"Mail Early" is a slogan we often see and hear during these Advent days. The Postal Service would like the four billion Christmas cards sent annually in America in the mail by this second Sunday in Advent. American families send Christmas greetings costing an average of 35 cents per card plus a 32 cent stamp to send it. This amounts to a cost of $2.68 billion. That is a tremendous amount of money, time and trouble invested in just sending season's greetings to friends and families. What message could be ...
“ ‘It was I who taught Ephraim how to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them’ (11:3). They did not know me. Do you? “‘I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.’ (1:4). But they did not know me. Do you? “I fashioned a world in love, bringing forth order from chaos and light from darkness. I filled the seas and the land and the air with life. As the climax of my ...
In the Sundays of the Epiphany we are reminded in our worship how God continually reveals God’s Person. That, of course, is done most clearly in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to be one of us. Today the emphasis of the Lessons is on how God is revealed in the Word. In the Holy Gospel, Jesus himself points out how he is revealed in the word, or the word is revealed in him, but the people do not seem to understand. That is always a problem in communication. The words can be ever so clear, but ...
Noah. We learned all about him and the flood in Sunday School. Our kids learned about him this week in Vacation Bible School. Those in my generation had the picture filled in even more vividly about 35 years ago by that wonderful preacher, Bill Cosby. Remember? Cosby has Noah working around the house, down in his rec room, doing a little remodeling...Voobah, voobah, voobah...when a voice comes: "NOAH!" "Somebody call?" Voobah, voobah, voobah. "NOAH!" "Who is it?" "It's the Lord, Noah." "RIGHT...What do you ...
In all of scripture, and even in all of literature, you would be hard pressed to find a character more interesting than Jacob. We meet him first before he is even born - his mother Rebekah is in such agony during her pregnancy carrying him and his twin brother that she wants to die. When the babies finally make their appearance, little Esau comes out first, but his brother is holding on to his heel, and, as the legend has it, that is why he was given the name Jacob - it meant "heel" or "trickster" or " ...
Sexy story, eh? We get lots of them these days. Parental Discretion Advised. In the comics Blondie and Dagwood are watching television. Dagwood remarks, "Boy, there sure is a lot of nudity on TV lately!" "I'll say," Blondie replies. They continue to stare at the TV, eyes wide open. Says Dagwood, "Darnedest tire commercial I've ever seen."(1) Uh-huh. If it is any consolation, as our lessons this morning indicate, a preoccupation with sex is nothing new, especially in high places. And if you were either ...
English mystery writer Dorothy Sayers was also a lay theologian in the Church of England. In one of her books she discussed the difficulty a missionary to the Orient had in trying to explain the Trinity. As you know, one of the symbols for the Holy Spirit is a descending dove. The Oriental gentleman, lost in the maze of theology, said: "Honorable Father I understand. Honorable Son I understand. Honorable bird I don't understand at all!" He is not alone! George Bernard Shaw once said that all professions ...
You may be familiar with Peter Jenkins, author of such best selling books as Walk Across America. Jenkins tells of the night he was converted to Christ. He was attending a huge revival in Alabama. "I didn’t understand all that these people were saying about what had just happened between God and me," he recalled. "Born again...," "Saved...," "The Lord led you here tonight...," "Praise the Lord...," "Well, God finally’s got you away from the Devil...," "Ain’t God good?" were words that Peter Jenkins heard ...
Churches celebrate Palm Sunday in different ways. At one church the people meet in a room beneath the sanctuary. When everyone is ready they emerge through a side door to process around the outside of the church. Joining in the procession are people waving palm leaves, others playing musical instruments, including the bagpipes, others shouting and singing, "Hosanna." This celebration has become an important tradition in their church. One year when Dr. Walter Bruggemann was pastor, he and the rest of the ...
Will Rodgers had a reputation that he could make anyone laugh. President Calvin Coolidge had a reputation that he never laughed at anything. Finally, Will Rodgers was invited to the White House. People wondered what would happen. Both men's reputations were at stake. It is said that Will Rodgers came through the reception line and was introduced to the President. "President Coolidge, this is Will Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers, this is President Calvin Coolidge." Will Rodgers leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry, I ...
"I've got some good news and some bad news to tell you. Which would you like to hear first?" the farmer asked. "Why don't you tell me the bad news first?" the banker replied. "Okay," said the farmer, "With the bad drought and inflation and all, I won't be able to pay anything on my mortgage this year, either on the principal or the interest." "Well, that is pretty bad," said the banker. "It gets worse," said the farmer. "I also won't be able to pay anything on the loan for all that machinery I bought, not ...
Two country boys, Zeke and Zeb, decided to build a Bungee Jumping tower down in Mexico to see if it would make them some money. After they got it set up, they noticed that the crowds gathered around but nobody was buying tickets. Zeke said to Zeb, "Maybe you should demonstrate it to them so they get the idea." After Zeb was strapped on he jumped and fell almost to the ground before springing back. As he came back up Zeke noticed that Zeb's clothes were torn and wondered what that was all about. Zeb went ...
Humorist Robert Orben says that when he was in grade school, he was told if he wanted to get a good job he had to graduate from high school. So he went to high school. When he was in high school, he was told that to get a good job he had to go to college. So he went to college. When he was just about to graduate, he was told everybody had a bachelor's degree, and to get a really good job, he had to get a master's degree. So he got his master's. Then he was told that a master's degree would take him only so ...
Dr. David Jeremiah tells about a suburban neighborhood in which several residents were extremely upset at the reckless and fast driving that was occurring in their quiet subdivision. They organized a petition drive and demanded that the police patrol the area with greater frequency and penalize drivers who ignored the speed limits. The police obliged and immediately ticketed five drivers who ignored the speed limits. All of them were fuming at the fines they received. It seems, however, that all five of ...
English mystery writer Dorothy Sayers was also a lay theologian in the Church of England. In one of her books she discussed the difficulty a missionary to the Orient had in trying to explain the Trinity. As you know, one of the symbols for the Holy Spirit is a descending dove. We just sang the hymn: “Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove.” The Oriental gentleman, lost in the maze of theology, said: “Honorable Father I understand. Honorable Son I understand. Honorable bird I do not understand at all!” He is not ...
My children and grandchildren introduced me to that delightful little comic strip Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson. In one strip, Calvin is lying on a hillside, next to his stuffed tiger Hobbes, pondering the meaning of life. He asks: I wonder where we go when we die. They lie there for a few moments, and then Hobbes replies, Pittsburgh? In the last panel, Calvin asks, You mean if were good or if were bad? A day or two before he died, William Saroyan said to his friends, “Everybody has got to die; but I ...
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:22) What strange words are these! Especially the part where Jesus says, “If I had not come...” What would it be like, I wonder, if Christ had not come? Would it really make that much difference? Are we right in dating all human history from the birth of Christ, so that everything that has happened before He came is called “B.C.” (before Christ) and everything that has happened since then is ...
The story of "Wrong Way Riegels" is a familiar one, but it bears repeating. On New Year’s Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In that game a young man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for UCLA. Picking up the loose ball, he lost his direction and ran sixty-five yards toward the wrong goal line. One of his teammates, Benny Lom, ran him down and tackled him just before he reached the end zone. The Bruins were forced to punt. Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, demoralizing the ...
For me, no appearance on the first Sunday after Easter is more vivid or beautiful than the scripture lesson shared by the Gospel writer Luke of the episode that takes place on the Road to Emmaus. S. MacLean Gilmore describes it "as a story of singular grace and charm." As our Gospel lesson begins we see that Cleopas and an unnamed disciple are leaving behind the bitter memories of Jerusalem and are walking to the Village of Emmaus. As they walk they begin to review the series of events that had taken place ...
Did you hear the story, from a month or so ago, about former President George Bush and the question of identity? According to one of the writers for the San Francisco Chronicle, President Bush, in his visit last month to Florida to survey the hurricane damage, evidently decided to get in a little campaigning, too. He visited a local nursing home and approached a little old lady sitting in a corner and asked, "Do you know who I am?" The woman said,"No, but if you go over to the desk, they''re usually able ...
I open with two powerful stories today demonstrating conflict. "Two main roads swept out of Jericho--one north, the other south. At the moment, Jesus was standing at the outskirts of the town. From St. Mark''s simple record, we gather that some big emotion seemed to grip and possess him...He looked this way and He looked that. His soul was plainly in a great torment. "Which of these two ways would he take?... "One road, sloping gently to the north, recalled to Jesus many gracious memories of his distant ...
I have had the privilege of seeing the play, Fiddler on the Roof--both on Broadway and in a variety of other settings. It is a very moving and memorable play. The play begins with the "fiddler" balancing on a steep rooftop in the village playing his fiddle. The main character, Tevye, points to him and suggests that the fiddler symbolizes all the people of the village. Yes, that does certainly describe us as a people. Trying to balance family, careers, hobbies, church, faith and a host of other things. ...
A lecturer was talking about what he called "the most dangerous road in the world." Most people in the audience began to think of a journey into the African jungle, or facing shipwreck going through the Straits of Magellan. The lecturer explained: "More and more books are being sold about escaping prison with a toothpick or journeying up the Amazon on stilts. But the most dangerous journey is the journey of our everyday living. It is dangerous because it ends, for all of us, in death!" Not a very pleasant ...
Our reading this morning is the first eight verses of the 12th chapter of Romans. This is that marvelous beginning section of Romans, when Paul, having made his theological statement, having spelled out in a very clear and beautiful way his whole understanding of justification by faith, comes now to offer those practical instructions that we are to receive if we’re going to live the Christian life. This is the word of the Lord. “I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God, that you ...
Now I’m aware of the fact that it is Mother’s day. But I’m not going to preach a traditional Mother’s Day sermon. In the early days of the Methodist Church, as a part of worship, the preacher not only preached a sermon, he usually exhorted the congregation. An exhortation is different from preaching, so just to let you know I know it is Mother’s Day before I preach I want to exhort you for a moment. There’s a marvelous verse of scripture in II Timothy, the 1st chapter, the 5th verse. Paul is writing to ...