Way back in my first semester of seminary (that seems like 30 or 40 years ago, but it was only 1989), in a course titled Introduction to the New Testament, the professor made a comment that stuck in my mind. It hadn’t occurred to me before. He said the Gospel of Matthew was the "most Jewish" of the four gospels. What he meant by that was that the writer of Matthew consistently, tirelessly quotes the Hebrew scripture to demonstrate, or prove, to his readers that Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of ...
Characters: Moses John the Baptist Narrator Theme: Humility Narrator: At one point in their career, the disciples asked Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" We suppose they were hoping Jesus' answer would be, "Why, you, of course. You who gave up everything to follow me." Instead Jesus called to him a child and told the disciples, "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the ...
In his book with the catchy title, It Was on Fire when I Laid Down on It, author and ordained minister Robert Fulghum relates a story from his early years in ministry. Fulghum writes that on the Sunday prior to Mother’s Day one year, a member of his congregation approached him and said, "Now preacher, far be it from me (those words almost always spell trouble!) far be it from me to tell you what to preach about. But next Sunday is Mother’s Day, and my MOTHER will be here next Sunday, since it is MOTHER’S ...
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (verse 1) A gong has always impressed me as an almost unnecessary instrument. Each time a musician slams into one with a mallet to achieve the dull, disconcerting clash, I fully expect a secret passage to appear, or an oriental servant to fawn onto the stage. Cymbals provide slightly more flexible, functional accents of emphasis. However, both the gong and the cymbal produce but a single monotonous tone ...
"Now then," Joshua continued, "honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord." A family moved to a new city where the father's company had transferred him. This ...
Text: John 2:5 - His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' Talk about hang-ups! All you have to do is read this Gospel narrative that was read today, the narrative of the first miracle that Jesus performed, the changing of the water into wine, and you immediately produce two groups that have hang-ups. The first is, of course, made up of pietistic teetotalers. We're confronted by the fact - the undeniable fact - that Jesus provided alcoholic beverage for a party where the supply was ...
A rather well-known evangelist used to send a team of workers to visit the cities included on his tour to prepare for his arrival and the subsequent revival meeting in advance. These people were well trained; they knew exactly what to do. One of them was in charge of publicity, and as soon as he was on the scene he would call a press conference, arrange for interviews with the local radio and television stations, and contact leaders of churches that intended to sponsor the evangelistic crusade. Another ...
"Glory" is a major word in John's Gospel. At the very beginning, in what scholars call the prologue, we are told "we beheld his glory," and then the rest of the Gospel shows how it was done. This past Thursday we celebrated the feast of the Ascension, that occasion which emphasizes the glorification of Christ - he has been raised above all things and is Lord of all. Today in the Gospel we stand between events, for we are listening to Jesus pray on the night before his death, and he is already speaking of ...
"Is my way not just?" (v. 25) Prayer: O Lord, keep us from making hasty judgments until all the facts are in. Then let us temper our judgments with mercy, as you do to us. Amen Husbands and wives were invited to a Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the local Kiwanis Club. After the opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, one woman remarked, "I don’t think I’ve said the Pledge of Allegiance since I was in grade school." Many of us have learned the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in elementary school. ...
On this Maundy Thursday let us ponder again the Cross of Christ our Savior and its consequences for us all. One way to approach such a task as this is to direct our thinking to two washings that take place in connection with the passion of Christ. The first one is described by the Evangelist Matthew: So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man ‘s blood, see to it yourselves." ( ...
Object: A burglar's mask and a flashlight. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever seen a robbery on TV? It sounds kind of exciting, doesn't it? (Let them answer.) The burglar knows that he is wrong, doesn't he? (Let them answer.) He sure does. He doesn't want anyone to know that it is he who is making the robbery. Some robbers even wear masks to hide their faces so that no one will recognize them. (Put on the mask.) But most of all, they like to do their robbing at night. (Take out the ...
... and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6) During the last five years my wife and I have found out what every other parent in all of human history has found out: children bring changes to your life. In fact, children take life as you’ve known it and turn it upside down. In his book, Fatherhood, Bill Cosby asks just one question of those who want to have children: Why? "Why would you have children when all your other acts were rational?" Why would you give up the comfortable patterns of your life ...
I will always remember the immortal words of Flip Wilson’s "Geraldine:" "The devil made me do it!" She said those words with a gleam in her eye which let you know just how enjoyable yielding to temptation really was. Temptation has come on hard times in our day. It has come to mean little more than resistance to a hot-fudge sundae when you are on a diet, or turning down a piece of chocolate cake. At most, resisting temptation seems to mean no more than the self-discipline it takes to stay away from ...
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and he set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold ...
The sermon is based on the words of Stephen recorded in the 7th chapter of Acts, beginning at the 59th verse: "And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting to his death." It takes quite some imagination to go way back - back to the time when persons could be legally stoned to death on the street. In this country of ...
For the key verse in this Scripture reading, like best the King James Version: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." No! Not everything that happens in life is good (much of it is very bad). But when you add all the happenings of life together and look at the whole of life, for the person who has faith in God, for the person who loves God and shares the love of God, that life is good. The whole of life, its ups and downs, are good when we see them interrelated in a ...
Not long after we moved to Memphis, a little child in our church sent us a kind note of welcome. In it she said, "I know you miss the ocean. I hope you like the river." Indeed we do. When I gaze out upon the mighty Mississippi I can almost see Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on a raft. I visualize romantic paddle-wheelers and riverboat gamblers, though it seems that the gamblers have anchored south of here. I hear again those deep plaintive lyrics from "Showboat" extolling that stoic "Old Man River." Surely most ...
A profusion of gifts stacked neatly under a green tree is one of the visions of Christmas. To young and old alike the fancy wrappings keep the real gifts hidden from the eyes of the would-be-beholders. If only the gifts could jump forth from the wrappings they would be free for us to enjoy! However that burst of freedom must wait until the signal is given; whether it be on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day morning. Then they are unwrapped, unbound, set loose. And what a grand time it is when that which is ...
It is impossible to go through life without being criticized. If you try to accomplish something, you will be criticized. If you are satisfied to loaf, you will be criticized for that. I heard about a department store that made a big fuss over its millionth customer. The store president made a speech in her honor. She was given gifts. Her picture was taken for the paper. After these ceremonies, the customer continued to her original destination – the complaint department. If anyone ever received lots of ...
At the end of a week-long retreat in a mountain camp setting a somewhat different kind of worship service was taking place. It was at the end of a day that had been set aside for introspection and talking about feelings of self-worth. There had been some discussion about how to deal with feelings of guilt and the need to feel forgiven, and how it is often easier to forgive someone else than to forgive oneself. Since this was a retreat of church people there was frequent reference to the forgiving nature of ...
Jesus' use of parables is his way of communicating a striking truth with significant love. In my own journey as a Christian person, the most amazing quality of God which has been so instructive to me, is that He approaches us with equal doses of love and truth. How different He is than us. When I see someone in error and that error has personally hurt me, I go for that person's jugular, to deliver the truth, but little or no love accompanies it. Hence, the person becomes defensive and flatly refuses the ...
Sarah was five years old. She had lived all her life in a little village in Galilee, six miles from the shore of the great Sea. She had never been farther away than the olive tree grove, a long stone’s throw from the last house of the small community. But then, Sarah was only five. She lived with her grandfather who was unofficial rabbi for the twenty families of the village. Her grandfather, by his knowledge of the scripture, was the source for understanding the Hebrew law. Sarah’s town was distant from ...
The Israelites were nomads. They lived in tents and when the time came to seek new grazing land they moved herds and houses at the same time. What they did for a living and how they lived were beautifully adapted to each other. After receiving the covenant of the Ten Commandments, Moses set aside one tent where the tribes would meet with God and remember and renew the covenant relationship. This was called the "Tent of Meeting," and it contained the Ark of the Covenant. It was "... a tent of meeting before ...
INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lecturn by the introducer or narrator.] Of all the persons involved and related to the Advent, the coming, of Christ, there is one who is the "forgotten man" of the Nativity. Even the great artists of the world, many of whom have lavished their imagination upon the scene of the Nativity, have been content to make him part of the dark backgrounds of their paintings. Yet, this man was much more than just a piece of fleshly furniture. As his wife, Mary, was chosen ...
I am a hard-working innkeeper. It has taken many years to gain my stature in this community. So often, just as success was close, some unforseen event would snatch it from me. The great sickness that took our savings and first-born, and forced our selling everything. The journey to the healing waters. Then came the winds, cursedly cutting apart the town, tearing down everything as it blew for days out of the desert. Then the Roman legions forged a march through our town, and in their superior ways stole ...