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