This summer when I was asked to preach at my home church I had no difficulty deciding on a topic.  My mind and spirit have been heavily occupied with the news that the United States Government collects untold amounts of personal data on US citizens without warrant or just cause.
	While I am unsure how my peers and collogues might react to this news, it is deeply troubling to me as an aspiring pastor.  I have no choice but to accept that no pastor, doctor, lawyer, or counselor, can offer privacy to those in their care over any digital medium.  To some this might not seem so problematic, but this is severely disturbing as someone who studies and organizes online ministries. 
	While choosing a topic was not a difficulty, framing my sermon was.  It was clear that I was carrying a lot of myself into this sermon and I wanted to find a way to be honest about that without being overbearing. My introduction was an effort to be honest about my own biases while making that case that each generation through history has been discontented (angry) with organizations and governments.  
	I choose my scripture because I believe Romans 13: 1-8 to be a particularly easily to abused passage. I though it better to use it as a talking point and present multiple interpretations, Rather than hope that the passage is not misused.  
	Although to many I think this sermon may simply be a boring history lesson to most, I hope that to some it might be encouraging.  In particular, while the internet may have been abused to rob free and innocent people of their freedom of privacy and religion, it still has great potential as a tool for activism, ministry, and meaningful change... especially for those able to be "cunning as a serpent yet gentle as a dove".

E-Reverend