... . The printing press made the Bible available to people on a wide scale and gave them something to think about. No longer were the clergy the sole keepers of knowledge. As lay people began to study and ponder the Bible, they discovered their place in the priesthood of Christ. As one of my seminary professors once said, "Once people wise up, they never wise down." After all, the truth sets people free. At least we would hope so. The fact is, the word "truth" is a loaded term for the Gospel of John. John says ...
"We are all priests." These are the words of Martin Luther. But he did not invent this revolutionary idea. He discovered it in the Bible. When the Bible says, "You are a royal priesthood" and "He made us to be priests," it is not speaking about ordination but about every Christian man and woman. In rediscovering the gospel, Luther also rediscovered the principal means by which the gospel operates, the priesthood of all believers. What does it mean to be a priest? It means to be consecrated to serve. That ...
If I asked you this morning to name the most significant doctrines of Protestant Christianity, the two that would come to your mind immediately and would probably be named most frequently are: Justification by Grace through Faith, and the Priesthood of All Believers. This year we are celebrating the 500th birthday of Martin Luther, the fellow started the conflagration of religious revival and reformation that swept throughout the world and there has hardly been a time since that reformation started when ...
The priesthood of all believers is a topic highly talked about, but too rarely practiced. It has become no more than theological jargon with little or no meaning. Yet, we like Israel, are entitled to be a nation of priests. All of us, whether clergy or lay, share in an ordination by God to be priests. All persons who believe in Jesus the Christ are a part of this priestly nation. But, what constitutes a priest? How can I know whether I am a priest? The Bible dictionary informs us that, “The New Testament ...
When we come to church, we usually do not come primarily to learn about doctrine. We come to find inspiration, to lay our hurts at the altar, and to draw strength from the fellowship. Doctrine can seem kind of dry. Doctrine causes arguments and who needs more of those? The book of Hebrews has been committed to the idea that a proper understanding of doctrine sustains our faith and keeps us from drifting away from it. Our passage for today has something important to say about how we understand Christ, and ...
On a warm and sunny early June day in 1943, John Francis Laboon, "Jake" to his friends, stood with his Naval Academy classmates on Warden Field; it was graduation day. These men were the class of 1944, but because of World War II raging in both the Pacific and European theaters, and thus need of their presence in the fleet, the class was "accelerated" one year in its training. A rough and tumble young man from the steel town of Pittsburgh, Jake had come to the academy in the summer of 1940. He excelled in ...
"We do not know where they have laid him" ... Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I am about to ascend to my Father." (John 20:2b, 17a) You may remember the television program "To Tell The Truth." Three people would come out, all claiming to be the same person. After the panel had interviewed all three and everyone had decided who the imposters were, the host would intone dramatically: "Will the real John Doe, please stand up!" Then everyone waited with baited breath as each contestant stirred as if to ...
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. (Luke 21:28) What are you? If I asked you that question right now, you might come up with many different answers. You might say, "I am a wife," or a husband, a mother or a father, a grandmother or grandfather. You might say, "I am someone's son," or daughter, or a brother or sister to so-and-so. In other words, you might define yourself in terms of your family relationships or other relationships which are important to you. You might say, "I am Italian- ...
A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?" "You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today." The little boy replied, " Aw Shucks! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!" We begin Holy Week celebrating Christ’s presence in Jerusalem. We have been prepared by ...
Once upon a time long ago a young man decided to become a saint. He left his home, family, and possessions and journeyed into the hot sands of the desert where he eventually found a dark cave. He thought, "I can find God here. I will be alone and nothing will disturb me." He prayed day and night in the cave, but God sent him many temptations. He imagined all the good things in life and wanted them desperately, but he was determined to give up everything and be with God alone. After many months, the ...
There were five kings; joined together to fight for their independence. There was King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela. For the past twelve years, those kings had served the King of Elam, Chedorlaomer. They each ruled their own countries, but they each paid Chedorlaomer for the privilege to do it. Not any longer — the five kings brought their armies together in the Valley of Siddim near the Dead Sea and prepared to fight for their ...
There’s an old story about a small church out in a rural area that needed a pastor to fill in for a time. So they contacted a nearby seminary. The seminary sent a student who had never been outside of the city. When he arrived at the church, the student preacher was shocked to see a hound dog seated on the second row next to the church’s lay leader, a crotchety older man who was known to run off young student pastors. In a heat of righteous indignation the young preacher headed straight toward the dog. He ...
Last week we looked at one image of the church, that of a circle of grace—God seeking, claiming and sustaining us. Today, another image, taken from St. Peter's letter to the early Christians of what is now Turkey, Asia Minor—a "peculiar people." A dictionary definition of "peculiar" says: "Out of the ordinary, strange, odd, unusual." You might say "just plain weird." I preached a sermon by that title in Ann Arbor in the fall. Little did I know that we had visitors from Birmingham, and I suppose I will ...
Come with me to Christ's last night on earth and the greatest prayer ever prayed under heaven! It is also the longest prayer we have from Jesus. As we read the gospel of John, we see Jesus' grace demonstrated in saving sinners. We see his compassionate heart as he brings healing to sick people and food to the hungry. We meet his power revealed in raising the dead. There is no more heartening book in all scripture than this gospel. Every chapter is given for our benefit. In this book we find the love of God ...
"but whoever would be great among you must be your servant." - Matthew 20:26b Augustine wrote: "So deep has human pride sunk us that only divine humility can raise us." This point was not lost on St. Martin, the famous soldier-saint of France. The story goes that one day he was praying and there appeared to him a figure robed like a king with a jeweled crown and gold-embroidered shoes. The voice said to him: "Martin, recognize him whom you see. I am Christ. I am about to descend to the earth and I am ...
Our Scripture lesson today is from the 2nd chapter of I Peter. “So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. Like new born babes, long for the pure Spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation, for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Come to him to that living stone rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious. And like living stones, be yourself built into a spiritual house. Be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God ...
Some of you have known me long enough to know that one of my favorite theologians is Charles Schultz, the artist who gave us the wonderful Peanuts cartoons. In one of my favorite cartoons, Lucy comes storming into the room and demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a ...
Some of you have known me long enough to know that one of my favorite theologian is Charles Schultz, the artist who gave us the wonderful Peanuts cartoons. In one of my favorite cartoons, Lucy comes storming into the room and demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single ...
In my convocation address I shared with you the fact that I am preoccupied these days with the nature of the church – and the nature of Christian discipleship. Maybe my preoccupation with the church is triggered by the struggles going on in my own denomination – the United Methodist Church. The truth of the matter is, these struggles are going on in all mainline churches. Schism is a threat – I struggle with questions like when or does a person ever have enough reason to leave the church of which he is a ...
“We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God….”2 Corinthians 6:3-4a “He said, therefore, to the crowds who came to be baptised by him, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruits….”Luke 3:7-8a The congregation of which I am a member encourages its members to celebrate their baptismal anniversaries every year by ...
Several men were dressing in the locker room of an exclusive health club. A cell phone sitting on one of the benches began to ring. A man picked it up and the following conversation ensued: "Hello?" "Honey, it's me." "Sugar!" "Are you at the club?" "Yes." "Great! I am at the mall two blocks from where you are. I saw a beautiful mink coat . . . It is absolutely gorgeous!! Can I buy it?" "What's the price?" "Only $1,500.00." "Well, OK, go ahead and get it, if you like it that much . . ." "Ahhh, and I also ...
Some of you are familiar with the off-beat humor of Jack Handey. I have a list of "Deep Thoughts" allegedly written by young people, ages four to fifteen, who were asked to write their thoughts in Jack Handey's style. Some of them are hilarious in a bizarre kind of way. Here's one by a youngster aged 10: My young brother asked me what happens after we die. I told him we get buried under a bunch of dirt and worms eat our bodies. I guess I should have told him the truth--that most of us go to Hell and burn ...
The weeklong pastor's training event was about halfway through its course and the pastor coordinating the event was enjoying her break with a leisurely stroll across the grounds. But what began as a beautiful leisurely spring day soon turned somewhat anxious when she returned to her room and found a message taped to her door, "Call the bishop's assistant as soon as possible." She spent part of the afternoon playing phone tag between class sessions. "Whatever could it be?" she pondered. The week was flowing ...
It is always the longest, most solidly stocked stacks in any bookstore — the “self help” nonfiction section. Maybe it’s a holdover from the old American adage of “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.” We’ll use some “self-help” suggestions offered by others only as long as we get to pick and choose what kind of help we’ll consider acceptable, only as long as we are still ultimately in charge of the direction and duration that the “help” we seek takes. “Self help” books, whether they are focused on ...
When I was out three years ago trying to raise eleven million dollars for building expansion and renovations, a member of this congregation gave me a brick. She didn't throw it at me even though she might have felt like it. She discreetly handed it to me after a meeting saying, "As we forge into the future let us not forget the past." You see, the brick came out of our old building on Church Street and she had kept it all of these years. I don't plan to keep it. I plan to put it in the archives being ...