Words of Welcome

  Luke 12:32-40 Do you worry about what’s going on in the world and how it affects your life? Are you concerned about your security and safety? Do you make sure your doors to your home and cars are locked? Do you have a Ring camera so you can see who is at the front door?  While we might be concerned about such things, Jesus doesn’t seem to share our concerns. Here in Luke 12, Jesus tells his followers not to be afraid because God is going to give the kingdom to them. If we step back a few verses, we hear Jesus tell his followers not to worry about life because worrying won’t add even a single hour to their lifespan (Luke 12:22-31 ). Perhaps the reason Jesus warned against worrying about life is that he advocated living a very simple life. The problem with this warning is that my lifestyle is much too complicated. I have accumulated way too much stuff, which can cause anxiety. Now, some things are essential to living a good life; things like my books. I can’t live withou...

Mark 10:17-31 If you’re going to invest in something, how do you determine its value? It seems like everything in life has a price, and the price depends on how much we value it. So, once upon a time, Beanie Babies were the rage and people spent lots of money on them. Now, they’re pretty worthless. I have a lot of baseball cards, but I’m not sure they have much value. Maybe if I had a Mickey Mantle Rookie card in perfect condition, things would be different. Apparently, Mantle’s 1952 rookie card is worth around twelve million dollars, surpassing the 1910 Honus Wagner card, which is valued at around seven million. Why are these pieces of cardboard with a picture on them worth so much? Again, value is determined by what we’re willing to pay. Alas, I don’t have sufficient funds to invest in rare baseball cards. But, if you’ve got lots of money to spend, then why not? Everything in life has a price! Last Sunday’s reading from Mark’s Gospel spoke of divorce, while this week Mark speaks ...

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...

Mark 1:29-39 Qoheleth wrote long ago that there is a season for everything under heaven, including a time to heal (Eccl. 3:1, 3). Is this a time when healing is needed? With all the brokenness present in our world, including the physical, mental, and emotional toll of COVID, the answer is yes. We need the “balm in Gilead” that makes “the wounded whole.” So, “Heal me, hands of Jesus, and search out all my pain; restore my hope, remove my fear, and bring me peace again” [Michael Perry, Chalice Hymnal , 404].  According to Mark, Jesus immediately left the synagogue and entered the home of Simon and Andrew. Just to catch you up on the story, Jesus went to the synagogue in Capernaum that Sabbath morning with Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Whether or not he was the scheduled preacher that day, Jesus proclaimed the good news and cast out an unclean spirit. Mark reports that everyone who heard him preach was amazed because he taught with authority. As a result, his fame spread through...

Zechariah 9:9-12 Yesterday the nation celebrated Independence Day, though this year the celebration was somewhat muted. Most parades, public fireworks displays, carnivals, and other “normal” events were canceled. But, maybe we can use this moment to envision a freedom that extends beyond the nation. Maybe we can use this time to envision what God’s realm looks like. The reading for today from Zechariah 9 invites us to reflect on a different kind of parade from the ones we normally experience on the 4th of July. Jesus embodied this vision in his “Triumphal Entry” on Palm Sunday when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of joy. While we can’t avoid the connection to Palm Sunday, perhaps we can take a broader look at Zechariah’s message. With Zechariah, perhaps we can ponder what the restoration of peace might look like as God’s dominion extends from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. We rarely turn to Zechariah, which is the second t...

2 Samuel 23:1-7 We usually begin the church year singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive, Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.” The season of Advent begins by remembering Israel’s exile. We do so in the hope that Emmanuel, the one whose name means “God is with us,” will usher in the reign of God. Then the “Desire of nations” will “bind all peoples in one heart and mind; bid envy, strife and quarrels cease; [filling] the whole world with heaven’s peace.” [ CH 119]. The journey that begins in Advent concludes this morning with Christ the King Sunday, and we’ll close out this journey by singing  “Rejoice, the Lord is King! The risen Christ adore! Rejoice, give thanks, and sing, and triumph evermore.” [ CH 699] The title “Christ the King Sunday” is rooted in an earlier time when monarchies were the most prominent form of earthly government. Things have changed over time, but the concept of monarchy is still present ...

Romans 8:22-27 Welcome to Pentecost Sunday! It’s time to celebrate the birth of the church and our mission of proclamation and service in the world. Before Jesus ascended from this plane of existence, he promised to send the Spirit to empower the church’s witness to the good news that God’s kingdom is at hand. Just a few days later, Jesus’ followers were hanging out in an upper room in Jerusalem, when a mighty wind of the Spirit blew through the room, inspiring the people to break forth in praise. This small group of disciples began to preach the gospel in languages they had never learned. The crowd that gathered in the square below was amazed. They wanted to know more about Jesus, and so Peter got up and preached. By the end of the sermon, some three thousand people asked to be baptized. This is the story of Pentecost in a nutshell!  Yesterday morning many of you may have watched the royal wedding. If you did, you got to hear the gospel of Jesus preached. I only c...

Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus’ parables are subversive, because they reveal things about the realm of God. They’re stories we can read in different ways. Sometimes parables clarify things, but they can also confuse things enough that they start important conversations about what it means to live in the realm of God. The realm of God doesn’t operate like other realms, which is  why Jesus told Pilate that “my kingdom is not of this world.” ( John 18:36 ) Ever since Peter made the Good Confession and received his commission ( Matt. 16:13-20 ), Jesus had been revealing things about the “Kingdom of Heaven” and the Church.  This parable is another contribution to that conversation. There is an important phrase that surrounds the parable: “The last will be first, and the first will be last.”  The first instance of the phrase brings to a close Jesus’ conversation with the one we often call the “Rich Young Ruler” about what is required to enter the realm of God. That conve...

Matthew 14:13-21 When we gather at the Lord’s Table each week, we pause to remember the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples, and continues to share with us through the Spirit. Although this meal stands at the center of our faith tradition, the Gospels are filled with stories about Jesus sharing meals with others.  One of these stories involves a meal with more than five thousand guests, who dined on five loaves of bread and two fish, and still everyone ate their fill.  The “Feeding of the 5000" is the only miracle story that appears in all four Gospels. It’s easy to get caught up in the mechanics of the miracle. Enquiring minds want to know how Jesus did it. Was it a magic trick? Was it a spontaneous potluck? Is it a myth? Despite our inquisitiveness, Matthew doesn’t give any details. Could that mean that the details are irrelevant? Miracle stories, like parables point beyond themselves to the kingdom of God. So, what Matthew wants us to hear is a message about ...

Luke 21:5-19 Tuesday brought  a divisive and often bitter election season to a close. There are some who are happy and others who are not. At this point the future is uncertain, making many Americans concerned and even fearful. We will need to listen to each other’s hopes and dreams and keep each other in prayer. Because I know this congregation, I know that we didn’t all vote the same. But, I also believe that despite our political and even theological differences, as followers of Jesus we are bound together by our common love of God and our neighbors. I pray that the message of the prophet Micah will be on our hearts and minds as we move forward into the future. That message is simply this: What God requires of us is that we “do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God” ( Micah 6:8 CEB ).

Luke 12:13-21 Money makes the world go around. It’s true that in the world of Star Trek no one seems to need money, unless you’re a Ferengi, but it takes money to navigate through our world. The question is, how much is enough? And, how much is too little? Down through the ages we’ve heard warnings about the dangers of greed. One of the best examples is the story of King Midas, who was given the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold. Unfortunately, that meant his food, and ultimately his daughter. So be careful what you ask for!  During this political season we’ve been hearing messages about taxes, income inequality, stagnant wages, the high cost of health insurance, and much more. Money plays a big role in our political debates, in part because it takes money to fund political campaigns. In the reading from Luke 12, a person in the crowd listening to Jesus’ message asks Jesus to arbitrate a dispute with his brother over the dispersal of the family estate. ...

Psalm 146 We’ve come to the third stop on our summer journey through the Psalms. So far the Psalmist has reminded us that God is our creator and our judge. In Psalm 146, the Psalmist declares that Yahweh is the ruler of all creation. Indeed, the Psalmist invites us to “sing praises to [our] God for as long as we live,” because God will reign forever.  We come to this place to give praise and thanksgiving to the one who “made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them.” It is God, who “executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.” 

Revelation 5:11-14 The Book of Revelation is in many ways a book of worship! In fact, I think it is a call to engage our holy imaginations in the worship of God.  If you’ve read any of the  Chronicles of Narnia  books,  you know that the imagination can have a powerful effect on the way we see spiritual realities. In the best known of these books,  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,  Lucy, who is the youngest of four siblings, discovers a pathway into the magical land of Narnia. When Lucy returns from her visit to Narnia, she shares her discovery with her older brother and sister. They dismiss her report as a mere tall tale. When she shows them the wardrobe, all they find is a wardrobe filled with old coats. There is no pathway, no portal, just the wooden back wall of the wardrobe. 

John 12:12-16 Everyone loves a parade. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Rose Parade or a Fourth of July parade. We love the floats and the bands and the candy thrown to the kids by the paraders! Maybe you’ve been in the parade. You marched in the band, walking what seemed like miles, trying to play your instrument while keeping your feet in proper motion and your lines straight. Maybe you rode on a float, which in a small local parade might be the back of a pickup, or simply walked down the street waving a flag. When a team wins a championship, the city will host a parade so that the people can celebrate their team. The players ride by waving to the screaming fans, while confetti falls from tall buildings. Of course, the joy doesn’t last long, because teams rarely repeat their big wins.  Most parades send messages. A Fourth of July Parade celebrates patriotism, while a championship parade celebrates the superiority of one’s team over its rivals. As that old song from th...