Sermons
The Abiding Truth
There may be some places where it’s easier to be a follower of Jesus than it is in other places. It may be easier sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in than it is watching garbage trucks dumping their loads at a landfill. It may be easier sitting in a pew at St. Patrick’s Cathedral than it is sitting at a desk on Wall Street. It may be easier in living in North Carolina than it is living in Iran. And it may be easier when you’re doing a happy dance on election night because your side won than it is when you’re disappointed and angry because the votes didn’t go your way.
Our Little Love Laboratory
“What is to prevent me from being baptized?” he asks. What is to prevent me from being baptized? It sounds like an innocent question. But it’s loaded. A more appropriate question would be, What’s NOT to prevent me from being baptized?
We don’t know the man’s name. We only know him as an Ethiopian eunuch. That’s significant. He isn’t just another guy. He is Ethiopian, aka, African, aka, black. And he is a eunuch, aka, neither a man nor a woman, aka totally unacceptable on so many levels. He had just been in Jerusalem to worship God, and now he’s on his way home again.
Jesus is on the Loose!
If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve probably experienced that first visit to the cemetery after a loved one has died. And you know that it can be pretty hard to take. Someone you dearly loved, someone who was a big part of your life, someone you talked with, and laughed with. Someone who had hugged you, and helped you through many-a trial, is gone. It’s hard for that harsh reality to sink in. And then you find yourself standing in a place where the body of the person you love has been buried in the ground. How is it possible? The stark separation is too much to bear.
From one wilderness to another (sermon addressing Amendment One)
It all started in the wilderness. That’s where they coalesced as the people God chose. That’s where they learned to live in relationship with each other and with God. Now they were people who shared a common story and a common purpose. And it happened while a generation was getting its act together, wandering in the wilderness. It wasn’t always pretty. But it never is when people are stripped of their idols, when they can no longer cling to what once brought them security and their defense mechanisms no longer work.
God's Sticky Note in the Sky
There have been a lot of amazing inventions during my lifetime. Inventions that have changed my world: microwave ovens, computers, cell phones. But when I think of all the inventions that have changed my life, perhaps the one I appreciate the most these days is the sticky note. Although 3M claims it as their creation, the inventor was actually a guy by the name of Alan Amron who came up with the idea in 1973. I owe Mr. Amron a debt of gratitude. Because I’ve been having more and more trouble with a condition known as CRS, that is, Can’t Remember… Stuff.
Better Than Reality T.V.
Reality T.V. shows. I think I understand why people make them. It’s because they don’t have to pay writers or actors, so they’re cheap. But why do people watch them? Is it because we enjoy knowing there are other people in the world who are more messed up than we are? Is that it? I saw that there’s a show called “Billy the Exterminator.” Have any of you seen it? It’s about a guy who is… well, he’s an exterminator. The show’s variety comes from the varmints he’s exterminating. You know, the usual infestations… bees, bats, rats, snakes, possums, raccoons, alligators, turkeys.
Kingdom living 101: service
After announcing that God’s Kingdom has broken in upon this earth, Jesus calls some fishermen to join him. And as they do, he shows them what it really means to live in the Kingdom. It’s a course in Kingdom Living 101.
If you recall from last week, Lesson 1 was about authority. That’s the logical place to start. You can’t have a kingdom without a king. And Jesus demonstrated that he had the authority of God. Not only in the things he said, but in the things he did. He was able to face down the forces of evil and send them running.
Now it’s time for lesson 2.
Measuring Out You Life with Coffee Spoons
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. Words from one of TS Elliot’s poems that have always stuck with me. I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. Would that describe you? Do you measure out your life with coffee spoons?
This could certainly be said of one of the characters in the parable that Jesus told about a man who was going on a journey and entrusted some of his wealth to his slaves while he was away. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to the another one.
A Matter of Perspective
Leo Tolstoy tells the story of a rich man who was never satisfied. He always wanted more. One day he heard about an opportunity to get more land. For just 1,000 rubles he could have all that he was able to walk around in a single day. The only catch was that he had to make it back to the starting point by the end of the day or he would lose everything. So, he arose early in the morning and set out. He walked and walked, thinking that he could get just a little more land if he kept going.
She Knew Who She Was (Memorial for Pamela Renee Jones)
Pamela Jones knew who she was. I can’t say that about very many people I’ve known. But then, not many of the people I’ve known have been as passionate as Pamela was about being who they really are. Oh yes, she knew who she was!
