Words of Welcome

2 Samuel 23:1-7 Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, knew that the  Roman emperor didn’t appreciate it when people challenged his authority. So, when Pilate asked Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” he wanted to know if Jesus was going to cause him problems with the emperor. Jesus answered this question by telling Pilate that yes he was a king but his kingdom wasn’t of this world ( John 18:33-37 ). Since Pilate didn’t know what to make of this answer he decided that executing Jesus was the wisest course of action.   Pilate didn’t quite understand the meaning of Jesus’ reply but he is in good company. Theologians have been trying to make sense of that statement to this day. If Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, then what does that mean for us?  We know from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that Jesus’ primary message had to do with the kingdom of God. This is especially true of his parables. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus even tells a group of reli...

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 We’ve made it to the end of the road and it’s judgment time. We began this cycle of our life together as church on the first Sunday of Advent, and now the church year has wound its way to this moment when we declare that “Jesus reigns where’re the sun does its successive journeys run; his love shall spread from shore to shore till moons wax and wane no more.” We’ve heard a word of encouragement this morning from the prophet Ezekiel. The prophet spoke these words to exiles living in Babylon. He told them that God is the shepherd who brings the scattered sheep living in exile back home to their own land. In doing this, God seeks out the lost, binds up the wounded, and strengthens the weak. When it comes to the “fat and strong sheep,” well, God will “feed them with justice.”    There are parallels between Ezekiel’s message and the Twenty-third Psalm . Like the Psalmist, the prophet speaks words of comfort and compassion to the flock, but as Wil Gafne...