Monday, July 16, 2007

Reaction to The Good Sam

Well, several of you have asked, here on the blog and in emails, how it went over.

Sank without a ripple. No reaction afterwards. Not "Good one," nor "You might want to rethink telling stories."

In my experience, that means people are trying to decide if they liked it or not. It might have disturbed them a bit. Maybe it made them mad. Maybe they liked the point but not how I made it.

It's OK. I'm sure I'll hear more in the next few days. One thing about this congregation--they do tell me how they feel about my sermons.

And all I can say is, the Board wanted me to push the envelope. They said so in my evaluation. Can you blame me for taking them at their word?

I'll keep you posted on any more energetic reaction.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Rainbow Pastor:

Your story reminds me of this: Micah 6:8- "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God". It easy to feel like victims and that we are justified in our initial reaction of outrage because of the abuse heaped upon our community.

Mercy is one of the hardest things to show but we are not excused from it. Mercy is at the core of our faith and the more that you practice it, the more personal peace you have. You don't have to feel defensive about your life.

Thanks.

Unknown said...

RP, I think that was a wonderful reflection on the parable. I'm surprised you didn't hear more of a response. Hope it's just because people are letting it sink in.

Kate said...

Well, I think it was brilliant, and I've already told a bunch of people about it, and _they_ all thought it was brilliant, too.

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Sank without a ripple? Hmmmmm...I'm surprised, but perhaps you are right and they are mulling it over. People are funny, aren't they? Our in-the-basement-playing-with-Legos Sunday sank without a ripple as well. And that was not nearly so ripple making as your sermon. I could share the same thing at my place and the applications would be quite different, but no less...disturbing. I'm going to remember the idea....

Kim in KCK said...

I thought it was great! I'll have to remember it when the parable rolls around again.

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