Words of Welcome

    Acts 1:3-14 The season of Eastertide invites us to reflect on the ways Jesus revealed himself alive to his disciples. According to the Book of Acts, Jesus ended his time on earth after spending forty days with his followers, speaking about the kingdom of God. On the fortieth day, Jesus gathered one more time with his followers. Before he departed, he gave his followers final instructions.   The key verse in our reading this morning is found in verse eight, where Jesus gave the disciples their marching orders. He told them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse serves as an outline to the Book of Acts, because things start getting interesting on the day of Pentecost. It was on that day, as the believers gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, that the Holy Spirit descended on them, em...

  Sunrise at Arches National Park Isaiah 49:1-7 After Elwood Blues picked up his brother Jake from the Joliet Prison, they set out on a “Mission from God.” This divinely authorized mission involved raising money to prevent the bank foreclosure on the Catholic orphanage where they grew up. Although their mission from God was a race against time, nothing, not even the Illinois State Police, which was authorized to use “all unnecessary violence to apprehend the Blues Brothers,” was going to stop them from saving their childhood home.  In our reading from Isaiah 49, a prophet commonly known as Second Isaiah, may face different kinds of obstacles than the Blues Brothers, but he also found himself on a mission from God. The prophet speaks to Jewish exiles living in Babylon, offering them hope, encouragement, and their own mission from God. In an earlier chapter, God tells the people: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit up...

  Matthew 28:16-20 Today is, according to the church calendar, Trinity Sunday. Up to this point, since the beginning of the church year, we’ve walked through the seasons of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter, each of which focuses our attention on Jesus. Then last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, which reminds us that God sent the Holy Spirit like a mighty wind to fill God’s people with power to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. This morning we bring the story of God’s presence in the world to a climax as we celebrate Trinity Sunday.  It’s on Trinity Sunday that we ponder the full nature of God, whom we know as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God in three persons, Blessed Trinity. Although Psalm 8, which we’ve heard read this morning, doesn’t speak of the Trinity, it does proclaim God’s sovereignty and majesty. When we recited the Apostle’s Creed, we affirmed our belief, or even better, our trust, in God the Father, the Almig...

Matthew 28:16-20 Today is, according to the church calendar, Trinity Sunday. On the matter of the Trinity, Disciples of Christ are not of one mind. Thomas and Alexander Campbell were Trinitarians, and Barton Stone was not. One of our important second generation Disciple leaders was  Isaac Errett,  who served as pastor of the Jefferson Avenue and Beaubien Street Church in Detroit during the 1860s. He wrote a pamphlet titled Our Position. In that pamphlet he wrote that while Disciples accept the biblical statements about the “trinity of persons in the Godhead, we repudiate alike the philosophical and theological speculations of Trinitarians and Unitarians, and all unauthorized forms of speech on a question which transcends human reason, and on which it becomes us to speak ‘in words which the Holy Spirit teaches’” [ Historical Documents Advocating Christian Union ,  pp. 297-298].  In other words, we’re going to stick with Bible terms! Of course there are some amon...

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...

Matthew 28:16-20 To “Give a Witness” is to offer a testimony about what God is doing in your life and in the world.  It’s also a good way of thinking about this morning’s text, in which Jesus gives the “Great Commission.”    “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you.” What memories does this passage stir?  When did you first hear it?  How does this verse speak to you today?  Just a few moments ago we commissioned the delegates for the General Assembly in Nashville, and the theme of this assembly is “Tell It!”, which is another way of saying “give a witness.”   What stories would you want to tell about what God is doing today? Giving a Witness to a Relational God Although by tradition this is Trinity Sunday, Disciples of Christ have always been a bit ambivalent about the Trinity. ...

Matthew 28:16-20 I love Homer Simpson. He is the proverbial couch potato. He’s content with his lot in life, goes to church, but doesn’t take it too seriously, in fact, he’s more at home at Moe’s Bar or in front of the TV than anywhere else. Instead of taking on life, Homer let’s life come to him. He may enjoy watching an action flick or a football game, but he has no interest in getting in on the action. Yes, I like Homer Simpson. I could even enjoy being Homer Simpson. Whether Cheryl would like being Marge Simpson – blue hair and all – is another question. Knowing Homer Simpson as well as I do, I think he’d be a bit uncomfortable listening to this morning’s text. It has too many active verbs. For those of you who are grammar afficionados, you know that good writing requires active verbs. While that may be true, Homer Simpson likes a more passive style, and so he might not like the Great Commission with all of its active verbs. It’s too action oriented and not the kind of religion tha...