Words of Welcome

  Luke 16:19-31 At Christmas time our family watches as many versions of A Christmas Carol as we can. In Dickens’ tale, we see a man consumed by money. As time goes on, he turns everyone around him into an object to be used and abused. Scrooge’s life story reflects the word we hear in 1 Timothy 6. According to that word,  “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” ( 1 Tim. 6:10 ).  While the pursuit of wealth plays a central role in the Christmas Carol and in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, there is one major difference. Scrooge doesn’t spend his money on himself. However, neither Scrooge nor the Rich Man, show any concern for the needs of their neighbors. Scrooge has only one goal in life, and that’s to fill his vault with gold. Even though he’s the richest person in town, he’s also the most miserable. Since he’s miserable, he makes everyone else’s life miserable. Fortunately for Ebenezer Scrooge, he receives a visit from the ghost of his f...

Luke 16:19-31 There are two parables in  Luke 16,  and in both of them Jesus speaks to the proper valuing of money and material resources. He puts things into proper perspective, and that makes them good texts for stewardship sermons. Stewardship is about more than paying bills. Stewardship is a reflection of our covenant relationship with God and with one another. The picture painted in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is a bit clearer than the parable of the dishonest steward, but together they remind us about what it means to be a faithful disciple and about our responsibilities to each other.   There are  several verses separating the two parables  that the creators of the lectionary chose to omit. That is probably because passages like this can lead to anti-Jewish ideas. In this case Jesus chastises the Pharisees for being lovers of money. If we can steer clear of caricaturing the Pharisees as self-righteous money grubbers, perhaps we can...

Luke 6:17-26 Today is Super Bowl Sunday, the biggest day in football and in advertising. Americans must choose, Bears versus Colts. Payton Manning or Rex Grossman. Lovie Smith or Tony Dungie. The nation will stop for a few hours and pay attention only to football and to advertisements. At the end of the day, someone will give thanks to Jesus for helping him achieve his dream! I can make this prediction with some degree of confidence, because it happens every year. For some reason, God seems especially interested in who wins the Super Bowl. While God is caught up in deciding the outcome of the Super Bowl, there are other questions begging for an answer. Like the AIDS epidemic wreaking havoc on sub-Saharan Africa. Genocide in Darfur, war in Iraq, or the aftermath of Katrina. Poverty in our country and around the world. Global warming and the extinction of species. Corporations giving CEO’s multimillion dollar bonuses, severance packages, and retirement gifts, even while they lay off tho...