The Lutheran Zephyr: Sermons

Love. Freedom. Kingdom. (Christ the King, Year B)

Christ the King Sunday (Lectionary 34)
Revelation 1:4b-8
November 22, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come.  Amen.

Love.  Freedom.  Kingdom.
If I were to read those words with a dramatic voice,
    they almost sound like the tag-line for a summer blockbuster movie
    about a fictional kingdom in the late medieval era.
You know, one of those gazillion dollar epic dramas,
    with amazing scenery and elaborate costumes,
    extremely dramatic music and actors who all have British accents, and, of course,
        several drawn-out, bloody, and gory battle scenes.

Invitation and Abundance (Lectionary 32, Year B)

Lectionary 32 (23rd Sunday after Pentecost)
1 Kings 17:8-16; Mark 12:23-44
November 8, 2009 Pledge Sunday

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

I don't watch television much,
    except perhaps for a late night comedy show
    or the occasional World Series featuring my hometown Philadelphia Phillies.
But as I was watching baseball over the past few weeks,
    I was surprised to see - already - advertisements pushing the gift-giving season of Christmas.
Driving back from a conference in western Pennsylvania this week,
    I was shocked to see a large Christmas wreath on a Wal-Mart sign.
What's the message?  That it's time to buy, buy, buy, so you can give, give, give.

We Fail, God Succeeds (Lectionary 28, Year B)

Lectionary 28 (19th Sunday after Pentecost)
Mark 10:17-31
October 11, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Every now and then I'll catch a few minutes of one of those talent-contest reality television shows,
    such as American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, or Dancing with the Stars.
These shows do a great job at building up the drama of the tryout.
They give viewers personal background on the contestant,
    perhaps even showing pictures of her 3rd grade ballet recital or middle school choir solo.
We see footage of the contestants hard at work,
    and hear testimonials from parents and friends
    about how dedicated the contestant is to her art.
By the end of the season, viewers are pulling for their favorite contestant,
    convinced that she has done everything right,
    and deserves to win the prize.

God's Widening Circle (Lectionary 26, Year B)

Lectionary 26 (17th Sunday after Pentecost)
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50
September 27, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

As we stand here at the beginning of our church's program year -
    today marks our first day of Sunday School classes
    and our new Closing Devotion in the Parish Hall -
    I can't help but think about the nature of the church.
In the past days and weeks, as I looked forward to our Sunday School classes
    and the faithful teachers and helpers who make this ministry possible,
    I've been increasingly humbled by how and through whom the spirit of God moves
        in calling our church into being,
        in carrying out our church's ministry of the Gospel.
Today's readings have something to say about church,
    about the ways that God acts through his people to achieve his will.

The Perspective of the Cross (Lectionary 24, Year B)

Lectionary 24 (15th Sunday after Pentecost)
Mark 8:27-38
September 13, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Amen.

I remember when my oldest daughter, Talitha, was learning about perspective.
She understood that our current position determines how we see something.
So, when we played “hide and seek” in our neighborhood playground,
    she cleverly hid behind a pole or tree or piece of playground equipment . . .
    but she wouldn't stay still, as she had just a year or so earlier when we would play.
Rather, as we would approach her hiding place,
    she'd move, always keeping the tree between us and her,
    always keeping herself hidden,
    knowing that where we’re standing affects what we see,
        and what we don’t see.

The Hill We Cannot Climb (Lectionary 22, Year B)

Lectionary 22 (13th Sunday after Pentecost)
Psalm 15
August 30, 2009

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

There's a commercial on television these days that shows people
    dressed in casual and business attire alike,
        each gripping a laptop computer like a relay runner's baton,
    and running through the otherwise abandoned streets of a big city.
It's not quite a race, but the spread-out mass of runners
    is moving forward at a frenzied pace nonetheless.

Our Offensive God (Lectionary 21, Year B)

Lectionary 21 (12th Sunday after Pentecost), Year B
Sunday, August 23, 2009
John 6:56-69
First Sunday following the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly voting, among other things, to welcome gays and lesbians into the ministry

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

There are three things about which we rarely speak in polite company -
    money, politics, and religion.
Our rules of etiquette govern that we avoid offending others,
    and that includes steering clear of personal matters.
In our culture these three - money, politics and religion -
    are taboo topics for conversation
        for fear that by talking about these matters we may offend others ...
    even though we may wear crosses around our necks
    or post political signs in our yards
    or live in a manner that reveals a certain level of wealth.
We just don't go there ... we don't talk about such things.
We don't want to offend.

This is evident in our churches, too.

Recognizing God's Gifts (Lectionary 18, Year B)

Lectionary 18 (9th Sunday after Pentecost), Year B
August 2, 2009
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It's an ironic state of affairs that led the Israelites,
    who were liberated from forty years of slavery in Egypt,
    to pine for the good ol' days of forced labor.
As slaves they were far from their homeland
    and they lacked anything that we'd call freedom,
    but they had food to eat and water to drink.

Welcoming the Outsider's Gift (Lectionary 17, Year B)

Lectionary 17 (8th Sunday after Pentecost), Year B

July 26, 2009

John 6:1-21

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

What an amazing week we had at our Discovery Canyon Vacation Bible School.

Kids laughed and learned, sang and were silly, played and prayed.

Each day the activities focused on different themes ...

Rejoice, Pray, Ask, Tell, Seek,

    and these themes echoed throughout the week and, I hope, 

    will continue to echo throughout the lives of these young people.

On the final day of Vacation Bible School in the storytelling activity center

    I had the kids look around the chapel for crosses ...

    some were pretty obvious, such as the cross on the wall behind the altar

or the crosses in the glass panes on the doors.

Other crosses were hidden, 

Our Sorry Ambivalence (Lectionary 15, Year B)

Lectionary 15 (6th Sunday after Pentecost), Year B

July 12, 2009

Amos 7:7-15; Mark 6:14-29

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It was probably an administrative mistake,

an example of an appropriate policy poorly executed.

But hitting the headlines of a few news outlets this week was the story of Anna Williams,

whose letters filled with Bible verses and Christian inspiration were censored

before they arrived to her son's jail cell 

at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, VA.

Passages from Scripture themselves and other messages of Christian inspiration

were blacked out, leaving little more than her greeting and signature 

for her jailed son to read.

Lectionary 15 (6th Sunday after Pentecost), Year B

July 12, 2009

Amos 7:7-15; Mark 6:14-29

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It was probably an administrative mistake,

an example of an appropriate policy poorly executed.

But hitting the headlines of a few news outlets this week was the story of Anna Williams,

whose letters filled with Bible verses and Christian inspiration were censored

before they arrived to her son's jail cell 

at the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, VA.

Passages from Scripture themselves and other messages of Christian inspiration

were blacked out, leaving little more than her greeting and signature 

for her jailed son to read.