Staying Peaceful in the Crowd
Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14 This is a difficult parable isn’t it? The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who when people don’t show up to his son’s wedding and some of them even shoot the messenger, he becomes enraged and sends homeland security to kill them and burn their cities. Then he sends out his slaves again to invite people to his feast and having seen what happened to the first group of guests, everyone shows up. Now we…
Live the Antidote
Don’t you love the so-called “comfortable words”, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I often wonder what was in the minds of those who created the lectionary. Why did they choose this…
Rainbows and Christ
Long before it was a symbol of diversity and gay pride, the rainbow was a symbol of God’s unconditional covenant not just with humanity but with all flesh – all sentient beings upon the planet. That never again would a flood wipe everything out. “When the bow is in the clouds”, God told Noah, “I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” This is the…
Justice, justice
Jonah 3:4–10 Luke 10:25–37 In our Thursday Bible Study group we have started a study of Paul’s letter to the Romans which is an important yet difficult book. It inspired Luther to rebel against the Catholic church, and has spawned hundreds if not thousands of commentaries. It starts with a sweeping condemnation of all Gentiles rapidly followed by a sweeping condemnation of all Jews. The wrath of God is visited upon everyone. Only after we are thoroughly crushed does Paul…
The Fig Tree
Fig trees are especially suited to the Middle East because they can grow in poor soil and a seasonally dry climate, though they do need water and often grow deep roots to reach an underground water supply. The fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humanity and the ancient Hebrews considered it a sign of abundance. There is a passage in the prophet Micah which describes a future of peace and justice. It says: “The Lord…
No Separation
Welcome to the Season of Creation! It’s good to be here with you all again after two weeks of being away enjoying the wonders of God’s Creation. I was grateful to be north of the fires and so suffered very little from the smoke. We stayed in a little house with a veranda that looked into the forest and every morning and evening the bird feeder was visited by a tribe of steller’s jays. One of the interesting things about…
Losing Yourself to Find Yourself
Exodus 3:1-15 Proper 17 – A Romans 12:9-21 St. Benedict’s, Los Osos Matthew 16:21-28 August 30, 2020 Losing Yourself to Find Yourself I. Jesus Foretells his Suffering A. Jesus makes the first of his predictions of his own suffering and death in the gospel reading from the 16th ch. of Matthew. 1. He has just heard of John’s violent death at the hands of Herod. a. At the same time at this point in his ministry he is aware of…
“You are the Messiah”
To match the weirdness of this week, Smoke and heat on top of pandemic virtual school starts And election brew-ha-ha…. I have a weird sermon. My brain decided to give me the topic of zombie apocalypse As I started my sermon preparations of reading, thinking, pondering. Now, I’m not a fan of that genre, but I’m been seeing references to it quite a bit In my media posts….. Usually something to the effect of: “Well, 2020 has…
I will, with God’s Help
Isaiah 56:1,6-8 Psalm 67 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28 I think there’s a little bit of Jewish privilege showing up in today’s gospel and in the second reading. Paul proudly shares his Jewish credentials, and Jesus says “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Privilege is an interesting thing because most of us have ways in which we are privileged in our society and ways in which we are disadvantaged or even…
God is Love-Always
1 Kings 19:9-18 Psalm 85:8-13 Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33 It was a quiet evening after the feeding of the five thousand plus. Jesus had gone up a mountain to pray and the disciples headed home across the lake. Perhaps Jesus told them to pick him up later, or perhaps he planned to walk back in his own time. It was a quiet evening hundreds of years earlier when Elijah huddled in his cave, having had a great triumph over the…