Date: July 24, 2011
Liturgical Sunday: Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
RCL Scripture: Psalm 128; Genesis 29:15-28; Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Sermon Title: “All things”? Really?
Knox Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110724_-_knox.mp3|titles=”All things”? Really?]
St. Mark’s Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110724_-_St_Marks.mp3|titles=St. Mark’s Presbyterian]
It is one of the besetting sins for many preachers that they feel compelled to complain about how hard it was to preach. Now don’t get me wrong; preaching can be very hard work. The problem arises when the preacher has been telling you how hard it is every week . . . and then a week comes up when it is actually hard work, like this week.
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, the book of Romans, is one of the most complex in the Bible. I mention some of the challenges that it poses in the sermons so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to hear that I wasn’t really planning on preaching from it. This is not to say that there are not excellent parts of Romans that are reasonably easy to preach, it is just that much of the book takes so much explanation that by the time you get to what you want to say, you’ve run out of time. I was going to go back to the life of Jacob in the Old Testament or more parables in the Gospel lesson but I couldn’t. I pondered this throughout the week and as I was wondering why I couldn’t the events in Norway began to unfold and then I knew. I knew that I had some responsibility to try and help the people of Knox and St. Mark’s, and anyone who makes use of this blog, come to grips with the tension in which we live.
I am by no means certain that I did the job well enough but I do know that I did it as well as I could and I have the feeling that I’ve been run through a wringer to “prove” it. Yes this week was very difficult but I count it a privilege to be given the opportunity.
Blessings,
Barry
As always, if you wish to download these sermons as MP3 files from one convenient place, click here.
I am glad I never promised to NOT comment on my own posts. Unlike many people, or at least their recommendations in books, I tend to preach on things that I haven’t at all figured out / dealt with / achieved victory over / etc. I feel compelled to mention that there are all kinds of things that I preach on that I *have* figured out, etc. but I don’t shy away from stuff that I don’t fully understand or struggle with. Good thing.
I have been completely bummed out, depressed, sad about the recent events in Norway. Of course, you may be thinking, everyone with a heart feels that way but this is more. I have been feeling really oppressed by the events on one hand and inordinately touched by the wonderful Norwegian response. This is not to negate for a second what I hope I communicated yesterday; I have no worries nor doubts about God’s essential goodness. Nevertheless, the difficulty I have had in concentrating, the ongoing pain in my heart about Norway (and Somalia and victims of addiction and . . .) seems to suggest something more.
I am not sure if all this makes me more sensitive than I might have thought, or if it makes me more Norwegian than I thought, or if makes me anything at all. I did think that I owe it to anyone who reads this blog and listens to me preach to make sure you know that I may not be as “all put together” about some of these things as I may sound. And I promise you I am not trying to sound like something I am not.
Warmly,
Barry
This was one of the best explanations of the manner in which “all things” end up as good in the lives of believers. Since God is rather larger and we are not, I’ve enjoyed listening to your excellent effort to help me understand how that impacts my understanding of God. The God who is both omnipotent creator of all and engaged beloved simultaneously.
I think you have done yeoman’s labor on both sides of that equation!