Ekama Eni: "The Uncommon Good: Identity & Difference" (Sermon for October 13, 2024)

Friends,"Who are you?," is one of those big existential questions that I think faces all of us. On the most basic level, our names are the first ever introduction we get to most relationships. From emails, to texts, to perhaps even being yelled at in a crowded spaces, our names and what we call ourselves shapes deeply how other people interact with us. For the most part, we as a community call ourselves Christians. But in a world where our practices and liturgies and even names under that umbrella differ greatly, how can we even hold that umbrella? So much of the dominant imagination of who Christians are and what Christianity is has been centered on this very rightwing, rigid and troubling image that for so many of us does not feel true to our practice and experience. So what does it mean to share a name with people who are so different from us?As we continue our sermon series on the Uncommon Good in the lead up to the US elections, this week we'll be reflecting and dreaming on who we are, and perhaps who we could be as we try to navigate this world together looking at the names and identities we carry, and how they shape our relationships to one another, the world and perhaps even to God.Until then, Pastor Ekama