Sermons
Not really about fish
It is virtually impossible to have the book of Jonah show up in the Lectionary and not think of fish. It is even more difficult to get away from fish when the Gospel lesson involves Jesus calling some of his followers away from their vocation as people who fished for a living. However, neither of these sermons is really about fish. I hope you are not disappointed. Rather, these sermons…
Change happens
I don’t like change. I don’t know too many people who do but I especially hate it. It could come from moving a lot when I was a kid. It come from an historical awareness that makes me suspicious of any change fulfilling its promise. It is all too possible I’m simply stodgy and lazy and change means I have to work to learn something new. Nonetheless, I don’t like…
Why did Jesus get baptized?
As I have mentioned more than once before, one of the most aggravating things about following the Lectionary is having to go over the same thing every year; also, one of the best things about the Lectionary is going over the same thing every year. Seems I’m a little conflicted. The aggravation comes from the feeling of having to come up with something “new” to say about the Trinity, or…
It’s the season for gifts
It is the season for gifts. It is easy to get caught up in gifts at the expense of everything else about this delightful time of the year. I suspect most, if not all, of us have had those Christmas seasons where we realized we were totting up what we got, what we gave, and then doing some math that can never make us happy. Almost everyone pays at least…
Not a pop song
The title for these sermons is “The look of love” which for at least some of us instantly takes us to a particular time and place, i.e. 1982 and wherever we were then. (Here is a link to the song to save you the trouble of looking it up https://youtu.be/BX1pRTK9R0s) However, I am not trying to get us to spend too much time with early pop hits but rather with…
Why are we talking about joy again?
There is a short answer and a long answer to the question posed in this post’s title. The short answer is, it is the third Sunday of Advent which is the Sunday of Joy. The longer answer begins with a short answer and then an explanation. We are talking about joy again because we forget. Every so often I run across well meaning folks from other religious traditions, usually free…
I hate waiting
The second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Peace. As I was reflecting on what this might mean and where the texts for this week might be heading I kept coming back to the notion of “patience.” I don’t think there is much profit in us getting together and telling stories of our impatience to try and determine who is the least patient of all; I’m willing to say…
Happy new year!
Yes, you read the title correctly, Happy new year! It is a new church year. The Lectionary year begins with the first Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Hope. This year I was reminded, as I did some reading of Walter Brueggemann, of the both/and nature of Advent. We are “in between” the two Advents of Jesus; the first when he came to earth as a human being, and, second…
Last Sunday of the year
It might seem strange to be talking about the last Sunday of the year when we aren’t even in December yet but . . . it is the last Sunday of the church year, the liturgical year. Next Sunday we begin a new church year with Advent. The last Sunday of the year is called the Reign of Christ Sunday or Christ the King Sunday, it depends on your tradition,…
Is timing everything?
The church year is almost over. This Sunday and next and then we are into Advent and a brand new year. It seemed fitting somehow to look at a text that is often used in discussions about the timing of the return of Jesus. It is all too easy to get caught up in details of what this might mean. Eschatology, the study of last things, is a perfectly fine…