Words of Welcome

Matthew 1:1-17 On Christmas Eve we watched as four generations of one family gathered to light the Christ candle. What a wonderful sight it was, because it doesn’t happen all that often.  In fact, largely due to the mobility of our society, our opportunities to gather across the generations has become increasingly difficult.  One of the few places where multiple generations do gather on a regular basis is at church, even if these multiple generations aren’t part of one specific family.    This morning’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew is known for its “begats,” because that’s the word the King James Version uses to count off the forty-two generations of Jesus ancestry, stretching from Abraham to David, from David to the Exile, and finally from the exile to the Christ child.  While some of the persons named in this passage are familiar, most are not. When we read a passage of scripture like this one, our eyes can begin to glaze over and our minds begin to wander.  The

Note:   The text for this sermon is taken from an alternative lectionary -- Beyond the Lectionary: A Year of Alternatives to the Revised Common Lectionary   (David Ackerman).   Daniel 6:16-27 When we last visited the story of Daniel, he was interpreting ‘the writing on the wall” for the Babylonian king Belshazzar.  As you might remember, the news wasn’t good.  Now, there’s a new king in town named Darius the Mede. Even though Belshazzar promised Daniel the number three position, Darius is hoping to make Daniel his Prime Minister.  That would be number two in the kingdom.  Unfortunately for Daniel, not everyone is happy with his promotion.  A group of his colleagues, who seem to think that Daniel is an interloper, begin plotting against him.  But, when their private investigators can’t turn up any dirt on him, they decide to use his religion against him. Knowing that kings like to be flattered and that Daniel will only pray to his own God, the plotters suggest that Da

Daniel 5:1-7, 17, 25-28 It’s been a while since I last preached.  Now that I’m back – as I promised I would – I have much to say! On this third Sunday of Advent we lit the candle of Joy.  But what does it mean to be joyful?  At Christmas we sing “joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, . . . “ ”Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room.”  We’re not singing that carol this morning, but what does it mean to receive the King, to prepare our hearts by leaving room to receive him? That key word here is “prepare.”  God has promised to be present in our lives.  That is the basic plot line of Scripture.  But, are we ready to receive God into our lives?  Have we made room?  Or, have we stuffed our garages and our closets so full of junk that there’s no room for God to fit? With this carol we proclaim that “He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories o

Leviticus 25:1-12 When Douglas MacArthur retreated from the Philippines in the face of the Japanese invasion early in World War II, he boldly declared: “I shall return.”  And he did!  While we’re not facing invasion as a congregation, and though I’m not fleeing for my life, this phrase popped into my mind when I was thinking about what to say in my final sermon before leaving on my sabbatical.  Now, I could have gone with another famous quote; one that was uttered by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie The Terminator:   “I’ll be back!”  Either one works, because even though I’m saying good-bye – I’ll be back before you know it! So, by the end of this coming week we will be entering this season of rest and renewal that we call a sabbatical.   Now, I must admit that it’s not going to be  easy for me to do this, because I’m not very good at resting.  John McCauslin is already worried about this! Now, I do take a day off most weeks and I take my vacations – as some of you

Genesis 12:1-9 Back in the 1970s millions of Americans watched a family’s story unfold in a TV mini-series that went by the title Roots .  Maybe you watched it.  It told the story of a young African man who was taken into slavery by the name of Kunte Kinte and his descendants.  It was and remains a powerful story, one that encouraged many other families to trace their own family origins.  After that people seemed to really get into their genealogies.  I know that some of you are hard at work tracing your own family histories.  Perhaps your interest in your roots was inspired by Alex Haley’s family history.   In just two weeks, I’ll be heading out on my three-month sabbatical.  Back when we were working on a grant proposal to fund the sabbatical I had to come up with a theme.  So,  I chose the theme – “Reclaiming a Founding Vision.”  Over the past year, even after we didn’t get the grant, I’ve been reworking this theme.  So as I go out on my sabbath journey, I plan to

Hosea 11:1-11 Children will try the patience of their parents.  It’s simply inevitable.  Even Jesus caused his parents a few headaches – that is if Luke’s account of the family visit to Jerusalem can be believed.  I know that some people think their children are perfect, but this idea must be a figment of the imagination.  We might wish for the perfect child, but to this point no such child has emerged.   Because I’m both parent and child, I’ve had the opportunity to see the parent/child relationship from both sides.  I’ve tried the patience of my parents, and had my patience tried by my son. If you were to ask my mother, she would tell you that I was a wonderful child growing up.  But she would also be lying, because I wasn’t always a wonderful child.  Yes, if she were honest, she could tell you that I tried her patience on many an occasion. In a scene reminiscent of Luke’s story of Jesus getting left behind in Jerusalem, I was accidently left me behind in th

Luke 11:1-13 The theme for this year’s General Assembly emerged from this very passage of Scripture – “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.”  It was a good theme for us to take up as we entered once again into important but often difficult conversations.  It is always good to bathe our conversations in prayer.  After all, we come together as followers of Jesus who seek to be in relationship with the living God.  Sometimes we forget that this is true.  Our prayers become perfunctory rituals.  We offer a quick word to God, assuming God is paying attention, and then we get on with business, often forgetting that we’ve invited God into the conversation.     The Disciples come to Jesus and they ask him to provide them with a distinctive way of praying – just like John did for his disciples.  And Jesus complies.  The result is a prayer that in one form or another we’ve been offering up to God for two millennia.   Luke’s version is a briefer than the one in Matthew, which is closer to w

Luke 10:38-42 We’ve been hearing a lot about distracted drivers lately.  Everyone is talking on their cell phones or texting.  We thought that hands-free devices would make us safer, but apparently, they’re just as bad.  It’s not about the hands, it’s about where we place our attention.     Of course, sometimes we become distracted by worrying about distracted drivers.  The other day I was driving home from the church along Wattles.  I noticed that the young woman in the car next to me was texting.  I got to thinking – that’s illegal. It’s dangerous.  She should stop that immediately!  But when I turned my head and mind back to the road ahead I discovered that the traffic had slowed down, and I nearly hit the car in front of me.  Yes, we can get distracted by worrying about the distracted ones. There are many kinds of distractions in our world, some of which are spiritual in nature. On the opening night of the General Assembly, my friend of many years and a col

Galatians 6:1-16 How can we embrace God’s New Creation?  Or, what does it mean to live in God’s Realm?  And how do we know we’re living in this realm?  What marks or brands us, so that we know we’re part of this realm of God?         Is it circumcision?  Apparently some Christians in Galatia thought so, but Paul disagreed.  We’re not really sure who was making this argument, but Paul didn’t think circumcision was a necessary marker.  He does write about baptism being the  means by which Christians clothe themselves with Christ.  Ultimately, it appears that what matters most, the thing we can boast about, should we need to boast, is the Cross of Christ.  It is the cross that marks the entrance to the New Creation. That is, instead of a physical mark on our bodies, what matters most is our living a life defined by the cross. As we hear this final chapter of Paul’s Galatian letter read, did you hear him take up a number of themes.  Like some of his other letters, the f