by Marcia Mount Shoop
Luke 13:31-35
“This is a sermon about the sorrow of a neglected
Inner child, a rejected little one, an abandoned
Emotional landscape, an attempted erasure of
Your full humanity, and mine, and ours.
Because all the exiles within each of us
Add up to whole families, whole societies, whole cultures
Estranged from themselves, at odds with themselves,
Living at cross purposes, self-destructing,
Shaming and shunning the vulnerability that
Can make us whole.
This is a sermon about the ways we are the Jerusalem
That elicited Jesus’ sorrow and grief–
The internal map of a holy land living
As a war zone, where the true prophets
Rarely have a fighting chance.
Our exiles are our prophets
They are creative, they are honest,
They are innocent, they are true
They are the ones who needed love
From the family of things
But instead got exasperation and chastisement
Instead got hostility and blame and rejection
Instead got violence and cruelty
They’ve got the scar tissue to show for it”
Watch the full GCPC service on 3/16/25 here
(Scripture and sermon begin at 1:10)