Sermons on Spiritual Life (Page 27)

How Does God Respond to our Sinfulness?

Photo by Lukas from Pexels Luke 13:1-9 Our Gospel story for this 3rd Sunday of Lent is a real cliff hanger. How does the story really end? Did the vinedresser have to cut the tree down For not bearing fruit? Did the tree get a year’s reprieve? More time? Another chance? What do you think? For me,  today’s gospel story revolves around the question: How does God respond to our sinfulness? We can assume from our reading That somebody and maybe more than…

God always welcomes us

Luke 13:31-35 Today’s Gospel is a rather odd passage. Some commentators have suggested that it’s two separate sayings of Jesus put together to make one. I don’t know if that’s true, but it certainly comes at a time when the pressure is on Jesus. He is making his way toward Jerusalem when he’s told that Herod is out to get him. You will remember that after Herod the Great died, the country was divided between his sons. Herod Antipas ruled…

Shining like the sun

Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a] I don’t know about you, but that reading from 2 Corinthians makes me uneasy. It makes me uneasy because it sounds so anti-Semitic, and humans being humans, I imagine that the idea that Jewish hearts are hardened and their understanding veiled has been used against Jewish people through the centuries. Some commentators think that Paul was simply mistaken in his interpretation of Moses’ veil and as a result disappeared down a…

Turning the Other Cheek

Genesis 45:3-11, 15 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50 Luke 6:27-38 Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42 Many of you probably remember the day you got your first driver’s license-I know I do. I remember the feeling of being empowered to be independently behind the wheel without the need to have a licensed passenger in the vehicle with me, as was the case when I only possessed what they called in those days-a Learner’s Permit. Little did I know the learning was really just about to…

The Reign of Christ

Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18:33-37 I am glad to be home after a rapid visit to my family in the UK. Of course, one person I did not see was my brother Richard who died quite a while back. Every Christmas, Richard faithfully sent out a Christmas letter with the normal kind of information about his family’s activities.  But Richard was not an optimist. Every year he told us that things were so bad that the end of the world was…

Hannah pours out her soul, by Berkeley Johnson

Photo by Steven Su on Unsplash 1 Samuel 1:4-20 Mark 13:1-8 Good morning! It is wonderful to be here with you, once again, and to have the opportunity to share the Good News with you, especially on a day where a woman has a central role in fulfilling God’s plan. When Caro+ asked me to preach, she told me this is a different service where we only have two readings, and a slightly longer time for the sermon (lucky you).…

The Cup

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash Mark 10:35-45 Not so long ago in a time not unlike this, people thought that there was only one point of view, only one way to see things. Then they found that it was possible to read the same thing but understand it in a number of different ways. So now, when we read the Bible we need to take into account the perspective from which we come. This is called the hermeneutic. For…

St. Francis

Photo by Taneli Lahtinen on Unsplash Today we complete the Season of Creation as we celebrate the feast of St. Francis. As a young man, Francis rejected his wealthy family and took seriously, and literally, Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to take nothing extra for the journey when he sent them into the villages to preach.  He began his ministry in 1209, wearing the clothes of a peasant and preaching repentance. Soon others joined him, and they lived in a deserted leper colony…