Well, anyway, it is a story about a forest fire that drives every animal in the woods to the very edge of the forest where they stand paralyzed at the river’s edge and watch helplessly as their home - everything that they have known and loved - goes up in flames. All of the animals are frozen in fear and despair. All, that is, except for one.
With quiet resolve a tiny hummingbird breaks from the group, dives into the river, picks up a single drop of water in her little beak, and returns to release it over the fire. Then she turns back, gathers up another drop, and does it again.
“What are you doing?” the other animals cry out. “You can’t stop this fire with just a few drops of water!” “No,” she said, “But at least I am doing what I can.”
How many of you have heard that story before? Well whether you’ve heard it or not, y’all probably know what I’m going to say next.

It’s hard not to feel like...

I don’t want to live as if happiness or success is one great project or accomplishment away. I want to stop this frantic climb to nowhere. The pursuit of greatness keeps us from greatness. The pursuit of happiness keeps us from happiness. The pursuit of love keeps us from love. Because those are things we don’t have to chase or earn; they’re right here in the everyday. But I don’t think we can see any of it until we intentionally decide: what does enough mean to me?
~ Glennon Doyle Melton p 358 “We Can Do Hard Things”

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get Jesus to show up and settle all of our disputes? You know, just come right out and tell us who is right and who is wrong and what everybody needs to do to get things back on track?

Jesus, tell my brother to split the inheritance with me.
Jesus, tell my sister to come help me in the kitchen.
Jesus, tell my kid to stop scrolling on their phone and join us here in reality.
Tell my dad to stop watching that news channel and join us here in reality.
Tell Israel to let aid into Gaza.
Tell ICE to let my people go.
Tell my husband he has enough clothes.
Tell my wife she has enough tools.
Tell my neighbor that car they bought for their daughter is way too much and that the money they spent on it would’ve been better off given to the poor.

Jesus, over here! Jesus, over there! For the love of God, Jesus, would you come on down and set these people straight once and for all.

But Jesus doesn’t do that. He didn’t ...

I recently had a visit from an old friend whose story is pretty common, at least around here. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. My friend grew up in a very religious home and a very conservative church. In fact, her father was a pastor. And out of love and respect for him, for God, for her church, and her family, she tried to do everything right and be who everyone wanted her to be. She grew up and married young. Her husband was a good man of the same faith and from the outside her life looked perfect. 

But not long into her marriage, she realized she couldn’t live a lie any longer...

I know it’s not a competition, but it’s hard to imagine a scripture passage that has done more damage to God’s image and the image of God in others than these verses we find at the end of Matthew’s gospel.

Known as “The Great Commission,” this passage initially inspired a small band of the penniless and powerless to range out into the world in loving service to all. The first followers of Jesus set out with the sole mission of…

Last week, in the midst of sermon prep, George’s graduation, and all the other things pastoring, partnering, and parenting require, I was fielding texts from a group of friends who were going to hike up Mt. Norwottuck on Saturday morning. It’s a challenging hike, between 700 and 1000 feet up to the top, but I was all in. I walk everyday and hiking is my happy place.



However, since I returned from Spain, I’ve had some pain in my hip, pain that was getting more acute as the week wore on. And yet,..

What are the 3 most important holy days in the Christian calendar?

This is not a trick question, though it does get tricky after # 2.

Any one want to take a stab at this? I can give out hints.

#1 (happens in December) Christmas. Yes!

#2 (happens in the Spring) Easter. (Brilliant!)

And #3 (starts with P) …. Pentecost?

I mean that’s the logical guess to make given that today is Pentecost Sunday, right? But hey - All Saints, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday?!? - you could be forgiven for thinking those are just as important.

In fact, if Pentecost didn’t...

On June 1, 2025, First Churches, St. Johns, Edwards, and Haydenville, UCC held our annual Ecumenical Pride Service. We were graced with the preaching of the Rev. Laura Everett. Her sermon is copied below, or you can read it at her website and see pictures of the wedding she references as part of her sermon.

https://reveverett.com/2025/06/03/because-you-loved-a-sermon-on-john-1724-for-northampton-ecumenical-pride-2025/

We commend the full service to you, full of testimonies and music that will move you.

Here is her sermon:

In 1971, in a London television studio, author James Baldwin, then 47, and poet Nikki Giovanni, then 28, sat down for a conversation about the state of Black life, love and gender relations.  

In that conversation, James Baldwin said this: 
“I am no expert with theology, which at the moment I realized, I carried in myself. You know, it was not the world that was my oppressor only. Because what the world does to you, is the world does it long enough and effectively enough.

You begin to do it to yourself. You become a collaborator, an accomplice of your own murder, because you believe the same things they do. No, you think it’s, they think it’s important to be white, and you think it’s important to be white. 
They think it’s shameful to be Black and, and you think it’s shameful to be Black. And you have no corroboration around you of any other sense of life. You know, all those corroborations which are around you are, in terms of the white majority standards, so deplorable, they frighten you to death.” End quote. 

You begin to do it to yourself. 
You become a collaborator,
an accomplice in your own murder,
Because you believe the same things they do.

Let us pray. 

Help us, O Lord.

Amen. 

The gospel reading for today from John 17, should be a meatball over home plate for someone who works for the unity of all Christians.  It’s the classic text “so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Except....