Words of Welcome

1 Peter 2:19-25 The reading this morning probably could have begun with  verse 18:  Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.  You can understand why the creators of the lectionary omitted this verse. I doubt any of us approve of slavery, but back in the first century a sizable portion of the Roman population were slaves.  So it makes sense that Peter would write to Christians who’d been enslaved and advise them to keep a low profile and do what they were told. If they experienced suffering, then they should look to Jesus who also suffered.  Even though he suffered, he did so for the right reasons. Although none of us are slaves, slavery continues to exist even in Michigan.  We call it human trafficking, and its one of the issues that the  MCC  is working on.  We’re working to assist victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Because ...

John 15:9-17 Even if we’re not mothers ourselves, we’re all daughters and sons of mothers.  That means that we all have stories to tell about motherhood.  This is especially true of our newest mothers (and fathers, of course).     When we think of mothers, whether it’s Mother’s Day or not, what comes to mind might be that special intimacy that seems to exist between mother and child, which  begins at birth.  Or, perhaps it begins even earlier, during that long period when a child begins to take form in the womb.  This relationship is often complex but it’s also very powerful.   Although Protestants have struggled to find a place for Mary in our faith story, she remains an important contributor to that story.  Catholics, on the other hand, have tapped into the image of Mary the Mother of God, and seek Mary’s intercession with Jesus.  Catholics don’t pray to Mary because she is divine, but because of a belief that since ...

Proverbs 1:8-9 8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. (NIV, 2011) Today is Mother's Day, which celebrates a very special relationship between mother and child, and by extension - children and parents. Mother's Day, along with Father's Day, celebrates the importance of family, and it's a good thing to celebrate these relationships. But we should also remember that Jesus had a broader vision of family than do most of us. Do you remember what he said when his mother came looking for him? He pointed to his disciples and said: "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (Matthew 12:49-50). As we take to heart this word about family, we can then listen to the wisdom we find in Proverbs, which calls on us to listen to our parents and follow their instructions so...

     Revelation 21:22-22:5     In The Last Battle , the final volume of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis picks up on an important theme in Revelation.  Like the author of Revelation, Lewis describes evil as a consuming power that lives off pain, suffering, and destruction.  In this story, an imposter poses as Aslan, and speaks to the people of Narnia who long to hear Aslan’s voice.  The imposter is controlled by the Calormenes, a rival nation that serves the evil god Tash.  The Calormenes want to control Narnia and so they exploit the Narnians’ longing for Aslan.  Jill and Eustace, two travelers from our world, help expose the imposter, but not before Narnia is destroyed.  There is great sadness in this book, but there is also good news.  That is because Narnia gives way to a new creation, the land of Aslan, into which those who are faithful to Aslan are invited to enter.   Like Revelation, The Last Battle...

1 John 4:7-21 Mothers are often fearless, especially when it comes to the safety of their children. As you might expect, scientists having been studying this phenomenon, and they think they’ve figured it out. Apparently, it has something to do with hormones, or more specifically, a drop in peptide levels that occurs during lactation. When this happens, fear vanishes. Scientists made this discovery by studying mice, but it doesn’t take detailed studies of mice to know that mothers normally will do everything they can to protect their young. Just try getting close to a grizzly bear cub or a lion cub and you’ll quickly discover that their mothers don’t take kindly to such offenses. Although I’ll take the scientists at their word, I prefer John’s explanation. It might not be as scientific, but it makes sense. According to John, love is the answer to fear, not fluctuations in peptide levels! But, that shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us. 1. God is love! I’ll admit tha...

Today is Mother's Day -- and Pentecost Sunday. It is a day to honor mothers but it is also a day to pause and consider a different way of living on the Earth. Below is Julia Ward Howe's " A Mother's Day Proclamation ," a proclamation that calls on the women of the world to join together and bring peace. Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance ...

Numbers 11:24-30 It’s not often that we celebrate Mother’s Day and Pentecost on the same day, and when it does preachers get put in a difficult situation. You could try to mix them together in a sermon, and I’m sure that mothers can be prophets, but it’s still hard to put them together. As you can see from the sermon title, I’ve decided to focus on Pentecost – sorry Mom! I have a question for you: Moses says he wishes everyone was a prophet, so are you ready to be a prophet? When you hear that question you may be wondering what a prophet does, or you have an idea and it doesn’t sound very promising. I expect the image most people have is a strange looking guy with a long scraggly beard. He stands on street corners yelling at people who walk by, wearing rough burlap robes and a sandwich board that boldly declares: REPENT, THE END IS NEAR! If that’s your picture of a typical prophet, I doubt you’d be interested in the job. It’s true that biblical prophets could be a bit strange. Think of...

Revelation 21:22-22:5 The final volume in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is entitled The Last Battle . In that book Lewis picks up on an important theme in Revelation. Evil is a consuming power that lives off pain, suffering, and destruction. In this story, an imposter poses as Aslan, and speaks to the people of Narnia who long to hear Aslan’s voice. The impostor is in the employ of the Calormenes, who serve the evil god Tash, and who wish to control Narnia. Jill and Eustace expose the impostors, but not before Narnia is destroyed. The good news is that Narnia gives way to a new world, the land of Aslan. Those who are faithful to Aslan are invited to enter the kingdom of promise. Interestingly enough, among those going through the door is Ermeth, a Calormene warrior, and Puzzle the donkey, who in his innocence allowed himself to be used to impersonate Aslan. Like the Narnians, we too live in a land of false promises and broken relationships. Evil resists the justice and mercy of God...