Sermons
We don’t get to say
This is another Liturgical year so we are have another opportunity to think about Jesus’ baptism. This is one of the trickier Sundays of the year because there aren’t any definitive answers as to why Jesus was baptized, at least not definitive for me. I must confess that I wasn’t looking forward to this Sunday but when I looked and thought about the texts I realized there was an aspect…
Happy New Year!
It is a brand new year! For some this is a time to make resolutions that may or may not be kept. For others it is a time of reflection on the year past. For all of us, at least if we follow the Gregorian calendar, it is a new beginning. New beginnings are lots of things, scary, exciting, energizing, . . . it all depends on who you are….
Joseph in a different light
So why would I preach about Joseph, the putative father of Jesus, on this, the fourth Sunday of Advent; the Sunday of Love? There are a lot of reasons I suppose, not least of which is our Gospel lesson. This passage in Matthew is one of the very few places we get a look at Joseph. I have always found Joseph a fascinating character in the Bible, perhaps even more…
Are joy and happiness the same?
In regard to the post title, the short answer is “no.” I like short answers and I don’t think there is anything wrong with them but when it comes to sermons, one word sermons are usually not what people are expecting or wanting. This is the third Sunday of Advent; the Sunday with the odd coloured candle; the Sunday of joy. As I mention in both sermons, it seems odd…
Not exactly a diplomat
The Second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Peace. The Isaiah reading makes sense. The Romans reading makes sense. The Matthew reading . . . well it doesn’t really fit the theme. Or does it. I suppose it all comes back to what we think John the Baptist was trying to do; he wasn’t particularly interested in bring peace. John’s mission was to introduce his cousin, Jesus the Messiah,…
The end of the year
NOTE: I sound the way I do as I am getting over bronchitis, don’t adjust your listening device, it probably won’t get any better. Today is the last Sunday in the Liturgical year, hence the name of this post. The Lectionary ends the church year with Christ the King Sunday, or Reign of Christ Sunday depending on where you worship, which is an interesting idea. The last Sunday before the…
Work is biblical
I like work. I like to work.* I realize that not everyone feels the same way and that’s okay but there are a couple of observations I’d like to make about work. First, work is not a necessary evil because work is not evil. Some work is evil, some is foolish, some is dangerous, etc. but work per se is not evil. I go to some pains to work this…
Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday isn’t the easiest of Sundays for me . . . and lots of other folks too of course. It isn’t that it triggers my combat related PTSD, I don’t have combat related PTSD, rather it triggers a wave of emotions. Emotions like regret and sadness but also gratitude and joy. I think it is the mixed bag that makes it even less easy. But, just because something isn’t…
What kind of a call?
This Sunday we looked at calling and the kind of people that Jesus calls. As it turns out there are at least two kinds of calls. The first is the initial call that God extends to people. This is the one that some of us experienced when we were so young we barely remember it. Others had a more dramatic, or at least more easily remembered, and later in life…
Payback is . . . not what you think
Ah, payback. “Payback,” or perhaps “karma,” is something we all have experience with. There is even a reasonably familiar saying or proverb that uses a particular vulgarity that prevents me from quoting it here but I’m sure you can fill it in: Payback is a [*****]. But is it always so? As I reflected on two of the Lectionary passages for this Sunday, Joel 2:23-32 and Luke 18:9-14, I was…