Sermons & Such
Emil Nolde - Crucifixion (1909) Hope found here
On Palm Sunday 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Leah shares the final teaching in this series on the work of Girard. In this teaching she takes a look at how the scapegoating mechanism plays out in the final days of Jesus life, as well as shares insights from a personal scapegoating experience.
You can review Leah’s notes here or listen to the teaching or watch the video below.
In this teaching, Leah continues the conversation about Girard and his scapegoating theory, by turning to the life of Jesus and examining how he responded when he found himself in the middle of a scapegoating event playing out. How does Jesus respond at an attempt at stoning? This is the first teaching preached from home in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in it Leah considers how Jesus’ response to scapegoating might also inform our own responses to this crisis.
The audio and video also include a 5-minute practice at the end that might be helpful in connecting with yourself and God in this time.
Look at Leah’s notes here, or you can listen to the teaching or watch the video below.
Why do humans have such a violent streak, and why is it often targeted in such cruel ways at innocent people? In this second teaching in our Lenten series, Old Stories, New Lenses, Leah lays out the heart of René Girard’s theory on human behavior: the “scapegoat mechanism”. Here she explains his take on how violence is expressed in human societies and then uses that framework to look at the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis. This teaching provides the heart of the ideas we’ll be exploring through the rest of Lent.
Review Leah’s notes or listen to the teaching below.
Photo credit: www.quotecatalog.com
What might the perspective of a 20th century Academic who studied literature, anthropology, philosophy, and more tell us about human behavior and Jesus-centered faith? This is the question we’ll be exploring over the next several weeks throughout the season of Lent, as we look at our ancient biblical narrative through the lens of Rene Girard. It’s a new teaching series called “Old Stories. New Lenses.” First up, this week Leah explored Girard’s foundational insight that pops up in the first chapters of the Bible, having to do with why humans want what they want. It also might give you a clue about why it’s so hard to stop scrolling through that instagram feed.
Read Leah’s notes here or listen to the teaching below.
