Words of Welcome

  A uftraggeber: Otto III. oder Heinrich II. –  Bamberger Apokalypse  Folio 13 verso, Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, MS A. II. 42, Public Domain, Revelation 5:11-14 The Book of Revelation represents what is known as apocalyptic literature. The word Apocalypse, in the biblical sense, speaks of an unveiling or revelation of something sacred or divine. The Book of Revelation, which is filled with rather strange imagery that is difficult to decode, requires us to use our holy imaginations. If we do this, then perhaps we can begin to unpack the imagery we find here in chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation. Chapters 4 and 5 depict a heavenly worship service. Here in Chapter 5, the focus is on the Slaughtered Lamb.  The author of the Book of Revelation is a man named John of Patmos. He writes a letter to a group of churches in what is now Turkey. These churches were struggling to navigate significant challenges. They faced persecution and even martyrdom. John writes this lett...

  Mark 16:1-8; Isaiah 25:6-9 It was the morning of the first day of the week. Just a few days earlier, Roman officials crucified Jesus. Since the Sabbath was close at hand, a follower of Jesus named Joseph of Arimathea got permission to take Jesus down from the cross, and he simply placed the body in a tomb. Finishing the burial process would have to wait until after the Sabbath. On the day Jesus died, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched Joseph place the body in the tomb. Then after the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, along with Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb so they could finish the burial process. As the three women walked toward the tomb, they remembered that a large stone covered the entrance. While they had the spices, they wondered who was going to reopen the tomb? After all, none of the men went with them.  When they arrived at the tomb, they were surprised to discover that the tomb was already open. When they loo...

1 Corinthians 8:1-13              If you’re like me, you prize your freedom. You could call it an American thing, but it’s also a biblical thing. The problem is that when freedom goes rogue it can be quite destructive. Usually, freedom goes rogue when it becomes self-centered. That’s what happened in the Corinthian church. People were attracted to Paul’s message of freedom and then used it to their own benefit at the expense of their neighbors.             When we read the Corinthian letters, we discover that this congregation was, to quote Steve Martin, full of “Wild and Crazy Guys.” One of the reasons for this was that this congregation was rather unique for its time. Corinth itself was a very cosmopolitan port city. Because of this, the church in Corinth was very diverse in terms of economic status and probably ethnicity. Since Paul planted this church, he felt a certain responsibility for its success. Paul wrote a...

  1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 The commercials promise eternal youth. Just buy this product, apply it to your face or other body parts, and you can take years off your appearance. Or maybe it’s a pill. Either way, you can turn back the clock. The truth is, as we’ve already discovered, death is inevitable. Yet, there is the promise of something more.  When it comes to the afterlife, there are quite a few options, even for Christians. While reincarnation has become quite popular, it’s not one of the options that Christian tradition has embraced. So, if we leave that option off the table, what are the options?  There are those who look forward to leaving behind their bodies so they can enjoy life as a disembodied immortal soul. Of course, there are still others, even within the Christian community, who believe that when we die, that’s it. Death is the end of the road. The majority of us, however, live somewhere between the two extremes of disembodied soul and death be...

1 Corinthians 15:12-20 The spirit of Easter has arrived early in three sets of lectionary readings from 1 Corinthians 15. Paul already revealed to us the core Christian message contained in the church’s confession “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” ( 1 Cor. 15:3 ). That’s Paul’s message, but if this is true, why are some members of the Corinthian church questioning the truth of this message? Why cast doubt on Paul’s message about the resurrection? Paul’s question is as relevant today as it was in the first century. People are still asking questions about the resurrection. Some people have trouble imagining the idea of bodily resurrection, especially since scientific proof is difficult to come by. Paul did offer up witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, but even that doesn’t suffice for many. It’s possible this was nothing more than a mass hallucination...

  William Wilson, Caritas, Glasgow Cathedral 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 As we continue our journey through the season of Epiphany, we’re looking for manifestations of God’s presence in the world. We began with the Magi following a star to Bethlehem, and that led to hearing God call out to Jesus at his baptism. We’ve heard Paul say that “to each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” ( 1 Cor. 12:7 ) and that the church is a manifestation of the presence of Jesus’s body in the world. Although the gifts of the Spirit are important to the health of the body of Christ, there is one more thing needed. That is what Paul calls the “more excellent way” ( 1 Cor. 12:31 ).  What is this “more excellent way?” It’s as that 1960s song proclaimed: “What the World needs now is love, sweet love.” That is the message of 1 Corinthians 13.  Paul places this hymn to love right in the middle of his discussion of spiritual gifts. Since the Corinthians are arguing about whi...

  1 Corinthians 12:12-31a The church is more than a building but it’s also more than a voluntary association of people. At least, that’s what Paul thinks. According to Paul, the church is much like the human body, which has many parts. If the body is healthy, all of its parts work together in harmony. The same is true of the church, the Body of Christ.  Paul tells us that we’re joined together as the Body of Christ through our baptism into Christ. It doesn’t matter if we’re slave or free, Jew or Greek, because we’re all one in the Spirit of God. Paul doesn’t give us a detailed anatomy lesson when he describes the Body of Christ. He just assumes we all have a basic knowledge of how the body works. He focuses our attention on the diversity of parts in both the human body and the body of Christ. In a healthy body, every member plays their part. You may notice that Paul uses a bit of humor and sarcasm to get his point across. He asks us to consider the possibility that ...

James 3:1-12 You’ve probably heard it said that “Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” It’s the kind of thing people say to bullies, but whether we’ve been the victim or the perpetrator, I think we all know that names do hurt. The pain of words might be different from the pain caused by sticks and stones, but the damage is real. So we probably should be careful with what we say.  James understood this truth. In the very first chapter of his letter, James wrote that “if anyone appears to be ‘religious’ but cannot control his tongue, he deceives himself and we may be sure that his religion is useless” ( Jms. 1:26 JB Phillips). James writes this message about the power of the tongue right before he gives his definition of religion that is “pure and undefiled before God.” James takes up the subject of the tongue once again in chapter 3, where he suggests that the tongue is like a forest fire set by Hell itself. That does sound dangerous! James dire...

Jeremiah 31:31-34 What does the future hold for the Michigan Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)? Some of us participated in listening sessions this past week so we could learn about a proposed partnership with the Illinois-Wisconsin Region. If this happened, the Rev. Teresa Dulyea-Parker would become our Regional Minister after the retirement of the Rev. Eugene James.  Why am I bringing this up? Well, it has to do with the way we envision who we are as a church. Our connection as a congregation to the Region and to the General Church is defined in terms of a mutual covenant. In theory, we’re not a hierarchical people. Pastor Eugene is not my boss, though he is my pastor. If we ended up partnering with the Illinois-Wisconsin Region, we would add another form of covenant to our other covenant relationships.    As we have discovered during this Lenten season, there are different kinds of covenants. Some are unilateral, like the covenant God made with ...