Words of Welcome

Adoration of the Three Kings - Andrea Mantegna (15th century)  Matthew 2:1-12 In the beginning, when God was busy creating things,  darkness covered the earth, and God said: “Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” ( Gen. 1:1-4 ). From the very beginning of the biblical story we see the light of God shining into areas of darkness so that the people can experience the presence of God. This morning is not only the first Sunday of the year; it’s also the Day of Epiphany . Growing up at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church we celebrated Epiphany with a special evening service followed by a time of fellowship that featured a cake with three Monopoly pieces baked in. One was a thimble, which meant that whoever got that piece of cake had to sew something for the church in the coming year. Then there was a piece that represented the cake, and whoever got it, had to host the next year’s feast. Finally, there was a third piece, but I can’t re...

Mark 6:14-29 It’s your birthday and you’re really hoping to get a special present.  It could be a new bike, a red wagon, a doll, a new Ford Fiesta.  You’ve left lots of hints, and you’re hoping that you’ll get your heart’s desire.  So, did you get what you wanted?   Or did you get something else?  And if you got what you wanted, is it what you hoped for?  Herod Antipas was the king in Galilee, which is where Jesus hailed from.  When his birthday approached, he decided to throw himself a party.  You can do that if you’re the king.  As Mel Brooks put it in History of the World, Part 1 :  “It’s good to be the king!”  So, Herod sent out to the invitations to all the movers and shakers from the neighborhood and invited them to a big banquet.  His wife, Herodias, who was also married to his brother, offered up her daughter whom tradition names Salome – as the entertainment.   You may know Salome’s name, be...

Matthew 25:14-30 Have you ever watched Jim Cramer’s CNBC show Mad Money?  If you don’t know who Jim Cramer is, he’s a wild-eyed stock picking guru who wants to help you make money in the stock market!   The motto of the show is that “there is always a bull market somewhere, and he wants to help you find it.”   Jim Cramer, it appears, believes in the principle of abundance over scarcity.  In his mind, somewhere there is an investment that will make you a profit, you just have to look for it, and he’s willing to help you make that discovery.   Now, I don’t spend much time watching his show, since  a little goes a long way, but I’m intrigued by his ability to pick good places to invest.  He seems to know his stuff!   But money isn’t the only thing we have to invest.  We also have our lives to invest, but the question – where will you invest?       We’re nearing the end of the liturgical year, and the lectionary tex...

1 Peter 4:7-11 Do you ever put yourself in the biblical story by asking whether your life story fits into the sacred story? If so, have you ever seen yourself in the story of Abraham and Sarah? In this important biblical story, God calls a couple to leave their homeland and move to a new place. I sort of resonate with this story, though not to the degree that we see described in Hebrews 11, which says that they set out on this journey, “not knowing where he was going.” At least, we had a house when we got here. They had to live in tents for several generations! But, they dwelt in this new land and “looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect is God” (Heb. 11:8-9). This is what faith is all about. It’s about trusting someone with your life and your future, even though you don’t know what that future holds. Harvey Cox calls this a “deep-seated confidence.”1 It’s a quality that comes to us as a gift from God and lets us step outside the box and take ris...