John 15:9,11-15 Acts 10: 44-48 What do you call a coincidence that is not really a coincidence? The writer Squire Rushnell likes to say that is God winking at you. You know, trying to get your attention, trying to get a special message to you; trying to let you know that there is something going on here that might not be readily apparent. Sometimes God has to wink really hard. Or repeatedly. As if God is working at getting a message across that we are just not understanding, and it just seems like God has this weird tic. And you look at God and say, “What is the matter with you?” Are you okay?” When my daughter Willa was about three years old, she said to me, “Sometimes I can wink really good, like this,” and she winked. “But sometimes I just lose my mind, like this,” and then she sort […]
Continue readingCategory: Live Stream
From You Comes My Praise: Guide My Steps
Psalm 22:25-31 Acts 8:26-39 We shared a humorous moment at a session meeting recently when one of our elders looked a little panicked. He thought he was being asked to preach on an upcoming Sunday. It was a misunderstanding that was cleared up quickly, to his great relief. This is an elder with a lot of wonderful gifts, but I guess he does not consider preaching to be one of his gifts. Although, it certainly could be. I have to admit that I think it is interesting to put the question to a person sometimes and just see how they react. Would you like to preach? If their reaction is the expression of a person facing a firing squad, then they probably won’t take me up on the offer. But sometimes a person says, “yes.” I saw that once when I was a campus minister. My students were preparing to […]
Continue readingBy This We Will Know: The Dance of Love
John 10:11-17 ; 1 John 3:16-18,23-24 Here’s a question for you: Would anyone notice if our church disappeared? I remember the first time I heard someone ask that question. It was something I had never thought of before, because church has been a central part of my life for my whole life. Every time I have moved to a new place, finding a church was always on the A-list of things I needed to get done. I had never even given a thought to the possibility of church disappearing. So I was intrigued by the question. But I have to admit, my first thought on hearing it was quite literal. The church we were talking about takes up almost an entire block of Market Street. If it was suddenly one day gone, leaving behind a big vacant lot, people would notice. Of course, people would notice. It might even warrant a […]
Continue readingWhile in Their Joy: Dancing Sure
Luke 24:36-48 1 John 3: 1-3 Some years ago when I was leading a church youth group I showed them how to play the laughing game. One person lies on the floor, the next person lies down with their head on the first person’s belly. Then the next person lies down with their head on the second person’s belly, and so on until you have a chain of people lying on the floor. The first person starts to laugh – it’s ok if it’s fake. When they start laughing, the second person starts laughing, then the next one and the next one and pretty soon everyone is really laughing. I don’t know why, but that’s what happens. Laughter is contagious. That’s why TV sitcoms have a laugh track if not a studio audience, to help us start laughing. In fact, this is something I have really missed during the pandemic. […]
Continue readingWith Great Power: Dancing Together
1 John 1: 1-4 I know someone who likes to explain to me his philosophy of religion every chance he gets. This is how he looks at it, he says. It’s better to believe in God than not believe in God. If God is real, you win! And if it turns out there is no God, what have you lost? Nothing. On the other hand, if you choose not to believe and it turns out you should have, then God might be pretty ticked off at you somewhere down the road. So, you should believe in God, because – really, what have you got to lose? It’s as safe as a bet can be. My friend likes this argument and maybe even thinks he invented it. He didn’t. It’s called Pascal’s Wager, named after the 17th century philosopher. So it’s been around for a while. And it probably appeals to lots […]
Continue readingFor All Peoples, A Feast!
Isaiah 25:6-9 This is an Easter like no other in our lives, after a year like no other. But the story we share today is the same as ever. Last year on Easter morning we read the same story from the Gospel of John. That early in the morning while it was still dark, Mary went to the tomb to care for the body of a loved one, Jesus. I am sure Mary had already been shedding a lot of tears, between Friday and this early morning walk to the tomb. Possibly, she felt like she was all cried out. She had that kind of headache that you get behind your eyes when you have been crying a lot. And now she was just thinking about the task ahead of her – Which she thought was fairly predictable. But when she arrived, she found something she could not have imagined. […]
Continue readingHoly and Whole
Matthew 9:1-8 There are very few slow news days anymore. Every day, there are more than enough problems to fill columns of newsprint and hours of newscasts. The question is which story will rise to the top and get a piece of our attention. Recently, stories about mass shootings were among them. Last week in Boulder Colorado. Ten people, as innocent as any of us, dead. And we grieve it, as we have grieved so many other similar incidents. We had barely finished absorbing the details of another event in Atlanta the previous week, which cost eight human lives. When we hear about these violent incidents, one of the first thoughts we have is, why? What reason did this person have for committing such a terrible act? Why? “Why” is a fundamental question of life. We often ask why things happen. When a loved one gets sick, we ask: why? […]
Continue reading
