Words of Welcome

I Timothy 6:6-19 I think the Beatles said it best – "Money can’t buy me love." That’s right – Say you don't need no diamond ring And I'll be satisfied Tell me that you want those kind of things that money just can't buy For I don't care too much for money For money can't buy me love I realize that diamond rings are helpful, and I’ve bought a few, but they can’t buy love. And despite what the Pharaohs thought, you can’t take it with you either! Great pyramids were built to hold all manner of treasure, but those bodies are still there a moldering in the grave, along with all those goods. Sometimes we forget this, but we didn’t bring anything into the world, and we’re not going to take anything out with us! So, "money can’t buy me love," nor does it buy eternal life. Oh, it doesn’t hurt to have a little, but ultimately it can’t buy happiness. Just read the papers about the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and you’ll see that having &quo

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 When I last took up this text, six years ago today, it was the second Sunday after September 11, 2001. I think we all have memories of that day, and even two Sundays later, we were still in a state of shock. As I preached that day, I tried to make sense of what had happened just days before. I tried to wrestle with the grief and the anger people were feeling. I reflected on the angry calls for vengeance, which were understandable. I then tried to offer a different perspective, one that reflected the nature and character of the God we know and love in Jesus. That Sunday I tried to make sense of what had happened by using Jeremiah as my lens. As I read this text I heard words of judgement and despair, and then I went looking for words of consolation and hope. In many ways the shadow of September 11, 2001 still hangs over our nation. The anger, the despair, and the fear engendered by the events of that day remain with us. But it’s not just 9-11 that casts a shadow over o

Luke 15:1-10 There’s the "in crowd" and the "not-so-in crowd." Everybody wants to be part of the in-crowd, but it’s often difficult to crack that circle. In the wonderful new movie Hairspray, which stars John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, the obese mother to an overweight but determined daughter named Tracy, we see one person’s determination to break down those walls. Tracy Turnblad has a dream and nothing will stand in her way. That dream is to dance on the Corny Collins Show – a kind of local American Bandstand. She’s a good dancer, but because she doesn’t fit the image of a dancer, she finds it difficult to break in. Only a slip of fate lets her inside, but still her detractors are merciless. Fortunately her determination and spunk make her a hit and she breaks down the walls for others. There is much to appreciate about this movie, which calls into question our stereotypes and our prejudices, but one of the most important points of this movie is that everyone has

Luke 14:25-33 St. Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, a soldier home from the crusades, and a playboy. He wasn’t what you’d call religious, but one day he had a mystical experience that changed his life. This experience was so profound that he exchanged his life of leisure for a life of poverty and celibacy. And at least in the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon, he gets so carried away that begins throwing bolts of cloth out the window of his father's business. He changed so drastically that both family and friends thought he’d gone mad. His embarrassed father even locked him in the cellar hoping Francis would come to his senses. When that didn’t work, Francis’ father went to the bishop for help — maybe to have him deprogrammed! The bishop told Francis to either use his family’s fortune wisely or give it up. And that’s what Francis did. He tore off his clothing and renounced his inheritance. As he read through the Gospel of Matthew, he began to hear a call to be

Luke 14:1, 7-14 What would Emily Post or Martha Stewart say? Where should you sit if Oprah invites you over for a dinner party at her Montecito estate? Should you try to get there early and try to grab a seat at the head table? Or do you take a seat near the back of the room? Oh, surely it would be more fun and interesting to sit up front with all the important people, but . . . Proximity to greatness suggests greatness. Think back to the old Soviet era, when we’d read articles about the presumed order of succession. Kremlin watchers believed that the closer you stood to Gorbachev or Brezhnev during a public spectacle like a May Day parade of the troops, the more important you were. Changes in proximity suggested changes in the line of succession. This sense that proximity to greatness can rub off, drives our culture’s craze about celebrities. For some reason we hope that an autograph or a picture with a celebrity will change our lives. We live in a society that worships success, and n