Words of Welcome

John 1:43-51 It’s been a while but you may remember our congregation-wide study of Martha Grace Reese’s book Unbinding the Gospel. She wrote the book because mainline Protestants seem uncomfortable with what she calls the “e-word.” That is, evangelism.  We talked a bit about this at a recent elders meeting in our discussion of Michael Kinnamon and Jan Linn’s book on Disciple identity. They bring up Paul’s word about being ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5 ). They suggest that reconciliation isn’t a job entrusted to us, but “reconciliation is what Christians do as witnesses to God’s good news in Jesus Christ because reconciliation is who we are. Being in Christ has made us people of reconciliation, and being people of reconciliation is how we show the world we are in Christ.” [Kinnamon and Linn, Disciples , Kindle Edition].  There is great truth here. It’s important that we live out the message of reconciliation that God has implanted in us. This starts with the way w...

Young Clergy Man Reading 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 We come together to worship on the eve of an election. I know many of us are anxious about the outcome and the aftermath of this election. All I can say is, if you’ve not voted, drop off any absentee ballots at your clerk’s office or go vote on Tuesday. Then pray hard! We also gather on All Saints Day to remember and honor all God’s saints, “who from their labors rest.” The word we hear from Paul and his companions to the church in Thessalonika is the oldest document in the New Testament. This is about as close as we get to the very beginnings of the Christian story, which continues to unfold into our day. This community lived with a great deal of anxiety. Part of this anxiety was rooted in their expectation that Jesus was going to return any minute. With this expectation came questions about those who had died. Would they get caught up with Jesus when he returned? I don’t think we experience the same kind of anxiety as the Thessaloni...

Exodus 3:1-15 Moses was on his way to work tending sheep for his father-in-law. When he got to Mount Horeb, he noticed a bush burning on the horizon. Since that’s not an everyday occurrence, he decided to check out this strange sight. When he got to the bush, he heard a voice calling his name: “Moses, Moses.” And Moses replied, “Here I am.” Then the voice said, “don’t come any closer and remove your sandals because you’re standing on holy ground.”  When it comes to removing his sandals, Ron Allen and Clark Williamson comment that “to be invited to remove one’s sandals was to be welcomed. Moses is welcomed into relationship with God as God simultaneously draws an ultimate respect from Moses. Moses is no longer an ‘alien’ (Exod. 2:22) but a guest.” [ Preaching the Old Testament , p. 80]. Now, Moses is ready to hear the next word in which God declares: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”  As we contempla...

2 Peter 1:16-21 The season of Epiphany begins with a star guiding the Magi to the home of the Holy Family. It closes with Jesus standing on a mountain, his glory revealed to his disciples, and his mission confirmed by a voice from heaven. As we gather here on Transfiguration Sunday, we’re invited to consider the question: Who is this Jesus?  According to Matthew Jesus ascended the Mount of Transfiguration in the company of Peter, James, and John. When they reached the summit, Jesus was transfigured, so that  “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” Then they were met by Moses and Elijah. Even though Peter had proclaimed Jesus to be the messiah and Son of God only a few days earlier, he and his colleagues were overwhelmed by this sight. Then to top it off, a voice from heaven called out: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased; listen to him” ( Matt 17:1-8, Matt 16:16 ). This morning we encounter an abridged ve...

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Patrick Henry issued the rallying cry of the American Revolution: “Give me liberty, or give me death.” In the early days of the Republic, many citizens embraced the message of liberty by moving into the frontier, which is where our Disciples movement got its start. In true democratic fashion, we rebelled against hierarchy and tossed away the creeds. Disciples took up the cause of religious freedom, not only from government but also from religious authorities. Liberty is great, but as Paul reminded the Corinthians on several occasions, not everything is beneficial.   This morning we again find Paul dealing with the dysfunctions that mark the Corinthian church. He takes up another issue that is dividing the congregation. While it might seem like the issue is food, the real issue is the socioeconomic differences that marked the congregation. These differences were expressed through a debate about whether it was permissible to eat meat that had be...

2 Peter 1:3-11 All good things must come to an end, and so while there is much more to say about salvation we come to the end of our journey this morning. Over the past several weeks we’ve discovered that salvation is a complex idea. Because it can be seen as otherworldly it can seem irrelevant and even off-putting. Let’s stick with the here-and-now. But, as we’ve seen salvation is about more than Jesus dying for our personal sins so we can get to heaven. Salvation includes reconciliation, liberation, healing, and taking on a new identity in Christ. As we celebrate Ascension Sunday, it’s appropriate that we focus on salvation as union with God, or as we read in 2 Peter, in Christ we are becoming “participants in the divine nature.”   Eastern Christianity tends to be more mystical than western forms. They place great emphasis on becoming one with God, and they use the Greek word  theosis  to describe this union.  Theosis  can be translated as de...

Luke 18:35-43 When we get sick, we may ask for prayers, but we probably will also go to the doctor. That’s probably a smart move. But, according to the letter of James, if you’re sick you “should call for the elders and have them pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and any one who has committed sins will be forgiven” ( James 5:14-15 ). The Gospels tell us that Jesus was a healer. Morton Kelsey has pointed out that the gospel writers devote 20% of their accounts to Jesus’ healing ministry. When Jesus came to town it’s quite likely that he healed someone. That might make him a healing evangelist like Aimee Semple McPherson.

Mark 16:9-20 If you were reading along with Cheryl, did you notice the brackets around the morning’s passage?  They’re a signal that these verses are a later addition to the Gospel of Mark.  Because most scholars believe that Mark’s Gospel ends with verse 8 and not verse 20, not too many sermons get preached from this text.  I wouldn’t have preached on it either, except I’ve been following an alternative set of readings during the Lenten season and this is the chosen text for Easter Sunday.     But even if this reading comes from a Second Century addition, could there still be a word from God present in these verses?  After all, for many centuries this addition to the Gospel was considered sacred scripture – even the verses that talk about snakes and poison!  Mark 16 begins with a group of women going to the tomb to finish the burial process.  As they walk to the tomb they begin to realize that they might have trouble moving the...

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 I haven’t done a lot of square dancing in my life, but I’ve done enough to know the basics.  One thing I know for sure is that the Caller plays an important role in the success of the dance.  The Caller guides the dancers in their movement and their steps, and if you don’t follow the Caller’s voice, you’re liable to cause a bit of chaos.  But, if you heed the Caller’s voice, you’ll be successful in your dance. It’s Trinity Sunday and we hear the voice of Wisdom calling out to us, inviting us to join with God in a holy dance of joy!  If you go out into the narthex and look at our Core Values statement, you’ll find one that calls for us to be spiritually joyful. That is, our life with God should be filled with joy.   As that great hymn of the faith that opens our hymnal declares: Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of Glory, Lord of love, Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.   Melt t...

Acts 9:36-43 This has been a week marked by images of death. It’s not the sort of week that we associate with the Easter season, and it at least changed the context for this sermon.  Our continuing celebration of the Resurrection has been interrupted by the deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon and at a fertilizer plant that devastated a small Texas town.  Four people died in the first event, and at least fourteen in the second. Events like this week’s two tragedies catch our attention.  We can become engrossed in the stories, which were told and retold countless times during the week.  Friday morning began with news of the death of one suspect in the Boston bombing, and ended the day with the capture of the other.  But what message did we take from these events and others that occurred in the past week?  These events are close to home, so we pay attention.  What about those who died in China in a deadly earthquake on Friday? ...

Philippians 4:1-13 Many of us, when we were children, learned stories about what we might call the heroes of the Bible.   If you’re like me, a male who grew up with Superman and Batman, you may have liked the ones about Samson, Gideon and David.  These guys are like super heroes who do great and wondrous things, often with seemingly superhuman strength, only they do it with divine power and not superpowers.   Samson does great things in the name of God, but he’s also morally challenged.  He does bring down a temple with his bare hands, though he died in the incident.  As to the secret of his success, he apparently was the Fabio of his day, because his secret had something to do with his hair! As for Gideon, he doesn’t have superhuman strength, but somehow he’s able to defeat the Amalekites whose troops numbered in the thousands with a small team of just 300 fighters.   Apparently God wanted Gideon’s enemies to understand that God was in t...