It is January! Praise the Lord! Can''t you feel the excitement and energy as we tear off the last page of the 2006 calendar and began the year of 2007? Did I hear someone say, "Baloney? Big deal! So what! Did the preacher come back again from one of those New Life Missions or Spiritual Retreats? Didn''t anybody tell the preacher just because we changed the calendar, we didn''t change the circumstances that existed on December 31?" Greek mythology has the image of "Time" being likened to a person, with long ...
We could spend our sermon time talking with you about John's Christology and how our text indicates Jesus' understanding of his impending death, but after a brief period, I would begin to see in some of your eyes that glazed look that would tell me you had gone off to a faraway place. It's true; this text is about Christology, but a Christology that comes with our names on it too. Says Jesus, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also" (v. 26). Read this to mean: "What ...
It was a Christmas pageant presented by a class of four-year-olds and it was an evening to remember. It began with the three virgin Marys marching out onto the stage. As they stood there, they, of course, were waving to their parents. It’s not every Christmas pageant that has three virgin Marys, but over the years the school had acquired three Mary costumes, and so, quite naturally the script was revised. This gave a chance for more children to be involved and kept down the squabbling over who got the ...
One of the churches where I served was located next to a Jewish synagogue. That synagogue was served by a rabbi who quite typically walked to the synagogue on the Sabbath, though his house was some distance away. It was not that he didn't have a car, but that for him it was improper to drive on the Sabbath, for that constituted work. Sometimes I would see him riding a bicycle to synagogue. I suggested to him that that was a lot more work than simply turning on the ignition in an automobile. He said that ...
In an effort to stimulate their thoughts about the nature of God, I invited a group of teenagers to join me in watching the movie, Oh, God! In the course of the movie, God, in the person of George Burns, has prevailed on Jerry, the assistant manager of a supermarket, played by John Denver, to carry God's message to the world. Toward the end of the film, Jerry is lamenting to God that nobody seems to be listening to the message. He tells God that he thinks that they have failed. But God doesn't see it that ...
A friend tells of his son who asked for a globe of the world as one of his Christmas gifts last year. Of course his parents were pleased to purchase something so useful for their child. So many Christmas lists leave much to be desired! The boy thoroughly enjoyed his gift and kept it on a small table in his bedroom. One evening his parents were discussing the fact that so many of our clothing items are imported from foreign countries. The wife recalled that a recently purchased scarf had come from Sri Lanka ...
Over the centuries rank and file church members have grown up in the presence of stained glass saints. Sanctuary windows throughout Europe and America have featured thousands of them -- monumental, brightly colored portraits of men and women whose lives were right with God. Their faces are placid and trusting. Their heads are often enveloped by golden auras or haloes. All of them were heroes of the faith, either from the Bible or from Christian history. They are spectacular representations of spiritual ...
In a vast field that stretched as far as the eye could see, a great multitude of people milled about waiting for something to happen. Quite unexpectedly a messenger came into the midst of the people and announced, "You are to walk around this field 25 times carrying a baton." The people were a bit mystified by these words and asked, "What will happen when we finish?" "You will learn the answer when you are done," came the reply. So the crowd ambled off to make its first lap of the field. It took almost a ...
A couple came to their local police department, wanting to dispose of some ammunition. They handed the desk officer a wooden box and explained that it contained two bullets an uncle had given them as souvenirs from World War II. "We didn't know what to do with them," the woman explained. "So all these years, we've kept the bullets in the bottom drawer of the china cabinet, away from our children." The officer assured the couple he'd dispose of the bullets safely. But when he took one out of the box the top ...
It is small wonder that the image of the shepherd was frequently upon the lips of the savior. It was a part of his heritage and culture. Abraham, the father of the nation, was the keeper of great flocks. Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, when God called him into a special service. David was a shepherd boy called in from the fields to be the King of Israel. The imagery of the shepherd was also imprinted upon the literature of the day. The 23rd Psalm is frequently referred to as the ...
As most of you know, I don't always preach a thematic sermon for special secular holidays such as the Fourth of July Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's or Father's Day. It's also rare that I preach a sermon on a single theme, such as racism, war, abortion, pornography, poverty. But, hopefully, my sermons address all these pressing issues in the context of Scripture, as that scripture presents itself in the order of my preaching. For you who wonder about that approach to preaching and the fact that we don't ...
Our scripture lesson for our communion meditation is the 24th chapter of Luke. Will you follow me as we hear the word of God, beginning with the 13th verse of the 24th chapter? (Read Luke 24:13-24) Let us pray. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, with all your quickening powers. Come shed abroad a savior’s love and that will quicken ours. Amen. A few weeks ago, I shared with you a story of a Benedictine monk who is a friend of mine. Now I want you to know that I do have some protestant friends, but I want to ...
The text for the message this morning, along with the scripture lesson that has already been read is from the Book of Romans, the 12th chapter. Its one of those signal passages in the New Testament that many of you know by heart. The first two verses of the 12th chapter. This is the word of the Lord. I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, who is your spiritual worship. And be not conformed to the ...
Our scripture lesson for the message today comes from the 45th chapter of the Book of Genesis. I’m beginning with the 4th and ready through the 20th verses. Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me I pray you, and they came near. And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life, for the famine has been in the land these two years and there are yet five years in ...
Will you hear the word of the Lord as found in the third chapter of the Book of Acts, the first ten verses? “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer. The 9th hour, and a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of those who entered the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms, and Peter directed his gaze at him with John and said, ‘look at us,’ and he fixed ...
Sometime ago there appeared a cartoon in The New Yorker magazine which depicted that dramatic story in the Old Testament of Moses' parting the Red Sea and the Israelites passing through on dry land. Actually, the moment depicted in the cartoon is when the water has been parted and the Israelites are moving swiftly through the passage. Moses is irritated because, obviously, someone has said something to him, so he replies to the man next to him, "Of course, it's damp underfoot, but that strikes me as a ...
As most of you know, I don't always preach a thematic sermon for special secular holidays such as the Fourth of July Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's or Father's Day. It's also rare that I preach a sermon on a single theme, such as racism, war, abortion, pornography, poverty. But, hopefully, my sermons address all these pressing issues in the context of Scripture, as that scripture presents itself in the order of my preaching. For you who wonder about that approach to preaching and the fact that we don't ...
I read a story recently about a man who went into a bus station in Athens, Georgia to buy a ticket to Greenville, South Carolina. As he paid for his ticket, the clerk said, "The bus is a bit behind schedule. Have a seat, and it will be along shortly." As the man sat down, he noticed one of those novelty machines that purports to tell you everything about yourself. He thought it might be interesting, so he pumped in a quarter. The machine whirred and buzzed a bit, and out came a slip of paper: "Your name is ...
Some time ago I came across a letter which expressed an idea with which I want to begin today. The letter was from a college student to her parents. She said: Dear Mom and Dad: I'm sorry that it has been such a long time since my last letter, but I didn't want to bother you with the fire in the dormitory and the concussion I received falling out the window trying to escape. I want you to know how nice the young service station attendant around the corner was. He provided me comfort all the time that I ...
"Bishop Fitzgerald in his book How to be A Successful Failure tells a fascinating story about a young man (barely twenty years old) who was caught one day "stealing sheep." He was charged and convicted. As a penalty, the villagers decided to make an example out of him. They took a branding iron and branded his forehead with the letters "ST"...meaning of course, "Sheep Thief." The brand was permanent and a constant source of shame to the young man. Penitent, he turned to God. He asked God for forgiveness. ...
"Have you been writing any personal experience articles lately?", the woman asked the writer. "No," replied the writer. "I've been busy having them." (Ruth Peterman, quoted by Melody Beattie, Beyond Co-Dependency and Getting Better All The Time, Harper & Rowe Publishers, p. xi) Most of us have been having the personal experience I'm talking about today. We may not talk about it a lot, and we certainly may not write about it -- but it's a common experience. I'm talking about co-dependency. Let me begin by ...
There is a classic story of a Russian countess who sits in the theater on a cold, winter night. Her emotions are played upon by the sad scene depicted on stage -- so much so that she sheds copious tears. Meanwhile, outside, her coachman is shivering in the cold as he awaits to take her home. She allows the emotion of pity to be excited by an imaginary scene, but refuses to allow pity to play on the chords of her daily life in relation to her driver. The Proverbs will play on the cords of our daily life if ...
Peter Ustinov is one of the great actors of our day. I don't know much about him, but I was impressed by an interview of some years ago during the filming of the movie, "Death on the Nile". He was talking about the images actors have to live with. An image is an awful thing, he said. An actor says, "I'm going to do this or that." And someone will say, "What about your image?" Ustinov said, "I don't know what my image is, I don't want to know." And then he continued, "It is a sad state when the man looking ...
It's amazing what we do with funny stories. We apply them to whomever we wish. For instance, you might hear one funny story with the legendary coach Bear Bryant as the primary actor. When you hear it again, the primary actor may be Johnny Majors. I heard a marvelous story sometime ago about Thomas Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company -- in fact, he told the story on himself. Lately I've been hearing it about President Clinton. So the story goes with the new ...
A woman sued her husband for divorce. She told the judge she had nagged and nagged, but she couldn't get him to do right. The judge wondered if she had tried using kindness. Referring to the biblical passage, which says that when we show kindness to our enemy it is like heaping "burning coals on his head," he asked her if she had tried heaping coals on his head. She answered, "No, but I don't think it will work. I already tried scalding water and that didn't do any good." I'm not sure this woman understood ...