Sermons
I’m suspicious of “either/or”
As the title says, I am suspicious of the notion of “either/or.” I’m pretty sure I’ve said it in this space before but there very few actual binaries out there. About the only one I’m likely to stand behind these days is “alive/dead” and I’m not entirely certain about it either. Language can be slippery. The false dichotomy we are looking at today is, ironically enough, around the language of…
Is it, whatever “it” is, enough?
So what might “it” be? In this case, “it” is revelation, or to be more precise General Revelation. This Sunday’s Psalm, which was Psalm 19, got me thinking again about General and Special Revelation. Special Revelation is God’s word(s) to specific people, e.g. Scripture, burning bushes, etc. General Revelation is God’s word(s) to all people, e.g. nature, stars, etc. These are interesting theological categories but are they worth talking about…
Is it a paradox?
So what is a paradox anyway? Well, this is one of the reasons God helped us invent dictionaries. I’m grateful to all those people who then put the dictionaries online. par·a·dox (păr′ə-dŏks′)n. 1. A statement that seems to contradict itself but may nonetheless be true: the paradox that standing is more tiring than walking. 2. A person, thing, or situation that exhibits inexplicable or contradictory aspects: “The silence of midnight,…
It’s the first Sunday in Lent
It’s the first Sunday in Lent, not these Sundays are in Lent, not of Lent. It doesn’t seem to make a huge difference but if Lent is forty days long and you count all the calendar days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday you get more than forty. The Sundays aren’t counted so the math works but rather to help us remember even in the middle of a time of…
Another look at Transfiguration
Transfiguration Sunday comes around every church year. You can think of it as the last Sunday of Epiphany or the last Sunday before Lent but it comes up no matter what you think of it. This is the beauty and (sometimes) the challenge of following the Lectionary. I am grateful to all of those preaching people who went before me. Some of them allowed their sermons to be published or…
It’s all about context
Context is one of those tricky things, at least it can be tricky. Today’s sermon is taken from St. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians, “I have become all things to all people.” (1 Corinthians 9:22b NRSV) It was all too easy for me, especially when I was younger, to look at Paul’s statement and write him off as a hypocrite. “How can you become all things to all people and…
Rules? Do we need them?
Look! A question for sermon title! In fact, two questions this time. As is so often the case, there is a short and easy answer, “Yes.” So we’re done? No, not really, there is a bit more to it. It is obvious we need rules. Rules of the road keep us safe, or at least safer, on the roads. Rules of civility help us get along. Some of these rules…
Why bother?
One of the questions we often find ourselves asking is “Why bother?” why bother doing the dishes/laundry, they will just get dirty again why bother doing the right thing, no one notices or cares These are question we might find ourselves asking. As questions go they aren’t so bad because we know the answer. We bother doing these things because the need to be done. But what about this question,…
Why can’t things stay the same?
I’d say no one likes change but that really isn’t true. Just about no one likes change but there are some people who actually do, I’m not one of them. There are people who might be surprised at this but I am actually a “small ‘c’” conservative, a very, very, very small “c” conservative. What makes me label myself as such is how unlikely I am to change something for…
Baptized, but why?
The Baptism of the Lord Sunday is one of the recurring Sundays in the church year. I don’t mind recurring Sundays. I feel there is real value in looking again at something familiar . . . but actually looking at it. Regardless of all that I was wondering what I was going to say about this special Sunday this year. I am grateful I am grateful to the Holy Spirit…