Wondering and Wonder

Wondering and Wonder

a Trinity Sunday sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

DOWNLOAD A LIVE RECORDING

Audio from worship at the 10:00 AM Worship Service May 31, 2026
at St Peter’s Episcopal Church, Carson City, Nevada

edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine.

Scripture read on Audio: Matthew 28:16-20

  Sermons also available free on iTunes

Stained Glass Symbol of the Trinity at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Carson City, Nevada.

photo by J. Christy Ramsey

Hey, it’s Trinity Sunday. Thanks for coming out of your family events and gatherings and celebrations. I’m glad you’re all in your Trinity finest gear. That’s wonderful. Great, great. It’s a really bad Sunday to preach, on Trinity Sunday. There’s nothing. There’s nothing there. I don’t blame Donna for leaving the state. I mean, I’d get far away from the pulpit, too, if I could. Trinity Sunday is about as exciting as looking at your phone and say, “Spam likely.” That guy again. They’re always calling. Or, you know, worse is, “This is your insurance company. We’d like to talk to you about some explanation of your benefits.” Oh. That’s right up there with Trinity Sunday preacher, I’ll tell you.

Hey, I bet you didn’t know something. Trinity Sunday is with us every Sunday. I bet you didn’t know this. I bet up here, you know, way before we had these screens – whoo, nifty neat-o, we had screens in church for centuries. We just called it “stained glass.” So I just wanted people saying, oh, I don’t like this new stuff, hey, stained glass has been around for centuries. I don’t know what you’re talking about. So up here – I don’t know if I’m allowed up here, I’m destroying things – I don’t know if you can see it. This is actually a symbol of the Trinity. Everything’s clear now; isn’t it. No, it’s not. But here they’ve got God in the middle. Come up later, if you’re allowed. I don’t know if you’re allowed. But come up later.

Árni Dagur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

They’ve got a dais in the middle, God. And then they’ve got Holy Spirit here, Father up there, Son up there, Father over there on the three. And then they’ve got little connection things. Spirit is not the Father, Father is not the Son, Son is not the Spirit. And then they all go to the middle, they’re all “Is God, Is God, Is God.” Okay. We can pack it up. We’re done. Everybody understands the Trinity now. That’s great. Super. Don’t be telling people you’ve got a fidget spinner in stained glass at your church. I mean, well, unless you want to. People think, oh, that’s pretty cool. I think I’m coming, yeah. Not a fidget spinner. All right.

Way back in the 5th Century, there was a guy, his name was Augustine of Hippo. I don’t know. I don’t know, you know, if he was a portly man. But they called him Hippo. I think that’s where he lived. Unfortunate if he was portly. That would have been bad. He said this: “Si comprehendis, non est Deus.” And what that is translated from the Latin is,

If you think you understand God, what you understand is not God. - Augustine of Hippo

Well, that’s helpful, Augustine. He’s saying if you understand something, then you don’t understand it. The parts you understand about God is not something you understand. 

The difference between stupid and intelligent people — and this is true whether or not they are well-educated — is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations — in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward. - Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer (1995).

And we have a quote up here from a more recent philosopher. Good old Neal Stephenson, author of “Snow Crash,” any classic science fiction – no, nothing. Oh. No, you’re just scratching. Okay. The difference between stupid and intelligent people, and this is true whether or not they are well educated, is that intelligent people can handle subtle – Bill, what’s that word?

BILL: Subtlety.

PASTOR RAMSEY: Subtlety. Thank you, Bill. That’s why I brought him in here, roped him up to give me that word. Thank you. Subtlety. And they are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations. Whoo. In fact, they expect them. And they’re apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward. Yeah. Intelligent people are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations. In fact, they expect them. And they’re suspicious if things are too simple. You’re all intelligent people now; right? Okay. Because you all heard Trinity stuff, oh, the shamrock thing. Who’s heard of the sham – don’t put your hands up. Who’s heard this? Because that’s a heresy. I don’t want you to put your hands up, then let it go, ooh.

Not TrinityShamrock, you know, the three in the Trinity, one plant, three things. Sometimes even I said this, and I was wrong, that’s modality, that’s a heresy. This is, like, should be called Heresy Sunday because it’s so easy to slip in heresy when you’re trying to talk about the Trinity. When you’re talking about, you know, oh, it’s like steam and liquid water and ice, you know. No, it’s not. It’s modality. And it’s not even Father, Son, Holy Spirit, you know. As much as Presbyterians love committees, love them, God is not a committee. It’s not like they vote and come together, two out of three goes, you know, none of that.

It’s not like, you know, like loving, loved, and beloved, or all these other things that people try to make into some kind of social community rolling around kind of thing inside a God, and that’s Trinity. Just about anything – just like our friend Augustine found out. You know, every time you try to describe a Trinity, you’re probably not describing the Trinity. You’re not describing God. If you think you understand it, you got it wrong. What are we to do? What are we to do? Well, we’re intelligent people. We can handle things that are contradictory or complex or not clear or not simply explained. We can handle that. I mean, you know, they just don’t let anybody in the Episcopal Church; right? There is a little test you’ve got to do before you get in; right? I’m sure there is. They haven’t caught me yet. Ha.

It’s like when I go to Trader Joe’s. Does anybody go to Trader Joe’s? I go in there. I am not good-looking enough to be at Trader Joe’s up there in [totsy?] land. They’re going to kick me out because I go, wow, what are these people? Wow. Everybody comes down from Tahoe, and they’re nice? But we can handle it. And we’ve got stories here. We’ve got scriptures here that tell us about complexity. And you can come to these scriptures and be confused. You can come to the Trinity and be confused. And what confused? Well, I don’t understand it, and I should. It’s not good for me. I’m upset. Well, then you’re not intelligent. Here’s a thought. Instead of being confused, be in awe. Instead of being upset you don’t understand something, be in wonder of the glory of God.

Because you look at the creation story, and was that a big creation story? You know, I was talking to – that’s a lot of scripture. You know, that’s a big hunk there. And, well, you know, he created the entire universe, you know, give him a chapter. You know, come on. So you look at that, and we’re so familiar with it that we just blow it on by; you know? The first creation story, you know, there’s a – every now and then, God created the Heavens and the Earth, and it was so. You know, that “and” is doing a heck of a lot of work. You look all the way through it, he says something, and it was so. Says something, and God said it was good. Said something, and God said it was good.

You know, that “and” is like a billion years of time and space in that “and.” I mean, we’re just skipping over a whole lot of stuff that we would like to understand in that “and.” I’m telling you, all of our scientific endeavor is trying to figure out that “and” bit, between God says it’s going to happen and then he said it was good. We want to know between the “and.” We don’t have to. We don’t have to be confused by complications. And that’s why we had the whole big, you know, some people say, well, you have the Trinity in there because, you know, in the story of Genesis, God is referred to as “we,” in the plural. So that’s the Trinity there.

Okay, that’s kind of a reach. I mean, you know, when the King of England or Queen of England says “We are not amused,” they’re not talking that they’re the Trinity, you know, there’s a “royal we” kind of thing. But I like to think they picked that out, the little lectionary elves picked that up because here’s another thing we don’t understand. You’ve got the Trinity. Everybody’s confused. Let’s throw in the creation story, too, just so long as we’re doing a confusion Sunday. But it doesn’t have to be confusion. It could be wonder. Saying, look at all those wonderful things God’s done.

You know, God just didn’t do it. I think it’s very important in our times. God said it was good. So when people tell you other people are bad or these people aren’t good enough or these people are below us or beneath us or don’t have the right to be here, or don’t have the right to exist, or should pull themselves up by their own – remember what God said. God said it was good. It was good. People are good. God doesn’t make trash is what they used to say. But not only that, God makes people good. That’s complex. That’s wondering. That’s confusing. We want to understand it, want to dissect it, want to have the PowerPoints. But nope. Just got to go with God is good. God made the world good. God made people good.

So if something’s bad in the world, guess what? Guess whose that is? That’s us. Enough of that. Let’s go on to the psalm. Psalm’s great; isn’t it? Psalms? Psalm is great for wonder. Because, you know, you go out there, and you don’t hear the quantum mechanics and the astrophysics of how all the stars are made and move and go and come and red shift and dopplers and all this other stuff. Psalm just goes out there and says, why is God caring about me? In all this, God cares about us. In its infinite vastness of the universe, God cares about us.

That’s wonder. Not confusion. It’s living in the joy and in the wonder. It’s a wonderful time. Not a confusing time. I’m angry because God didn’t check it out with me before God went on and did God things. God did explain everything to God. And that goes right on. We’re running now. Keep up with me. That goes right on to the epistle where Paul says – gives it grace, and says, “Grace of the father,” and “Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,” the love and fellowship. And you say, how do we get together on that? Does one come, and then they do like a costume change or put on a different mask or get on a collar? Instead of an open-collar shift they put on a collar with a thing. And then they come out and do the other thing, but it’s the same person.

You know, Christy’s sitting in the pew saying Christy up in the collar. No, that’s all heresy. You’ve got to approach that with wonder and say, wow. Look at all that. The love, the grace, the fellowship. It’s all there. I don’t know how it all works, but I’m sure glad it does. Kind of like the way I treat my car. I don’t know how it works. I’m sure glad it moves and goes places.

And then the last one, the gospel. In the gospel, don’t you love the disciples? You’ve got to really look at the disciples because they’re a bunch of bumbling fools; you know? And I feel better about myself the more I read about the disciples because I said, if those guys can make it, I’ve got a shot; you know. I’ve got at least a shot. Because they’re in there, you know, here they are, they’re in the end of the ministry, been hanging out with Jesus. I mean, you and me think, oh, if we had met Jesus, we would be onboard. We would be 100% Jesus; you know? But, you know, the disciples, they were there the whole time. And they said, hey, we’re worshiping him. But some doubted. I go, what’s with these guys? You know?

And I said, “I feel better about myself because sometimes, you know, maybe I have a doubt or two; you know? Things happen.” But it wasn’t like, okay, Jesus didn’t say, oh, let me explain it all to you and answer all your doubts. We’ll have a town hall. You can all yell at me about how you’re upset about the way I’m running the church, and I’ll explain it to you. We’ll all come into a wonderful happy agreement, and I’ll tell you all the things.

No, he said, he knows he had doubt. He says, “Go therefore and go out and do good things. Go out there and make disciples of all the nations. Tell everybody to love one another. Tell them to love their enemies. Tell them to love the stranger.” Oh, no, you’re getting political. “Tell them to love the stranger. Tell them to love the soldier in your land. Tell them that God loves everyone. Tell them that God made everything good. Even countries that aren’t ours are still good.” [Gasp] Political again.

He didn’t wait. He didn’t explain it. He didn’t give them the why. He didn’t answer their doubts. He just took them. He just expected them. Show up, doubts and all. Come on in. Come as you are. And these people were disciples. I mean, you know, they’ve got logos and stained glass and people praying to them and stuff. Still doubts. There’s hope for us. We don’t have to be sure and understand everything and remember our good old friend, Fat Man Augustine, that says, “If you think you understand, you don’t understand.” Huh. Huh. I feel better about that.

 And remember about our favorite science fiction with Neal there, Stephenson, said, “We like to think of ourselves as intelligent people. We don’t expect to understand stuff. We’re okay if things are contradictory.” You know a contradictory thing is, it’s when a teenager – anyone had experience with teenagers? Been a teenager? I was talking to someone, there’s a church that’s misbehaving. They called me in. Ah, there’s a wonder. I’ve got to tell you. Saying come in. And he said, “What are we going to do about this person?” And I go, well, you know, they’re doing everything we asked. Everything we told them to do, they’re doing. They’re just yelling and screaming about it and writing letters about how horrible it is.

And that’s kind of like the teenager that you tell them to go up to their room, and they’re going up to their room yelling and screaming at you the whole way. You know? “Why is it so unfair?” They’re going to their room, you know, so you they’re kind of sort of getting it. You know, moving toward obedience, even though they’re yelling about it. And we can handle that as intelligent people. As adult people we can say, “Yeah, that’s kind of messed up, mixed up, crazy there. But, yeah, pretty good mostly. We’re all right. We can handle the creation story.” How did all that happen in one day? That “and” thing is just really blowing my mind between the I’m going to do this, now it’s done.

Wait a minute. What’s the middle? We’re okay with that. Mostly. We’re okay with I have some doubts and don’t know everything. Well, that’s okay, go out and tell everybody to love everybody, and that God loves them. Even with the doubts? Yeah, even with the doubts. Do ahead and do that. We so much want to understand stuff. It’s why we keep making heresies out of the Trinity because we try to understand it, we can’t understand it because it’s the basis of God, and we get all upset and try to make it simple. Try to make it into a shamrock, or try to make it into a, you know, the ice cube tray in the refrigerator, you know, the automatic ice cube stuff. How does that work? It’s not what we should do. We’re not supposed to understand it, and that is kind of a little scary for people that aren’t intelligent.

I’m complimenting you here now. I’m believing you’re all intelligent people, and you expect to not know everything and be okay with that and be in wonder. Well, how does that work out in a romcom from the 1990s, Christy? I know that is a question everybody asks. Everybody asks. Sure, he’s a good preacher, but what about a romcom from the ‘90s? I need that romcom. I want you to take a look at “Groundhog Day.” This is Rita. Rita is going somewhere between confusion and wonder here. She has questions of she thought she knew this guy, Bill Murray, who’s playing Phil Connors. Thought she knew this guy. And then things happen. And then she has a choice about whether she’s going to get the long or short version of what everything is. Or whether she’s going to commit herself and all that she has to the wonder that is Phil Connors.

Rita didn’t need all her questions answered, either the short or the long version, to commit $339.88, her total net worth, I imagine, to be into the wonder of Phil Connors. We do not need the long or short version of the Trinity to know when something good has been created, and that we are invited into relationship with. Take that as your Trinity Sunday sermon. Amen.

Mission in Advance

Mission in Advance

a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey & ChatGPT

From worship via Zoom for Lee Vining Presbyterian Church March 22, 2026

written with the help of ChatGPT

Luke 13:31-35

 Should Jesus Be More Careful? You know, sometimes I wonder if Jesus would last very long in a modern pulpit. I mean, really, what would happen if a pastor stood up on a Sunday morning and said something like, “Go tell that fox Herod…”? What would the emails look like on Monday morning? Would Jesus be accused of being too political? Would he be asked to “stick to the gospel” and leave the government out of it? Would he be told, “We come to church to feel uplifted, not to be reminded of what’s wrong with the world”? And yet here he is, in full view of his listeners, calling out a political leader, not behind closed doors, not with vague innuendo, but with metaphor and clarity: “Go and tell that fox…”

Jesue doesn’t flatter Herod. He doesn’t fear him. He names him. And in doing so, Jesus reminds us that the gospel is not an escape from public life, it’s a commitment to its transformation.

In Greek culture, the worst thing you could be called wasn’t a fool or a coward, it was an idiotes.That’s where we get our word idiot. But it didn’t mean unintelligent. It meant private, a person who withdrew from the concerns of the city, someone who refused to take part in the common good.

A user on Reddit, athstas, which is a modern day community helping others says:

During the Athenian Democracy, there were two major factions in the city, the democratic faction and the aristocratic faction. The aristocratic faction wanted to restore the previous aristocratic system of government so wanted to discourage participation of poor Athenians in the assemblies. The democratic faction wanted to encourage all citizens to take part in the government of the city. So the members of the democratic faction despised those citizens who only cared about their private (idiotic) affairs, and not about the public affairs. They considered those people stupid and dangerous for the democratic system of government because they were willingly giving up their political rights. So they word idiot (private citizen) took a bad meaning and through the Romans it spread to all of Europe.

But in modern Greek we use the word idiot with its original meaning, ie private An idiotes thought only of themselves, not the community.

So when Jesus speaks out, when he names Herod and keeps moving toward Jerusalem, he is not being rude, he is being faithful. He refuses to be an “idiot”, someone who checks out of public responsibility. Instead, he lives out the mission of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that reaches into every corner of human life: the sickbed, the street, the heart, and yes, the palace.

“Fear, Flattery… or Focus?”

When Jesus hears that Herod wants him dead, he doesn’t respond with fear, though who could blame him if he did? He doesn’t cave to flattery either, trying to win favor, smooth things over, or stay in the palace’s good graces.

Jesus chooses a third path. Let’s call it focus. Focus on the mission. Focus on the calling. Focus on the work of healing, freeing, gathering, and loving. “Tell that fox I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow…” In other words: I’m doing exactly what I came to do, and I’m not stopping now.

We live in a time where the threats may look different, but the temptation is the same. When power acts unjustly, when truth is twisted, when the vulnerable are mocked or scapegoated, we may be tempted to do one of two things: We might give up, turn inward, numb ourselves, walk away. Or we might give in, go along to get along, say nothing, let fear or comfort rule.

But what if we chose something better? What if, like Jesus, we chose to give them heaven? Not as a threat. Not as a weapon. But as a promise. Give the world a taste of the reign of God where mercy is stronger than cruelty, where truth is braver than silence, where hope walks forward, even toward Jerusalem. We don’t fight fire with fire. We don’t meet foxes with fang and claw. We meet them with focus, and faith, and the fierce love of Christ.

There’s a scene in the film Gandhi that speaks directly into this gospel moment.

It takes place not in Jerusalem but in India, under the shadow of colonial rule. Gandhi is walking with a Christian minister down a street, where danger is thick in the air. The minister begs him to turn back. “This is madness,” he says.

But Gandhi, calm and clear, keeps walking. He replies: “I’m not so helpless as you think. I have friends and the whole world is watching.” And then, quietly, bravely, he walks forward.

That moment mirrors Jesus in Luke 13. He, too, receives a warning: “Get away! Herod wants to kill you!” But Jesus doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t flee. He says: “Go tell that fox I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow… and on the third day I finish my work.”

He chooses neither fear nor flattery. He chooses focus. Focus on the mission. On the healing. On the truth. On the love that drives him forward.

This is not just a model for courage; it’s a model for discipleship. Because Herods are still with us. In every generation, there are those who use fear to cling to power, in government, in business, even in faith communities. You don’t have to name names for people to know who you’re talking about.

And when fear starts to rise in us, when the threats grow louder or the pressure to flatter becomes stronger, our instincts may urge us to either give up(fear) or give in(flattery). But the gospel gives us another way.

The gospel does not teach us to cower. It teaches us to walk forward. To stay focused. To give the world not what it demands, but what it needs. Not more outrage. Not more retreat. But heaven. The reign of God, step by step.

Even the urgent advice of well-meaning people, “Run away, Jesus! Herod wants to kill you!”, is gently turned on its head. Jesus doesn’t run from danger. He runs toward the heart of it. Toward Jerusalem, the very place where Herod holds power.

But Jesus doesn’t go to fight. He goes to love. He goes because the mission compels him. Because the people, even the ones unwilling to receive him, are still his to bless. Like a mother hen gathering her chicks, he longs to draw them in, even if they scatter. This is not recklessness. This is divine compassion with a spine.

So we walk, too, not away from the world’s brokenness, but toward it. With open hands. With brave hearts. With heaven in our stride. For there is Room for all of us.

Let us not give up or give in. Let us give them heaven. Let us move with focus, with love, and with the fierce tenderness of the Christ who still walks toward every Jerusalem, longing to gather us all in.

Welcome

Helpers to read 1) responses in Call to Worship, 2) Prayer of Confession

Call to Worship 

Christy and an unmuted person on Zoom will alternate reading.

Christy: The Lord is our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear?
Person: The Lord is the stronghold of our lives; of whom shall we be afraid?
 

Christy: Christ calls us forward, even when the path leads through risk and sorrow.
Person: We will follow, not in fear, but in faith.  

Christy: Come, People of God—gather beneath the wings of mercy.
Person: We come to worship the One who goes before us in love.

 SONG  O Lord Hear My Prayer

Prayer of Confession:

Person – Merciful God, We confess that we often obey in fear rather than walk in faith. We let threats turn us inward, and we let worry silence your calling. We flee from risk instead of moving toward your mission of justice and peace. Forgive us for the ways we resist your grace. Gather us again under your wings, and teach us to mission in advance—to heal, to speak, to follow—even when the path is hard. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon:

Hear the good news: God does not abandon us to fear, nor condemn us for faltering. Christ gathers us in love, forgives us in mercy, and sets us again on the path of peace. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God! Amen.

Sharing Joys and Concerns with Prayer
and The Lord’s Prayer (together while on mute)

Offering – Doxology  For phone giving, use the QR code.

or go to https://77da2f07.churchtrac.com/give

A Reading From The Greek Scriptures:  Luke 13:31-35

³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³²He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ ³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Message: Mission in Advance

Give them Heaven There is Room for All of Us

SONG  Here I Am

Charge

Go out into the world with love for the mission of God.

Do not be ruled by fear, but be led by faith.

Speak the truth, offer healing, seek justice—

and walk toward God’s vision, even when the path leads through challenge.

For Christ goes before you, and the Spirit goes with you.

Benediction

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you now and always. Amen.

- Liturgy made with ChatGPT

Service Orginally planned for March 2025

Carey Christmas and Happy Neat YearClick for PDF

May your life be full of the care of others and your 2026 be neat—without ICE.

We are grateful for diverse gifts, undeserved grace, and open hearts of all people. 

Photos in our PDF of our Christmas Letter.

God Moves Into the Neighborhood

God Moves Into
the Neighborhood

a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

DOWNLOAD A LIVE RECORDING

Audio from worship at the 10:00 AM Worship Service December 28, 2025
at St Peter’s Episcopal Church, Carson City, Nevada

edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine.

  John 1:1-18

 Sermons also available free on iTunes

When Bette Lynn and I moved, I don’t want anyone to think that we’re breaking up or anything, people go crazy when I talk like this. When Betty Lynn and I moved over to our house at Hanson Drive, across the street was a forlorn vacant sad house. We were 2600; they were 2601. But what a difference. It was vacant. There were some very stubborn tufts of grass among the dirt in the front yard. There were actual tumbleweeds on the porch. There was an eviction notice in Times New Roman font, so you know it’s official, on the door, telling everyone get out, no one belongs here. And of course it was dark all the time. Dark through the nights, dark at Halloween, dark at Christmas, dark for long, empty, vacant, sad.

I saw it every time I left the house and every time I came back. And I saw it through our kitchen window. It was like centered, front and centered. And I confess that it did bother God. And I said, “God, could you do something about that? Could a nice family move in?” It’s so sad to see the house just falling apart, dark, abandoned. It’s not good for the neighborhood, either. And it’s certainly not good for my soul.

Well, watch what you pray for. But boy, did they move in. Oh, my gosh. The landscaping. The new roof. The painted garage door. The lights for Halloween? Oh, my gosh, you were so scared to come home. And then Christmas, there were airplanes that go, oh, no, that wasn’t the airport, and they move on. So many lights. And they were so active. I can’t count the number of cars, four, five cars coming out, going in, going around. There was even – every weekend there’s a table saw in the driveway, he’s doing some project. You know, activity everywhere. And every weekend and holiday an RV the size of a Supreme Court Justice Land Cruiser shows up in front of the house, blocking everything. And I said, okay, God, you can dial it back a bit.

And they would call me at night about 11:00 o’clock, being good neighbors; you know? And they would say, “Hi, Christy. This is your neighbor across the street. Did you know your garage door was open?” I’d go, “No, I didn’t. Thank you very much.” It got so when it rang I picked it up, I said, “Is my garage door open?” They go, “Yes, you did it again.” Okay. Thank you.

Eugene Peterson has a paraphrase with John 1. In the 14th verse, where it says in a reading that God came and dwelled among us, he says: “God moved into the neighborhood.” How different that is. God moved into our neighborhood. Because this, John 1, is the Christmas story in the Gospel of John. It talks about God coming to Earth.

Now, in Matthew and Luke, we have shepherds and kings that come to see the Baby Jesus. Say come, come, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that we have been told. Let us go and follow the star and go see it is God. But in John we don’t go to God. God comes to us. And that is the message to take. We don’t go to God. God comes to us. It is the most epic, the most momentous, the most beautiful border crossing you’ve ever seen. The greatest wall hopped over. The wall between Heaven and Earth.

Imagine, if you will, like Philippians, where the Philippians too, where the great Christ hymns talked about how God, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be taken to seize, to grab, to say that is mine, mine, mine, but instead throughout all the stuff of his heavenly home, all the privileges, all the power, all the glory, threw it all away and came, jumped the border wall, and came to be an immigrant among us.

And not just an immigrant king. There are no kings. But a servant, a doulos in Greek, which is slave. An immigrant that gave up everything in their homeland, all their status, their friends, their money, their heritage, their language, and came to live among us to serve us, to get to know us, that came and stayed, even though he was rejected, even though he was thought a stranger, know that Jesus, he hangs out with those lepers. You know, they’re probably vaccined. He hangs out with loose women. They’re probably piggies. But Jesus hangs out with them. He gave them, gave it all up.

He gave up his home country to come and to live, to move into our neighborhood, to be with us as a servant. And we treated him horribly. But still he was here to stay. That story of John is that God came, and God stayed. Not to conquer. Not to take over. Not to be at something sightseeing, oh, well, there’s no politics today. We can go to church. As long as there’s nothing important to talk about, we can go see Jesus, and then we can leave. And leave everything behind. No God came to live with us across the street. And that humongous Land Cruiser comes in, and there’s no missing that he’s here.

God. With us. Emanuel. That pesky immigrant that tells us to live a different way. That challenges our assumptions. That is there wherever, when we go out of the house or come in the house, when we look out the window, God is there. He moved in. God is with us. Maybe now and then we get out away. We get a little call that said, “Christy?” “Yeah?” “You forgot to open your heart.” “Oh, sorry. I’ll get that done.” “Christy? Christy? You’re closed up. You’re not welcoming. You’re not loving.” “Well, thanks. Thanks for reminding me. I’m so glad you’re in the neighborhood. Who knows where I would be if that place was still vacant, and tumbleweeds were blowing through where care and concern shine out now.”

A Presbyterian minister – I always like to drop that – Mr. Rogers says – have you noticed he says “Will you be my neighbor?” He doesn’t say will you be my friend, will you be my brother, will you be my sister, will you be my companion. He says “neighbor.” And a neighbor is not a friend. Friend is someone that you’re on the same journey with. You’ve got something in common. You’re moving toward a certain place, and sometimes, you know, it could be college, it could children, it could be church, whatever. And as long as you’re on that same journey, you’re with a friend, and you go do things together. But that’s a whole ‘nother sermon. We’re almost there. Let’s quit doing that.

But neighbor is someone that’s with you. That’s near you. That’s come to be with you, to abide with you. And you may not like them. You may not have anything in common with them. But you’re going to get along with them because they’re your neighbor. At tech camp we have a lot of kids that come, and I tell them that they’re neighbors now this week. They may be friends, and that’s great. They may make a friend. Every now and then that happens. Sometimes they hang out together. That’s fine.

But I said, you know, that’s not an expectation. Expectation you’re a neighbor. You’re a neighbor, and you put up with one another. You help one another. You watch out for one another. You certainly don’t hurt one another. And you are all in this together for each other’s success and to have a good tech camp. You’re neighbors. Someone needs something, you lend it to them. Someone needs help, you give it to them. Someone needs encouragement, you give it to them. Because we’re all in this room together. We’re neighbors. Won’t you be my neighbors.

What would this radical hospitality, this neighborliness, this acceptance as Joan Osborne said of one of us, she goes, what if God was just one of us? What if God was just a slob like one of us? What if God was just someone on the bus? A neighbor that came to town with strange ways, and different ways. But we’re all in this together. We’re all going to get through this together. We’re all going to help each other. We’re all going to make sure we’re not going to run away. Christianity is not something you go and see. Christianity is not something you put in your back pocket and bring out when there’s nothing important going on. Oh, my gosh, that’s important. That’s politics. Shut up about religion.

When did that start? Religion used to be important. Faith used to be important. People used to say things about how we should live as a people, as a country, treating one another. And people, oh, you, now you’re talking politics. No, I’m talking my faith, and don’t you dare put your politics above my faith. Don’t you dare tell me that because of this vote or that election, that I cannot follow my faith. My faith says that God came to the neighborhood. God immigrated here. And God lives among us. And I’m not kicking him out because he’s different. Because he teaches love and care and compassion instead of profit and self-interest. Don’t tell me that’s politics. That’s faith. That’s mine. It was given to me by Jesus Christ at tremendous cost. And I’m not throwing that away.

God is one of us. God is here to stay. We’re not kicking God out. We’re not deporting God. God gave up everything to be here. God traveled the furthest of the furthest ways to immigrate to human kind land. And we struggle. But it’s too good if we welcome, we pick up that phone when they call and say, “You’re not really living up to what you’re supposed to be doing, Christy. You’ve really got to do better.” Thank you, neighbor. Thanks for watching out for me.

And when other people come and say, those people aren’t your neighbors, those people aren’t one, how can we do that? How can we divide up when we are the benefit of the greatest leap over the border that has ever happened in the history of the universe of God becoming one of us? How can we say somebody is not good enough to be one of us? God has become one of us. What are we talking about when we talk about, oh, you’re different. Oh, you’re strange. Oh, you’re not here. Oh, you’re not supposed to be here. God’s not supposed to be here. Yet God came. God with us. Ramana Maharshi asks the question: “How do we treat others?” And he answers the question: “There are no others.”

Amen.

Clip from To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995),

 dir. Beeban Kidron. © Universal Pictures.

JP Horgan and Christy Ramsey photo by Robert Ramsey

Thanksgiving Potluck Prayer     11/27/2025

Gracious God, on this day of gratitude, we remember how strangers were once welcomed and fed on this land, and we give thanks for that spirit of generosity that still guides us.

Thank you for this food, and for every hand—near and far, immigrant and neighbor—that planted, harvested, prepared, and shared it.

Thank you for the freedoms we enjoy, the safety we know, and the blessings of this country.

Thank you for friends and family, for the community of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, and for John and Susan who hospitality brings us together today.

Calm our hearts, deepen our gratitude, and let this meal draw us closer to you and to one another.

Amen.

-         Christy Ramsey, Aided by ChatGPT

Disobeying Jesus

Disobeying Jesus
a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey

DOWNLOAD A LIVE RECORDING

Audio from worship at the 10:30 AM Worship Service October 12, 2025
at St John’s Presbyterian Church, Reno Nevada
Complete Service on YouTube

edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine.

  Luke 17-11-19

 Sermons also available free on iTunes

Let’s take a look at Luke.  Luke.  This is not the story about gratitude.  But it’s okay.  I understand if some of you, if you want to, pick an off-ramp.  We’ve going on the express route to the Kingdom of God.  Some of you may not be up for the trip.  I’m okay with that.  If you want to take an exit route right here, take an exit, go over, you know hang out at the truck stop for a while, whatever you want to do.  Look at your phone.  No problem.  Just say what the sermon’s about.  Sermon’s about gratitude.  You’re fine.  No worries.

For the rest of you, the sermon is not about the one that came back in gratitude.  The sermon’s about the nine, the nine who did what they were told.  The nine who followed the great leader Jesus.  The nine who followed the law.  Yes, the law, Leviticus 14.  Now my favorite Leviticus is 19, if you want to know.  But 14’s okay.  You know.  But if you go, if you get Leviticus out, you know, go over into 19.  Read that, too, because that’s the best.

But Leviticus 14 talks about, if you are a leper, how to be clean.  It is very entertaining reading.  It involves two birds, one of which you kill.  It involves shaving your entire body, head to toe, not once, but twice.  It involves standing outside in the cold as sort of enforce home – it’s like a little light torture in the Bible to get clean.  It takes about a week, a little over a week to eight days.  It is the law.  That is what the law says you do.  Nine did it.  Nine complied.  Nine did what they were told to do.

Jesus told them, “Go show yourself to the priest.”  And that’s not just, “Hi, Priest.  How you doing?”  It’s that whole thing, Leviticus 14, light torture, standing outside getting shaved, killing a bird, other sacrifices.  Bleah, the whole thing.  Nine of them did it.  Nine of them complied.  Even though they didn’t have to.  What a mind-blowing thing.  You don’t have to follow the law and obey Jesus.  What a mind-blowing thing.  Because I submit to you this time in America is not the time where we need more sermons about gratitude.  Gratitude’s fine.  Gratitude’s a nice thing.  Attitude of gratitude.  I like the rhyme.

But what Americans need now is consideration, reflection, and faith that might, just might lead you to disobey.  Now all you that are upset, I told you, you could get off earlier.  We have here a time where it says Jesus is okay with disobeying.  He’s okay with breaking the law.  He’s okay with not following scripture.  And that wasn’t the Old Testament back then, that was The Testament.  That was Bible.  And Jesus is okay with that.  In fact, not only is he okay, He asked where the other nine were.  How come only one disobeyed me?  How come only one broke the law?  Where are the other nine?  Wonder if Jesus is saying that now?  Where is everybody?

Faith makes you well.  Not following the law, not even doing what the leader said.  Faith makes you well.  He doesn’t condemn the nine that followed the law and did what they were told.  I mean, come on.  I mean, they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.  Come on.  He seems to be okay with being inclusive, with being okay with diversity, among responses.  And he seems to be okay with that half-breed immigrant that shouldn’t be there, not following the law, but still having faith and still doing the right thing.

Now, when we as Samaritans, we just think about, oh, Good Samaritan, teddy bears and rainbows and unicorns.  We like the Samaritan.  No, no, no.  That was the cursed.  That was a putdown.  That was telling them they were half-breed unfaithful heretics that should not – good people do not talk to, that you do not even walk through their territory.  Did you see it was in between the places that a good Jew did not go.  He was illegal.  Wasn’t supposed to be there.  And Jesus praises him.  Yow.

Christy, did you come this week so that we’d be happy when Pat comes next week?  I told Pat, “Don’t worry, buddy, they’ll be happy to see you.”  He goes, “Thanks, Christy.”  But let’s go back, back into time, to a simpler, lovelier time, back to the time of the ‘80s with Reagan in the White House.  Oh, what a wonderful time.  I want to tell you about not that people, but remember back then, back then the Russians shot down a Korean airliner.  Boom, out of the sky, killing everybody.  Remember, you can look it up, the families brought on the boat, the children crying for the father.  Waves.

It was a tense time.  It was a worrisome time.  What are the Russians going to do next?  What are we going to do in response?  There’s a film, a documentary, it’s on YouTube, “The Man Who Saved the World.”  And no, it is not about Jesus.  “The Man Who Saved the World” is about Stanislav Petrov and his visit to the United States 40 years after the ‘80s.  On September 26th, 1983, the computers in Serpukhov-15 bunker outside of Moscow, which housed the command center for the Soviet Early Warning Satellite System, reported U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles were heading toward the Soviet Union.  One, then another, then another, then another, then another.  Five nuclear missiles were detected coming toward the Soviet Union.

Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer.  It was the protocol.  It was the law.  It was a duty.  It was a patriotic thing to carry that on up to the command center, to call headquarters and say, “We are being attacked by the United States.  They have launched nuclear missiles.  Our satellites have reported.  We checked the computer.  The computers are right.  They did not have visual confirmation because of the weather conditions.  But the computer is saying yes.  There’s nuclear warheads headed to you.”

According to the book, according to what’s called “The War Diary,” he is to call the headquarters.  He is to call the headquarters and tell them what has happened so that they can respond in kind.  There are 11,000 nuclear warheads ready to go, to blow up the United States.  Make Hiroshima and Nagasaki a birthday candle.  This is what Stanislav said 40 years later.  “In the general headquarters all they have left to do is press a button.  I fully understood that I would not be corrected if I reported it.  No one would dare correct me.  They would agree with me, and that would be it.  It’s always easier to agree.”

We’re here today because Stanislav did not report the attack.  He broke the law.  He ruined his career.  He lost his family.  But he has no regrets.  It was a fluke.  It was a computer failure.  It was weather, a weird weather thing.  There are satellite orbits.  There’s a whole Wikipedia page about it.  But Stanislav didn’t know that.  He disobeyed.  He had faith that the United States wouldn’t do that.  And he also knew that someone had to stop the chain of events into violence and into destruction and into ruin and into chaos.

And he knew that he was the one to stand up and say no.  No, we’re not going to destroy the world.  I’m breaking the law.  I’m ruining my career.  My family is not going to support me.  I’m going to be estranged from all our friends.  But I will not obey.  I will not destroy.  I will not harm innocents.  I will not attack the enemies like I’m told.  It’s always easier to agree.  Thank god Stanislav Petrov decided not to take the easy way, but the hard and faithful way.  His faith has made us well.

Amen.

I was there when the Synod of Executive, Nancy Martin Vincent, was in danger of not having a prayer at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Reno, Nevada on Sunday, September 21, 2025. (one minute video)