Words of Welcome

Mark 6:14-29 It’s your birthday and you’re really hoping to get a special present.  It could be a new bike, a red wagon, a doll, a new Ford Fiesta.  You’ve left lots of hints, and you’re hoping that you’ll get your heart’s desire.  So, did you get what you wanted?   Or did you get something else?  And if you got what you wanted, is it what you hoped for?  Herod Antipas was the king in Galilee, which is where Jesus hailed from.  When his birthday approached, he decided to throw himself a party.  You can do that if you’re the king.  As Mel Brooks put it in History of the World, Part 1 :  “It’s good to be the king!”  So, Herod sent out to the invitations to all the movers and shakers from the neighborhood and invited them to a big banquet.  His wife, Herodias, who was also married to his brother, offered up her daughter whom tradition names Salome – as the entertainment.   You may know Salome’s name, because legend, works of art, and Hollywood portrayals, have sugge

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Do you remember the story of Androcles and the Lion?  It’s one of Aesop’s Fables that often appears in children’s books.  Remember how Androcles escaped slavery only to face a lion in the forest?  It’s as if he was jumping from the frying pan into the fire.  Thinking the lion would kill him, he begins to run away.  But as he does this he hears the lion moaning in pain.  So, he turns around and discovers that the lion has a thorn embedded in its paw.  What to do?  Does he remove the thorn and risk death, or does he turn his back on the suffering lion?  In spite of his fears, Androcles pulls the thorn out of the lion’s paw.  As for the lion, he joyfully licks the face of his savior, and from that moment on they become good friends.  Now, their friendship will get another test when both get captured and face each other in the arena.  When the lion refuses to kill Androcles, the emperor is so amazed that he pardons Androcles and frees the lion.  And they live

Lamentations 3:22-33 I don’t think I’ve ever preached from this book of poems called Lamentations that sits between Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke for God during the time of exile, offering both words of judgment and hope.  Although tradition suggests that Jeremiah is the author of these poems, that’s rather unlikely, but it’s clear that they were written during the exile.  They speak of that day when the people of Judah watched the Babylonians destroy the city of Jerusalem and  its Temple, and then carry off its king and the leading members of society into exile. These were trying times and so a book of Lamentations seems appropriate.   Although we may not use words like “lamentations” or “lament” very often in our daily speech, because they have a variety of meanings they can be useful words.   Lament can mean “I’m sorry.”  I’ve done my share of this kind of lamenting. It can also refer to mourning or grieving, which we do on occasion.  J