Words of Welcome

  Luke 21:5-19   It’s almost Thanksgiving. The weather is changing, the leaves have dropped, and pumpkin spice is everywhere, letting us know that winter is on the horizon. We also seem to be living in a time of crisis. The United States government suffered its longest shutdown in the history of our country, which only ended late Wednesday evening. People who were working without pay, or trying to figure out how to put food on the table with the suspension of SNAP benefits, are thankful that the government has reopened. However, damage has been done. We can’t forget the war in Ukraine that continues unabated, while the ceasefire in Gaza remains tenuous, and trouble is again brewing in the West Bank. Then there are the political and cultural divisions here at home that continue to get worse, which can make for challenging times at many a family Thanksgiving table. Times like this can lead people to wonder if the end of the world might be at hand.  As we ponder the chal...

  Mark 7:24-37 Before we headed to Northminister last Sunday for our joint service, we spent time in John 6 . In John 6 we heard Jesus offer himself as the bread of life. This morning we heard a word of wisdom from Proverbs 22: “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor” ( Prov. 22:9 ). Bread also figures in our Gospel reading from Mark 7. So, what’s with all this talk of bread? Could this talk of bread have spiritual implications? Mark 7 opens with Jesus having a conversation with a group of religious leaders about the religious importance of washing one’s hands before eating. This topic came up because Jesus’ disciples had neglected this religious rite. The issue isn’t hygiene but what tradition says about what it means to be clean or unclean in the eyes of God. According to Jesus, what makes us clean or unclean aren’t external things but what goes on in the heart ( Mk. 7:1-23 ). After Jesus had that discussion with the religious leaders, ...

    Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach, CA 2 Corinthians 5:6-20 Last Sunday we heard Paul invite the members of the Corinthian church to live by faith by focusing on eternal things that can’t be seen, rather than temporary things that can be seen. This morning we continue that conversation, as Paul once again invites us to walk by faith and not by sight. He wants to assure them that whether they are in the body or not, God is always present with them and that God has a purpose for their lives.  Paul tells the Corinthians that he sought to live in a way that pleased God. If he could do that then when he stood before God’s judgment seat he could give an account of his life confident that he had given his all to the work of God. He wants the same to be true for the Corinthian believers. Standing before God’s judgment seat to give an account of our lives might seem a bit scary because nobody enjoys going before a judge. I’ve only had to go to court once, and that was for a spe...

  Luke 15:1-10 There are “in crowds” and the “not-so-in crowds.”  It’s always better to be part of the in-crowd, even if that means living on the margins of the group. At least you’re inside the circle! Unfortunately, not everyone gets to live inside the circle. Even churches have cliques that by design exclude certain people. These cliques might not have secret codes or handshakes, but they do send signals letting people know they’re not welcome.             We see this played out in the 2007 movie Hair Spray. In that movie, John Travolta plays Edna Turnblad, the obese mother of an overweight but determined daughter named Tracy. Edna watches as her very talented daughter is kept from achieving her dream of dancing on the Corny Collins Show. Although Tracy is a very good dancer, she doesn’t fit the youth-oriented variety show’s image of a dancer. So, the “powers that be” collude to make sure she doesn’t get on the show. Even when a slip ...

  Luke 24:44-53 We’re not a patient society. Whether it’s waiting in line at the gas station, grocery store, or TSA, we want to get in and out quickly. Or consider that childhood moment when school is about to let out for summer vacation. It’s hard to be patient when all you can think about are your summertime activities. Every step of the way in life, we face moments when we have to patiently wait for what comes next.   This morning we find ourselves in the closing verses of the Gospel of Luke. In this story, Jesus is about to take his leave from his followers. So, after Jesus shares one last meal with the disciples, he opens the Scriptures and shares how they spoke of his death and resurrection. When he finished with this Bible Study, he commissioned them to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. I found the First Nations Version of this commission revealing. It was foretold that, beginning in th...

Psalm 32 Are you happy? Do you feel blessed by God? Then you must be forgiven. While none of us is sinless, the good news is we can be free from that nagging joy-killing sense of guilt that comes with sin. Therefore, let the recipients of God’s grace and mercy “be glad in the Lord.”  During our Lenten journey, we’ve heard the Psalmist declare that God is our refuge and strength. Indeed, God’s steadfast love surrounds us when life proves challenging. Today’s reading from Psalm 32 begins with a pair of beatitudes that assure us that God forgives our transgressions so we can experience God’s peace.  The Psalmist speaks of his transgressions weighing down on him. When it comes to our transgressions, our sins, they come in different forms, but each form is corrosive. Sin eats at our being. It disrupts our relationship with God, with each other, and with the world itself. There is good news, however. The Psalmist tells us that if we acknowledge and confess our sins and transgr...

  Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 We lit the pink candle this morning, which means it’s time to rejoice. This is the message the prophet delivered to a group of people who had returned home from exile in Babylon:  “I will rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Paul puts it this way in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” ( 1 Thess. 5:16-18) .  So, in the words of an old Three Dog Night song, let us sing: “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, now Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me.” When the exiles returned home from Babylon, they found their homeland lying in ruins. To get a sense of the devastation that is envisioned by this post-exilic prophet, we might think in terms of what we’ve observed from the wars in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. When you surve...

Genesis 32:22-31 It’s said that no one can see the face of God and live ( Ex 33:20 ) but there are exceptions to the rule. One of those exceptions involves Jacob, who saw the face of God but not until he participated in a wrestling match that lasted almost to daybreak. We catch up with Jacob, the son of Isaac, and grandson of Abraham as he prepares to cross the Jabbok to meet up with his estranged brother Esau. Jacob is an intriguing character. In fact, he’s something of a trickster. It all started in the womb when Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel so that he could emerge from the womb first. His parents named him Jacob, which can be translated as “He who grabs the heel” ( Gen. 25:26 ). That name is related to the Hebrew word that means “twisted” or “deceitful.”  Then Jacob defrauded Esau out of his birthright with a pot of stew. Now, as this trickster camps at the Jabbok, his past is catching up with him. He wants to return to his homeland, but that means facing his e...

Matthew 18:15-20 What does it mean to gather in the name of Jesus? What does it mean to say that all are welcome, and all means all? Are there no boundaries? No qualifications? No form of accountability? Are there protocols we should be aware of? Who decides what these protocols might be?    As Disciples, we pride ourselves on our theological openness. We don’t have a creed. There are no theological grounds for excommunication. Instead of focusing on boundaries, we focus on our center, which is our common confession that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Even that confession allows for breadth of interpretation. But, does that really mean that anything and everything goes? The word we’ve heard this morning from Matthew 18 is a challenging one. It’s also unique to Matthew’s Gospel. This suggests that there’s something afoot in Matthew’s community. Someone or some group is causing problems, and Matthew wants to set up a process to handle the pro...

Genesis 12:1-4 The word “bless” is found in some form nearly 600 times in the New Revised Standard Version. When I looked up the words we translate bless, blessed, and blessing in my Bible dictionary, I discovered that the Hebrew words speak of health, longevity, and fertility. I also discovered that it can be translated as flourishing. So, if you say “I’m blessed,” or “what a blessing,” is this what you mean?  When Bruce Barkhauer was with us, he spoke of a "thread of hope" running through Scripture, linking creation to new creation. I believe that there is also a "thread of blessing" running through scripture that connects the call of Abram to Jesus, and through Jesus we are connected to the realm of God.  This morning we heard God call Abram to leave his homeland and migrate to a new land so that God could make him and his descendants a great nation so that all the families of the earth would be blessed in him or because of him. All he had to do...

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel . . . Stir up your might and come to save us!” In ages past, the Shepherd of Israel took a vine out of Egypt and planted it in a new land. This vine spread out covering the land from sea to river. It grew strong and powerful. Unfortunately, over time the vine lost its luster. For some reason the Shepherd had failed to properly care for the vine, or at least that’s the view of the Psalmist, who asks God to repent and look down upon God’s people and restore the vine to its former glory. Yes, Lord, make your face to shine upon us once again!