Sermons

November 20, 2016

Reign of Christ (Christ the King) Sunday

Keeping your eyes on the prize…….don‘t be fooled by appearances.  Luke 23: 33-43.

Good morning.  This is the last Sunday before Advent and is known as Christ the King Sunday.  On this day I would like to speak to you about death, my mother’s death that is and what it taught me about her and to connect this lesson to today’s gospel from Luke.

That Luke’s gospel about Jesus death is read on the last Sunday before advent creates a symmetry of sorts.  The journey from birth to death is complete and we begin again next week with pre-birth of Jesus.  In spite of this symmetry, today’s gospel seems a little odd for Christ the King Sunday.  As the gospel begins we find Jesus hanging on the cross between two thieves….low lives.  Not where you would expect to find a king, right?  This disconnect of our expectations and the reality is evidence that our expectations don’t do much for us as predictors. More about that later….

November 13, 2016 Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost  Larry offered his reflections around the theme  “Accepting What Is.” His full text is not available, but he concluded as follows: “I may not be here for the rest of your lives, but I will love you guys for the rest of mine.”  

November 6, 2016

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

 The Call Statement of Seekers says that citizenship matters. This is a sermon concerning  Christian faith grounding for citizenship.

This is the worst presidential campaign I remember and my memory goes back to cheering for Adlai Stevenson against Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

I’m glad Paul, Keith, and Peter are hosting the School of Christian Living Class that provide opportunities to process our feelings and concerns. And yes, I think there is a lot to worry about however the results turn out.

I didn’t like the Lectionary readings for today. The best I can say for them is that they reflect anxiety, fear, and lust for revenge. The theme that God will provide a Judgment Day against all enemies both foreign and domestic seems to mirror a lot of the feelings going around in this election. I take the readings as a problem statement for this sermon.

This sermon takes on an issue that has been identified in several polls as the highest issue of concern for both Republican and Democrat voters: the economic situation in the United States. You can think of this sermon as an unlikely model for the debates and ads the candidates might have had.

October 30, 2016 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost  Michele Frome, who served as liturgist for this Sunday, offered the following “Remarks for Remembrance” as an introduction to our Remembrance Ritual which served in lieu of a sermon. We come now to our time for remembering and honoring the saints – not just any saints, but our saints, those deceased loved ones who are especially close to our hearts and souls at this time. The Christian Church has been observing All Saints Day on or around November 1 for many, many centuries. Why do we observe this ancient tradition?  Why do we honor our loved ones who have passed, and why do we do it in community – in our church community?  I offer 3 reasons. First, we still love these people.  We want to display our love publically. Second, we are mortal.  In remembering them, we remind ourselves that this is not our permanent address. Third, because of the mystery – the unfathomable mystery of the risen Christ, the mystery that makes us both mortal and immortal, in unity with those who have gone before and those yet to come. Now I invite you to come forward, as the spirit moves…

October 23, 2016

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost

I picked today to preach because I just love the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector.  I have been thinking about it since smacked me in the face three years ago when Luke was last featured in the lectionary.  That that year, like this year, I heard the following line read aloud:  “The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.’” Then he enumerates to himself all of the ways in which he is such a righteous man.  While he is congratulating himself, a tax collector is beating his breast and berating himself, begging for God’s mercy, not even daring to stand near the Pharisee or to show his face to God.  Tax collectors were despised by the Jews because they worked for the Romans.  But which man received God’s grace and mercy?  It was the tax collector, not the Pharisee.  When I heard this, three years ago, I immediately said to myself, “Thank God I am not like that Pharisee!”