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Hate Your Parents
It startles our ears to hear Jesus saying we should hate our parents, our siblings, even spouse and children. What can this mean? Well the truth is, it’s impossible for us to be sure. It’s impossible to make even a good guess at what Jesus is saying when we read only this short passage. The gospels are collections of sayings and stories put together by the author or editor in a way that is intended to convey meaning when read…
Humility
Leonard Bernstein, the renowned conductor of the New York Philharmonic was once asked what was the most difficult position to fill in the orchestra. Without hesitation he replied, “The second fiddle! I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm—that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.” I think Bernstein captures in this little story the essence of what is important about humility. He…
Fire
In the 1950s Disney movie Pollyanna Karl Malden plays a fire and brimstone preacher. In a scene that holds a certain appeal for me at least, we see him climbing into a high pulpit, taking a deep breadth and then thundering out at the congregation, “Death comes unexpectedly.” He proceeds to deliver a fire and brimstone sermon that could have been inspired by this morning’s scripture passage. “I came to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it…
Faith
The Book of Hebrews, from which today’s text comes, is in the form of a sermon, written to encourage the early Christian community of Jerusalem, which was suffering severely under Roman persecution. The timing is very likely a scant year or two before the first Jewish/Roman war, which culminated in the year 70 with the destruction of the city and the Temple that stood at the centre of the Judean religion. This text was written to give strength and support…
Bigger Barns
The stories and parables in which Jesus criticizes the rich can be hard for us to hear, because we are, in comparison to most of the world’s population, rich people. In today’s story, Jesus suggests that prudent investment to handle a surplus by storing it for the future – saving, in other words – is somehow unwise and a sign that the well-to-do farmer in the story is not in right relationship with God. Most of us in this congregation…
Holy Spirit Hear Us
“He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father,[a] hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.[b] 3 Give us each day our daily bread.[c] 4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”[d] “Teach us to pray” the disciples asked.…
Too hurried to be a Samaritan
The story of the Good Samaritan may be one of the most familiar of all the stories in the Gospels. Certainly it is one that has made its way into our common cultural heritage. There are hospitals and schools and societies named for the anonymous person journeying through ancient Palestine that day. There is even a law in the United States named after him, a law that protects someone from potential liability if they give aid to a stranger in…
I saw Satan fall from the Sky like Lightening
Last week our text outlined the challenges that face those who follow Jesus. This week we continue reading in Luke’s gospel as he recounts Jesus’ instructions to the seventy followers he sends out. Jesus says there is a plentiful harvest, but does that mean that the people they meet are a crop to be picked, put in a basket and sold? I’m not sure.
The Sound of Silence
In the early 1960s an aspiring 20-year-old folk singer took his guitar into the bathroom of his parents’ home to practice because he liked the slight echo chamber effect he got. One night he turned off the light and tried out a few lines, “Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk to you again…”
On Foot
On foot Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd American President and arguably the most learned of all of them, believed that in the gospel stories, Jesus gave humankind the greatest moral code by which to live. The Bible, Jefferson believed, provided wisdom and guidance for human living,
Communion and the Hunger of the World
The late German/American theologian Monika Hellwig, wrote a little book that Heather and I read during our theological training, called Eucharist and the Hunger of the World. The book asked a question that has always stuck with me. Can we western, wealthy Christians truly experience the impact of communion, which is the gift of food that is life-saving, when very few of us have ever experienced real hunger?
Sabbath, Sabbatical, Jubilee
Will you indulge me this morning? I would like everyone to take off their watch and turn it face down on the pew beside you. I’d also like you to turn off your cell phones, not just put them on vibrate, but turn them right off.
A God Who Won’t Leave Us Alone
Can we stop defending ourselves against this powerful and beautiful story, can we suspend our disbelief, and instead allow the Story to transform us and our living in the world?
A Pentecostal Church
How closely does our church, what we are doing as church today, resemble the church that was born on the Day of Pentecost?
Mothering God
Just when we point to John’s gospel to confirm that God is our Father, we hear Jesus praying from a mother’s heart.
A Gift the World Cannot Give
How do we know what Jesus would do? Turn to listen for the Holy Spirit.
A Road Trip
As we look back to the story of Abraham and Sarah, and the story of the meeting Jesus on the road, we think of our “road trip.”
Baptism, Believing, and Belonging
Our believing and our belonging are meant to go deeper over time, to give shape to our lives and to our church.
Alleluia!
This Easter, this unbelievable story confronts us with its awe and wonder and mystery.
A Parade
The parade into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Loving Like Mary
We need to be more like Mary. We need to stop counting the cost. We need to stop being so reasonable and prudent; we need to give without expecting a tax receipt. We need to engage our hearts.
Our Prodigal Father
We are meant to love radically, passionately, beyond all limits and beyond all sense, because this is what God does.
Desiring God
Psalm 63:1-8; Luke 13:1-9 This Lent, we’ve been exploring the theme of encountering God: going out into the wilderness to meet God; seeking to discover or uncover God amidst the fulness, the clutter of our lives. Last Sunday, John Burton reflected with you on some of the ways we encounter God: in the first, stumbling words of a grandchild, in music, and in the vast mysteries of the universe.
Let There Be Light
Psalm 27; Luke 13:31-35 Several weeks ago Jeff introduced the notion of ‘functional atheism,’ in his sermon. This label refers to the inclination many of us have to feel that all the work of the church is dependent on us and not God. Functional atheists may not give voice to this feeling directly but when you listen to the way they talk about the church it seems that their faith is summed up by saying, “If it is our efforts, our…
A Time Apart
How can we use Lent to rediscover God in our life?
The Idea of the Holy
This morning we have heard two marvellous stories of mountain-top experiences and shining faces. It makes sense that they would go together. I am not trying to diminish the significance of either of these accounts, and there must be degrees of shining, but honestly, have you never seen a shining face? I can think of a few weddings when I could hardly bear to look at the brilliant joy of a bride and groom as they stood there. I remember…