Sermons

February 19, 2017

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

With the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States we have moved into a dark and dangerous moment for the world. Trump’s victory was legitimate. I read his campaign and the first month of his actions as a threat to justice and peace within the United States and around the world. It is unclear to me how long this dark moment will last, and unclear how much damage is likely to be done.

It is time to pay attention to our fears. For example, I share Paul Krugman’s fear that Trump is hoping to provoke a terrorist attack by Muslims as an excuse for starting a big anti-Muslim crusade as a path to increasing his popularity. The example of George W. Bush lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and starting a war is a threatening example. The political result of Bush’s lies and actions was that his favorability ratings shot up to 90 percent after he began his presidency with a low favorability rating after losing the popular vote and gaining the presidency with a Supreme Court ruling over hanging chads in Florida. Trump’s defensiveness about his favorability ratings tells us how much he cares about them.

February 12, 2017

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Street Sense offered the word this Sunday. Street Sense elevates voices on poverty issues and creates economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. With support from Roy Barber and Leslie Jacobson, a group of Street Sense vendors told their stories in song and spoken word. Street Sense is also a biweekly newspaper sold on the street by the vendors as a means of support.

February 5, 2017

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

The information desk at Terminal B at National Airport was surrounded by police officers.  No one else, really – you would have thought they were preparing a law enforcement rally rather than providing security for a protest against Trump’s anti-refugee and -immigration orders.  But this was at 5:30, a half hour before the scheduled start time of the rally.  Since we were early, Katie and I walked a few hundred yards down the concourse to get a vegan hot dog at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Ben’s was crowded with police too.  They seemed to be from a variety of jurisdictions: state, TSA, county.  All of them were large, bulked up with weapons.  Katie found their presence deeply upsetting.  It was the country we now lived in, she said: authority mobilized against the people.  I couldn’t disagree, but to me the individual cops seemed as puzzled as we were about exactly why all of us were here.  What is supposed to be the point of a “protest rally”?  What is the danger?  Who is watching?

January 29, 2017

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Micah 61-8.     1 Corinthians 1:18-31          Matthew 5 1-12

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.]

So it’s 2017 and we look ahead to the New Year. Now’s a time when many of us think about expectations and plans. One of my seminary professors used to constantly ask in his Ethics class, “How would we view this issue from the perspective of the afterlife?” So what is important for you and for me in 2017, from the perspective of the afterlife?   If we could view our lives this year from a perspective of 20, 40, or 100 years from now, what is actually important?   (Ponder that question for a minute)

January 22, 2017

Third Sunday after Epiphany

Today the young people from Bokamoso again joined us, bringing us songs and stories from their lives in Winterveld, South Africa. 

There is no text, but only our joyous memories of their visit and our anticipation of their return next year.