Greetings from Greyson June 14

Hello Pilgrims!

This week is my first opportunity to preach at Pilgrim in my role as Associate Minister. As I have prepared, I am reminded of the last time I preached here as an intern. I was, and felt, much younger back then. I remember the pulpit feeling so tall, and though my hands shook as I spoke, I recall a sense of surety in my message.

It’s easier to feel sure of things at 20 years old. Divinity School and more life experience are both designed to complicate what once felt simple, for good reason. Over the last decade, I have been growing in my comfort of wading into the greys of life, navigating complicated contexts, and living into what my Divinity School advisor, Dr. Willie Jennings, shared about the minister’s role: Ministers are not to give answers but to help ask better questions.

As I shared in my Children’s Message last week, the Bible can hold beautiful ways people have seen and experienced God. It can help us when we feel lost. It can provide us comfort. It is also full of violence, jealousy, greed, and shame. Finding a way to navigate through these murky waters can be difficult, and, more often than not, we will not find an easy, sure answer. This is why we’ve been talking about these passages for thousands of years! But maybe we learn more about who we are in the practice of engaged conversation than in finding a clear-cut answer.

Our scripture passage for this week’s sermon is situated in one of these complicated contexts. As Lindy and I continue in conversation with one another’s sermons in this series, I look forward to sharing my thoughts, and I look forward to hearing yours.

Greyson