Previous
Sermons
27 December 2009
History cautions us against the danger of too much faith in this kind of savior and is full of accounts of the wars “would be” saviors fought for greed, position, and envy. Heaven on earth for a few often has turned into hell on earth for many others. That is why, in spite of all our wish lists and efforts in recreating a vision of how things were long ago, Christmas does not conform to our wishes of how God being born and living among us must behave.
25 December 2009
Those of us who wish to find Christmas anew discover it involves recalculating. It’s always been so. Mary and Joseph didn’t plan to have their first-born child away from family in a strange town. The shepherds didn’t expect to hear a choir of angels as they kept watch over their sheep, much less run into town to see a newborn in a barn in back of an ordinary inn. Later, without benefit of modern electronic equipment and the batteries that power them, the magi had to constantly recalculate in order to finally find Jesus. The way to Bethlehem has rarely been straight or mapped out as we would plan. Recalculation and even u-turns are inevitably the norm in the lives of people of faith.
6 December 2009
John the Baptist was probably not the person most people would choose as their therapist, and he certainly would not stand a chance of getting elected to high office either in the secular or sacred realm. John had the power to plow the debrie away from human hearts, who caused people to search their soul and turn over their life. He made people uncomfortable even if he helped them to grow. His eyes seemed to pierce through the phony coverings and facades of duplicity. It is doubtful John would have ever been described as “plays well with others” and “anxious to please,” yet it was John, more than anyone else, who served as Jesus’ mentor and model of what it meant to announce good news that was news, not propaganda. It was no surprise that when Jesus began preaching, authorities feared that Jesus was John the Baptist who had come back to life.
29 November 2009
The lessons of Advent reflect a reprise of the creation stories. They point to God’s new creation in Jesus Christ. Like the first creation, Advent is about cosmic implications. That is why in the Gospel for today we are given universal images. The sun, moon, stars, and the oceans, shared by all, will be observably shaken because Christ’s coming has universal significance.
15 November 2009
We are one Sunday away from the end of the church’s liturgical year. Hence it is logical to surmise that the lessons for today are related to the supposed end of the world. Needless to say, people of all ages and cultures have speculated about it. The first lesson from Daniel and the lessons from Hebrews and Mark were written two turbulent centuries apart, but all three were composed for a turbulent and quite unsettling time for people of faith. Nonetheless, the last word in these works is not despair over utter devastation, but solid hope and affirmation for the future of God’s great intentions for this earth.
8 November 2009
I suggest that was close to what Jesus was conveying to the disciples as he observed the difference between the gifts of the Pharisees and the gift of the poor woman. For the woman, her gift really meant something; it came from her whole being. To the Pharisees, their gift was routine, forgotten about within minutes after it had been offered. Its effect, if any, was to dull the heart, not refresh or strengthen it.
1 November 2009
All Saints is full of unusual images that are beyond ordinary speech. The Book of Revelation describes a new heaven and a new earth, symbolizing that the totality of all existence, as we know it, will be completely transformed. There will be no sea at all, because the sea was a universal symbol for ancient peoples of chaos and uncontrolled flooding and destruction. Hence the analogies we use to describe this new heaven and earth ultimately fall far short. It is like trying to describe the experience of standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon or near the base of Niagara Falls by showing one a typographical map.
25 October 2009
Jericho was the final town in which to stock up on supplies before taking the road across largely uninhabited valleys and unprotected plains that would bring them to the suburbs of Jerusalem. There would be an occasional shepherd’s camp along the way and there were a few rough way stations by the road, but Jericho was the last dependable and safe place to rest. Jesus likely used the stop here to quiet down the disciples after another of their fruitless arguments over who was the greatest among them. There, at the very last hour, as they left town, Bartemaeus, the blind beggar shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
18 October 2009
While we live in confusing times, the mission this parish and the larger worldwide church have to participate in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation and peace is still a very worthy and worthwhile enterprise, an enterprise that I believe in with all my being. The Biblical record tells me that it is never futile to look for entrances and ladders to new visions and hopes, even in discouraging and turbulent times. God’s promise of new life is a far better than the world’s apparition of a valley of dry bones. People of faith believe and invest in humanity’s future. That’s really what stewardship is all about, too.
11 October 2009
I wonder if that boy grew up to be like the rich man in today's Gospel. Yes, the rich man was a nice guy, liked and admired by those who knew him, but he became stuck, he couldn't let go of whatever possessions on which he so desperately depended.
4 October 2009
In today's Gospel according to Mark, one wonders if Mark himself was worried that as the disciples further pressed Jesus on questions about divorce that they had fallen into a subtle “is it lawful trap” and had ignored what Jesus had said about God’s intent. Mark may well have been aware of the danger of later generations of Christians falling into the "is it lawful" trap, too.
27 September 2009
A few verses before today’s Gospel begins, Mark recorded the failure of the disciples to exorcise an unclean spirit from a child. In today’s passage it seems as if the disciples wanted to restrain someone was able to successfully exorcise evil spirits, simply because he was not one of their own group. The issue wasn’t whether or not the outsider was doing good in the name of Jesus, the issue was that the outsider was not a member of their own chosen circle.
20 September 2009
I don't presume to offer a definitive observation of what should be taught about leadership in the best business schools of the country, but it seems to me that people of faith may always rightfully ask what type of leadership may be harming the world, and what type of leadership contributes in some way, be it large or small, to the healing of the nations and the repair of the world?
13 September 2009
Those who think they have found and are in possession of all truth may indeed believe that they have gained the whole world. They may indeed think that they are the morally superior ones; that they should rightfully inhabit the high and lofty places, enjoying God's favor, and all who disagree deserve to be brought down and discredited.
6 September 2009
As time went by, a significant number of people began to question Jesus’ legitimacy as a teacher. He was not educated in Jerusalem at the feet of the great rabbis. He was not of the educated priestly cast. His parents were good, but ordinary peasant folk. He seemed to have no famous sponsor or mentor, besides a brief encounter with John the Baptist. His disciples were as undistinguished as he was.
30 August 2009
Today’s Gospel, condemning singular adherence to outward appearance, is one of the applications of all these lessons. Obviously, outward appearances give some indication about what’s inside and vice versa. Jesus is not belittling how we conduct ourselves in public or saying we should not practice good sanitary and personal habits. Jesus’ parable is not about sanitation, just as the story about the three little pigs is not about building codes requiring every structure be made of brick.
23 August 2009
Jesus teaches us that if you wish to live as fully as God intended, God’s gifts must be appreciated and used. If you do not exercise your muscles they become weak. If you don’t actively use your brain, your cells will deteriorate, if you don’t draw water from a well, the veins will clog up and the well goes dry, if you don’t sow seed, the harvest never comes. If you refuse to have confidence in the Christian enterprise, your vision of the commonwealth of God will weaken and grow dim.
16 August 2009
Jesus talked about having faith as a child, because God is a universally generous sower, providing humanity a harvest. Sure, some seed is going to be devoured or choked off, but the seed of a trusting faith relationship will provide a bumper crop of thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
19 July 2009
As we gather around this table or altar, we receive the bread of life, food with genuine potential to endure and feed us through thick and thin. The paradox is, however, that the only way we keep continually receiving nourishment from this bread is for us in some way to share and give it to others. If we keep the Gospel just here on Sunday morning, if we forget the promise of God to be with us as soon as we walk outside these doors, the bread of life will disappear as surely as if we were to hold an ice cube in mid-July.
12 July 2009
It’s understandable that people are afraid to declare themselves as people of faith. Hardly a day goes by when we are not criticized for something Christians did in the past, or pressured to feel ashamed for something we are not doing in the present. We also may feel that we are given a bad name by the actions of some other Christians.
5 July 2009
Today’s Gospel is an example of Jesus teaching and offering signs of God’s healing and reconciliation at work among them, but of people not receiving the good news as good news. They interpreted it as bad news, and interpreted signs of God’s kingdom as menacing threats to their way of living. Hence, Jesus is not able to work acts of healing and signs of God’s good will as in other towns where people accepted him.
28 June 2009
Like many narrators before and after him, Mark loved the technique of telling a story within a story, and used the technique five times in his Gospel. The key to understanding both stories lies in discovering the relationship between them. Hence for the Gospel today, we have to hold together the healing of Jarius’ daughter with the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage.
21 June 2009
There are times when in the church and also in our personal lives, things seem chaotic, as if God is sleeping and not paying attention. One of the ways we may minister to each other is to acknowledge both our occasional real fear of chaos overwhelming us and of the constant promise of God’s provision of a path out. People of faith sometimes play the role of lighted exit signs, pointing out a path that the world prefers one not to know about or, in its own fright, won’t notice. Parents also serve in this role with their children. Hence discipleship involves more than smiling at each other and making small talk at coffee hour.
14 June 2009
This morning’s Gospel is one of Jesus’ parables about sowing seed. A common theme of most of these parables is that the planting of seed is inevitably worth it. In spite of all the obstructions to the contrary, some of the seed does germinate and overcomes numerous threats to its growth to produce a harvest, as well as enough seed for the following year. A person of faith has to have confidence in the ability of God’s grace to flourish as much as a farmer has to have confidence to go out and sow a barren field. If a farmer is afraid to plant because of draught, disease, gypsy moths, slugs, and poor soil, he will not be in the farming business next fall. A person of faith needs to sow faith in order to keep faith alive.
7 June 2009
The encounter of Nicodemus at night was with a particular person, and not a stranger, but a fellow rabbi. Yet Nicodemus sensed in Jesus someone who would lead one far beyond the horizons and far deeper in wisdom than one had ever imagined. The appearances of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were marked by deep joy and surprise, but impossible to classify and fully fathom.
31 May 2009
The ancient words of Ezekiel still challenge us: Of course the church of tomorrow and the shape of the community of faith of the future will not be like yesterday but God asks first and foremost, will we remain open to new possibilities. Will we keep our hearts and minds ready for God’s spirit to fill us with new life? Will we still tell our children and grandchildren, “Be watchful, for you never know when and how God’s spirit will energize a new generation and set hearts on fire?”
24 May 2009
Ascension Day isn’t about God going away, it’s about the Lord sending us out into the world to proclaim the good news, promising to work with us, and promising that the Holy Spirit will confirm the power of the resurrection among us. Staying here, sending and proclaiming, is the dominant theme.
17 May 2009
The Lesson for today is attempting to articulate some of the implications for the young church. Any religious barriers between those of Jewish heritage and those of gentile heritage have been breached. Hence, the life of people of faith will never be the same. Of course Peter and everybody else there who heard him didn’t know how the future would play out. They just knew that it would. .
10 May 2009
One of the lessons of the fast moving accounts in Acts, is that the source for the young church was in the power of the Holy Spirit, not solely in human power of persuasion and charisma or in the reservoir of personal energy and persistence. Such attributes helped. Philip responded rather than ignoring the call.
3 May 2009
This is the time of year when final papers are written, exams are given, and students and teachers alike feel driven and pressed. Perhaps this Sunday, known as good shepherd Sunday comes at a good time, for it reminds us that while the metaphor of Jesus as a good shepherd is an ancient one, it doesn’t mean that Jesus drives us to where we are supposed to go. Discipleship is not a response to God constantly driving us. Jesus invites and welcomes, and searches for the lost, but doesn’t beat or force us into submission.
19 April 2009
The risen Lord did not ignore Thomas, nor was Thomas ever subject to humiliation and embarrassment. Jesus simply said in effect, “Thomas, I know you have all sorts of questions. That’s o.k. come closer.” The Gospel never records whether or not Thomas actually put his finger into Jesus’ side or felt the print of the nails, but Thomas learns that Jesus understands where he is coming from.
12 April (Easter Sunday)
With her heart heavy with sorrow, Mary left for the graveyard intending to anoint the body of Jesus before the tomb was sealed. “Who will help me roll away the stone from the tomb,” she wondered. Mary had struggled with heavy stones most of her life. There were stones that threatened to limit her potential, to prevent her from seeing larger horizons, and stones that trapped and imprisoned her. Meeting Jesus was like finding all those stones being rolled away. Now, when she arrived at the graveyard as a last gesture of profound gratitude, she would attempt to do the same for Him in giving Him a decent burial.
5 April (Palm Sunday)
What did those who followed Jesus to a hill outside the city, and saw him nailed to a cross to be tortured and executed expect to happen? That God would come down with vengeance and punish his executioners? That Jesus would escape from the cross and retreat to fight another day? That Jesus would die, and his disciples would scatter in fear, never to be heard from again?
29 March 2009
Jesus was bitingly jeered and often bitterly resented for eating with people of no taste, of not paying obsequious attention to the people of the proper credentials, of going after strangers rather than sticking to his own extended family, of talking to children and of seeking the interior of people rather than judging them from surface and superficial trappings. In effect Jesus was accused of acting like God’s world was the real world, the eternally and universally abundant world where everyone was a citizen rather than the segmented and severed society based on intimidation.
22 March 2009
Lent began with Ash Wednesday with an emphasis on self-examination and repentance. The lessons on the following Sunday framed the season with the account of Jesus being driven into the wilderness right after the exhilaration of his baptism, and having to contend with hidden agendas and threatened with unseen dangers. Just as it was for ancient Israel, for Jesus and the early disciples the wilderness was still the place where chaos and powers hostile to God, lurked. Lent is a reality check, serving notice that people of God are not going to be immune to adversity.
8 March 2009
The Gospel was called good news because in a very oppressive world, it let people know that it mattered how people were treated, that it was wrong to degrade one another simply because one had the power to do it. People were also attracted to Jesus because after affirming that they were worthy of love, he offered them a task, a task with meaning, a task bringing lasting satisfaction to those who engaged in it. The Gospel passage this morning is addressed to those who want to stick around and learn more about discipleship.
1 March 2009
In Noah’s time, when the flood is over and the boat beaches on dry land, a major disclosure of the new era is that the earth itself is no longer humanity’s adversary; no longer is there a curse between the environment and its creatures. Our environment, all the animals, and humanity from now on need to learn to get along. We are on the same boat on this earth, and the lessons of Noah are still relevant.
22 February 2009
Jesus and the disciples have been going around to the villages on the shores of Lake Galilee. Now Jesus steps back, and takes his disciples on an excursion up the highest mountain in the region, likely Mount Tabor. It wasn’t a trip with the intention to meet and teach more people; it obviously was meant to be a retreat, a step away from the crowds and the routine, and to provide a space to integrate the past with what would lie ahead.
9 February 2009
In today’s Gospel Jesus likely looked forward to the hospitality provided by Peter’s family. When he arrived, however, he found that Peter’s mother-in-law, the matriarch of the house, was ill. Jesus of course readily went into her room and healed her. We don’t know if it was the flu or just nervous exhaustion over preparing for Jesus and his retinue of disciples, along with a crowd of curious onlookers. The Gospels simply report that Peter’s mother in law became well, and took up her ministry of hospitality.
1 February 2009
Yes, Gospel teaching can be arresting. It will disturb us on occasion and shake up our complacency and stretch us, but the critical thing is that it is authentic. In some way the Gospel is meant to set our hearts on fire. The problem is always to discern between the charlatans and snake oil promoters and the real thing. The challenge is nothing new, that is what the first lesson in Deuteronomy alluded to, a millennium and a half ago.
25 January 2009
The call and formation of Jesus' disciples appears to flow so quickly and decisively. Yet the Gospel writers never wanted to convey the sense that Jesus comes when we are ready and that the good news itself inevitably brings things into focus for us. Rather, the Gospels are pregnant with urgency. Whenever the gifts of God are offered, is the opportunity to respond. Jesus doesn't wait to enter into some sort of artificial or controlled environment when everything is perfect and in order.
18 January 2009
The Gospel lesson today is about the call of Philip and Nathaniel. Philip doesn’t seem to have developed a grand strategic plan for recruiting disciples. Operating on a person-to-person basis, he said to Nathaniel, “I have found someone I think you should meet also. I believe in this person, I believe in his dreams, and I think when you get to know him, you will, too.” (Incidentally, all the research I have read on so-called church growth admits that person-to-person contact is much more important than clever advertising campaigns or enticing programs.) Nathaniel is not readily convinced. He comes with Philip and meets Jesus, but his skepticism is evident. Jesus does not try to intimidate him; he doesn’t use psychological guilt trips or coercion. Jesus, like Philip, repeats an invitation to come and see.
11 January 2009
The accounts of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist undoubtedly caused no small consternation in the early church. John was a revered figure throughout first century Palestine. The Gospels indicate that the disciples of John and the disciples of Jesus initially competed with one another. Even after John’s death and Jesus’ resurrection, the Book of Acts mentions John’s disciples in far off Corinth and the presence of one in Ephesus.
4 January 2009
We have only one story in the Gospels about Jesus growing up. It is a curious story found only in Luke. The family has gone on pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus is said to be twelve years old, and we may wonder if Luke is not implying that this was the culmination of Jesus Bar Mitzvah, the ceremony celebrating the passing of childhood into adulthood. On the way home from Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary discover that Jesus stayed behind. They find Him in the temple debating with the religious experts and scholars of the law. They learn again that Jesus is not merely their own and when God works through people, surprising growth happens. The way the world would like to predict and arrange things is thrown into question.