Friends, we have arrived at the penultimate episode of our season. I am excited for these last two sermons, and I hope they might set us up well for the summer before us. This week, my sermon is driven by this question: Is there a way to tune our minds so that they become better receivers? The question is driven by a sort of epiphany I had a few years ago. While our minds are most certainly thought generators, they may also be thought receivers. I cannot recall if it was our beloved Murray who shared this with me, or the author Dale Allison. Regardless, I am sure these ideas sound a bit confusing. Even still, if our minds are receiving (not just generating) thoughts, well, is there a way to tune into certain frequencies, while ignoring others? I am as confused as you about all of this, which is why we must embark on a most interesting journey together on Sunday. To puzzle this out, I have an assortment of tales and reflections to bring you: from rabbit ear antennas to Muhammad Ali, the Young and the Restless to Barack Obama, Crispers to the Tom Foolery ancient shepherds performed, and the young prophet Samuel hearing a voice to the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility (which happens to fry birds in mid-flight; mind you, that has no bearing on my sermon, but I thought you might like to know). Anywho, it is quite the trail we must travel together.

Friends, I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about birds, but I will grant them this: some of their mating rituals are just hilariously fantastic (see flamingos or birds of paradise). The choreography is mesmerizing; their movements flamboyant and fun to watch. Of course, acts like these are not exclusive to birds. In the animal kingdom, from birds to elephants, rituals are found everywhere in nature. And yet, no creature is as ritualized as we Homo sapiens. Rituals are a human universal, with ceremonial practices serving many important functions. This Sunday, I want to take us into one of the most unique rituals of the Christian faith: baptism. Of course, back in the day, ritualistic washing or immersion rituals were present and practiced in various cultures and religions outside of Christianity. Even today, the “cold plunge” has echoes of a baptism ritual. Yet, by and large, baptism is almost an exclusively Christian ritual. Why? Why is it important? What does it mean and communicate?

Is it just me, or are lots of us more like Hobbits than is good for us? Valuing comfort, home, and a quiet life, living in our cozy hobbit-holes, eschewing adventure and exploration…nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Even if we don’t live like Hobbits (though that would probably be my dream), we might act like Hobbits in certain corners of our minds and hearts. And yet, our heart needs more; we are invited out of our comfort zone to more reality, more life, more connection, more freedom…more adventure. Does that sound appealing? Adventures are exciting, but they also include confusion, danger, wrestling with big questions, and when we return - if we return - we are not the same. Last week we faced our illusions which can get in the way of living fully and truly connecting with ourselves, others, and with God. By definition, all illusions pull us out of reality into an echo chamber of the stories we tell ourselves. The illusion of control, for instance, can cause us to cling to our comfortable and safe routines where we feel better able to control the outcome. As we wrap up our journey through Henri Nouwen’s book Reaching Out, we’ll now explore prayer as the opposite pole to illusion. Nouwen claims that as we move toward prayer, we will move away from illusion. This may feel backward at best or simply confusing, as our experiences in life in general and with prayer in particular may have us feeling ambivalent towards prayer. When life is chaotic and God feels far or nonexistent, prayer can seem pointless and empty, maybe even deeply disappointing. I wonder if seeing prayer as an adventure can invite us to explore prayer with fresh eyes, finding more than we thought was there at first. We may find more reality and more life. We may find something new to go on as we explore some themes around prayer such as experiencing God’s absence, paradox and confusing messages around prayer, and we’ll get a little practical with a way of praying that’s both simple and profound as we listen for our Prayer of the Heart.