Denver Community Church

April 12, 2020: Easter Sunday - Michael Hidalgo

Listen as we draw near to the mystery of this day, that there can be no resurrection without death, and that Jesus is intimately connected to our shared humanity, certainly in our joy, but also deeply within our pain and suffering. Now more than ever, Easter is a day that brings us bright hope for the future.

April 5, 2020: Divine Feminine Remixed – Scott Oppliger

Much has been made about the prologue to John’s gospel, and rightly so. It is there we read of the Cosmic Christ, one who “was with God … and was God” from the beginning. In John’s context he is clearly speaking of the historical Jesus - the Divine in human form who is the universal context we know as “The Word.” But here’s the thing: what John riffs on in the first fourteen verses of his gospel was not original with him. It’s a remix of a much earlier poem, one that, like John’s Prologue, speaks about the birth of the universe and the one through whom the universe came to be. The poem John references is found in Proverbs 8, but it does not speak of Jesus, nor does it speak of a male. It speaks of Wisdom and she is a woman. Wait, wait; then why would John apply this to Jesus when he was clearly a man? It’s possible John knew something about the universe and how it is all held together. Like Shekinah, Wisdom is often directly associated with the Divine, to the extent is becomes another way of speaking about God. Proverbs 8 shows us the extent of this connection by showing Wisdom’s role in bringing about the universe. Which means this world is not just masculine, but feminine as well. It is within this synergy that we exist and live and move and have our being.

March 29, 2020: A Child At Her Breast – Michael Hidalgo

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” This is the question posed by the prophet, words placed on the lips of God. The answer of course, is “No.” But just in case, the prophet writes, “Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” The picture is obvious - God, like a nursing mother, holds Her people to Her breast and gives of Herself to nourish Her children. 

This paints a picture of tender intimacy; one that science now shows happens at the physiological level between a mother and child during breastfeeding. There is a connection between the two unlike any other connection that occurs between human beings. This is what we are invited to contemplate, and what the prophet suggests. That even in the moment when the people of Israel and suffering exile, even when it seems God is nowhere, God’s response is to remind them She is the God who tenderly holds and feeds Her children at Her breast.

March 22, 2020: Cooperating & Co-Creating – Bekah Stewart

Being a midwife was among the most respected of all jobs common to women in the Ancient Hebrew context. Two midwifes are hailed as heroic in the story of Moses’ birth: Shiprah and Puah. Two women who stood before the powers of the Egyptian Empire and practiced civil disobedience in the face of tyranny. In doing so, they saved lives, and in the history of Israel they hold a prominent place. It should be of no surprise then, that God is pictured as a midwife.

The Divine is one who works with her people to bring about something new. One who cooperates to see what can be born in us, by us and through us. This picture speaks toward one who co-creates with us, and we must not miss this. We often speak of our co-creating with God, but this picture says She co-creates with us! It is a picture of empowerment, of God’s belief in our power to bring something forth in this world.

March 15, 2020: Born of God – Michael Hidalgo & Maggie Knight

The most common female image of the Divine found within Scripture are that of a mother giving birth. It is so common that Jesus even speaks to Nicodemus in terms of God as mother when he says, “… no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Nicodemus immediately understand this imagery to be feminine for he speaks of his mother. Of course, Jesus was not speaking of his biological mother, but of his Divine mother.

This image has the power to deepen our understanding of what dependence on God looks like. For when we consider a child in utero they are wholly dependent on the mother for nourishment and growth. This happens, of course, through the connection between mother and child. What an inviting picture for us to consider - to be those who are born of God.

March 8, 2020: The Divine in All Things, All People, In All Places - Paige Harris & Scott Oppliger

 

God is everywhere present. This is a central conviction within the Christian Tradition, and is something the Psalmist sings about when he writes “Where can I go from your Spirit?” This presence is seen in tangible ways throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The word used by the Jewish people to speak of this is Shekinah - from the Hebrew word meaning “to dwell.” The Shekinah fills the temple, meets with Moses, is a pillar of cloud during the day and fire at night for the Hebrew people. It means God is present.

The word is, in fact, feminine, and in many places of the Hebrew Tradition it is believed The Shekinah is the feminine side of God - it is the feminine manifestation of God made visible to the world. Within the Jewish Tradition this spoke of God’s nearness to them, and did so in a concrete way. The masculine image of God spoke less of immanence and was more abstract. This feminine image of God, the presence of God (also expressed as Spirit) is always about the immanence of the Divine - sometimes as close as our next breath.

March 1, 2020: A Metaphor For The Divine - Michael Hidalgo

Scripture: Exodus 3.14

All language for God is metaphor. How else do we explain the Divine Mystery, the Ground of Being, God? Throughout the Bible there are myriad word-pictures used in an attempt to explain the deepest of all realities in our universe. And there should be limitless ways of talking about God because, after all, we are speaking about the ineffable, the One who holds all things together.

Perhaps the most common metaphor for God is Father. This is how we see Jesus constantly speak of God. However, we have failed to complement Father with the idea of Mother - a picture richly woven into the tapestry of Scripture - but seemingly missed, overlooked or flatly ignored. Whatever the motive and reason, missing this harms us, as we did not give ourselves a more complete way of understanding God. In doing so, we make God smaller and less than. So what can happen if we move toward a bigger picture of God?

February 26, 2020: You Are Going To Die - Michael Hidalgo

For many, we face death for the first time when we draw our final breath. The invitation of Jesus points to us crossing that threshold having learned how to die time and time again, so that something new might be born. As we reflect on our own mortality on Ash Wednesday, we look inward to reflect on what within us needs to die to make way for something new.

February 23, 2020: A New Economy – Amanda Lum

Jesus’ teachings on wealth and poverty seem offensive to our modern, Western, individualistic mindset. I mean “sell everything and give to the poor” would be irresponsible, right? And why would we not “store away in barns” since we need to be sure we are able to provide for ourselves in the future when we are old. And how exactly is God going to clothe us if we are not thinking about the fact that we need clothing on our backs? It’s worth noting, every time we think Jesus is out of touch we only prove we are more in touch with our culture than his heart.

We cannot miss Jesus’ call into a new community - a new social order. His last command to the rich young man, after he tells him to sell everything: “follow me.” It implies a new way of living in which generosity is a part of the whole. And this is what is so challenging about Jesus. His call is not just a private change of morals or philosophy. His call is into a new community which changes the meaning of family, success and wealth. He understood true wealth was not defined by cash, but by the how rich a person was “toward God”. Wealth measured in relationships, faith and generosity. This is why those who gave away everything found more than they first had, and why Jesus understood he had many mothers, brothers and sisters. It’s possible, the reason we struggle with generosity is because we have no real experience of true community.

 

February 16, 2020: Enough is Enough Leads to Having Enough

Most of us live our lives believing we don’t have enough - time, money, power, sleep. Never enough. That attitude can easily morph into a feeling of not being enough. It’s a mindset of scarcity, so we get what we can when we can get it, and keep a watchful eye on those who may pose a threat on our not getting something. This kind of living gives way to anxiety and worry.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There is more than enough; for everyone. The problem is not whether there is, but whether we will see it, and, in turn, be generous. All of this takes trust. This is important for us to consider as we live in a culture that has so much excess, but continues to operate from a place of scarcity.