Words of Welcome

  Romans 5:1-5 According to the liturgical calendar, today is Trinity Sunday. On a Sunday like this, we get to reflect on who God is. As history has proven, finding an answer to the question “who is God” has proven difficult. The Creeds define God as being one in substance but at the same time three persons. The first verse of our opening hymn declares:  Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning  our song shall rise to thee. Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in three persons, blessed Trinity! At least since the fourth century, the majority of Christians have affirmed that definition of God’s nature, even if we still struggle to make sense of our confession. So, if you don’t completely understand the ins and outs of the Trinity, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Nevertheless, together with the majority of Christians throughout history, we proclaim that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This morning, we have heard a reading from the...

  Romans 7:15-25a Next Sunday, Dan will begin a series of sermons from the Book of Romans that starts in chapter 8. The first verse of Romans 8 declares that “there is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Now that’s good news! Now, before we can hear the good news, we need to hear the bad news. I get to deliver the bad news. So, once again I get to set the stage for Dan to deliver the good news, even if I chose this passage!  I think Paul’s words in Romans 7 might resonate with many of us because it offers a rather realistic picture of human life. That’s because it speaks of the kinds of inner conflicts that we all face in life. You see, Paul wants to do the right thing, but he can’t seem to follow through. Why this is true, could be rooted in anxiety or a failure to recognize our own limits? We can even know what’s expected of us, and still fall ...

  1 Peter 2:18-25 As you know, Pastor Dan decided to spend Eastertide working through 1 Peter in his sermons. There’s some really interesting stuff in 1 Peter, but unfortunately for me, he left me the most difficult passage to work through. Peter begins this passage by telling slaves to obey their masters even if that leads to suffering. He tells the slaves in the Christian community that if they suffer, they should make sure they’re suffering for doing what is right. If you suffer for doing what is right, you’ll receive God’s approval. I don’t know about you, but this passage makes me rather uncomfortable. Not only does Peter speak about suffering, but he seems to give approval to slavery. In fact, many proponents of slavery, especially here in the United States appealed to this and passages like it to defend slavery. Now, I could have avoided the discussion of slavery. After all, the creators of the Revised Common Lectionary chose to omit verse 18 and begin the reading in ver...

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...

Psalm 112:1-9 Back in the day, when I was in high school, we often sang this happy song at Bible Study. It goes like this: It’s a happy day and I thank God for the weather. It’s a happy day and I’m living it for my Lord. It’s a happy day and things are gonna get better,   Living each day by the promises in God’s Word.  (Gary Pfeiffer) There’s a second verse to the song that talks about having a grumpy day because we’re living it for ourselves instead of the Lord. I’m going to forgo singing that verse and stick with the happy verse. I will say this, both verses talk about the weather, which leads me to believe that the songwriter lived in Southern California near the beach.  The Psalmist has called on us to “Praise the Lord” because “happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.” So, are you happy?  There’s another happy song that you may have learned at some point in time. That song invites us to clap...

Entry into the City - John August Swanson Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29  Last Sunday we joined Jesus on the pilgrim trail, marching to Zion and singing  “Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.” As we took this journey toward Zion, we heard the call to sow seeds of kindness in a world filled with anything but kindness. Sowing seeds of kindness might seem like a small and insignificant effort, but when we bring in the harvest and gather up those sheaves of grain and take them to the Temple something powerful could happen. That pilgrim train we joined last Sunday has reached the gates of Zion. It’s Palm Sunday, and Jesus is in the lead. We wave palm branches as we sing “All glory, laud, and honor, to you, Redeemer, King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring!” Yes, “You are a child of Israel, Great David’s greater son; you ride in lowly triumph, Messiah, blessed one!”  Some of us lay our palm b...

Philippians 1:3-11 We entered Advent last Sunday with the choir leading us through the Christmas story in narrative and song. They did us a favor by connecting the biblical story with our contemporary story. They reminded us that the Holy Family ended up as refugees, guided by angels to safety. With that broader story in mind, both ancient and modern, we hear the Advent invitation to prepare ourselves for the Advent that took place some two thousand years in the past and the Advent that is yet to come. The path we are taking will lead to that moment on Christmas Eve when we will hear the message that  Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory, and the one who sustains all things by his word ( Heb. 1:1-4 ). Hearing that message we can join the angels in singing “ Gloria in excelsis Deo ”; “Glory to God in the highest.” Christmas Eve will come soon enough, but there is still more to do before we get there. Last Sunday, we lit the candle of hope, and today we lit the P...

Philippians 3:4b-14 We live in a culture of success.  The more you have and the bigger you build, the better.  Look at sports teams.  The Yankee’s payroll annually stands above 200 million.  They might not always win the World Series, but the owners are willing to pay whatever it costs to win now.  The Dodgers are trying to do the same thing in the National League.  We’ll see if it works out for them.  Or think about Apple.  It’s net worth is greater than that of many countries.  Not only that, but it  currently sits on 137 billion dollars in cash – and growing rapidly.    Jesus points us in a different direction.  For Jesus, life doesn’t consist in an abundance of possessions. Remember the parable he told about the Rich Fool? He told of a man who reaped a huge harvest.  Since his barns couldn’t hold it all, he tore them down and built new ones, so he could sit back and eat, drink, and be merry.   U...

Matthew 5:21-37 As we continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount , having heard the call to be salt and light, and having been told that our righteousness should exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, we’re now confronted with the details. And, as they say, the “devil is in the details.” I chose the title “law and order,” because we often link the two terms together. These are words that everyone seems to understand. In fact, these words are so prominent in our society that they have inspired a series of very popular cop and lawyer TV shows. For most of us law and order means keeping criminals off the street so we can live safe and secure lives. We understand the meaning of these words, but rarely do we apply them to our own lives. As we consider this set of verses from Matthew’s Gospel, the idea of “law and order” seems to move beyond the concerns of the criminal justice system, and begin to speak to our own daily lives. The words we hear in this passage seem har...