Proper 26 | Ordinary Time 31 - A
David Kalas
A friend, who was about to become a father, asked me about the relationship I had with my father when I was growing up. My friend sensed that my relationship with my dad was a good one, and that I regarded my dad as a good father. This friend of mine, however, had grown up without a father, and so as he anticipated becoming a father himself, he found that he was without a good role model. He hoped to be able to borrow one from me.
My friend was deliberately seeking what we all crave, more or less consciously. In whatever area of life, we need and long for role models -- someone who will show us how it's done, whatever "it" may be.
This pursuit becomes a public one in the buying of books written by people who have been successful. Whether the author has made it...
My friend was deliberately seeking what we all crave, more or less consciously. In whatever area of life, we need and long for role models -- someone who will show us how it's done, whatever "it" may be.
This pursuit becomes a public one in the buying of books written by people who have been successful. Whether the author has made it...
David Coffin
At first glance all three of today’s texts can seem intimidating for preachers who seek to be culturally sensitive as it is viewed in the 21st Century. The Book of Joshua is about the nation of Israel preparing to invade the land of Canaan, as it is the promised land from God. Unfortunately, various historical of Europeans who colonized the North American lands have used similar rationale to drive out the native Americans who were indigenous residents of the land. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is making the point that he works for a living and does church ministry afterward. How many clergy would view this as mandatory tentmaking in order to remain in pastoral ministry? Has Paul implied all clergy need to get “day job” besides church so they are not mistaken for charlatans? Finally, the...
Wayne Brouwer
Abraham Kuyper served two terms as prime minister of the Netherlands in the early 20th century. He was known as a man of faith and sought to incorporate it into every dimension of life, including social and political. But faith was not always so important to Kuyper. At the start of his career, he was a young preacher in a rural village. He had been schooled in the best of modern theology, and his sermons were well-polished masterpieces.
Not all in his congregation were impressed, though. Pietronella Baltus did not care for his preaching, and she spoke her mind to him more than once. Certainly, his sermons were intelligent and well delivered, she said, but they did not declare the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Not all in his congregation were impressed, though. Pietronella Baltus did not care for his preaching, and she spoke her mind to him more than once. Certainly, his sermons were intelligent and well delivered, she said, but they did not declare the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wayne Brouwer
In Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More stands at a moral crossroads. More has been a loyal subject of the English crown, supporting his king in both civil and ecclesiastical matters. Now, however, King Henry VIII is engaged in a devious plan that pits his own desires against those of the church. In order to pull off his scheme, Henry requires all his nobles to swear to him a personal oath of allegiance. Because the terms of the oath violate More’s conscience before his God, he refuses and is arrested and jailed.
More’s daughter Margaret comes to visit him. She is his pride and joy, often thinking his thoughts after him. In their playful terms of endearment she is her father’s “Meg,” and Henry knows that More will do anything for her. That’s why...
More’s daughter Margaret comes to visit him. She is his pride and joy, often thinking his thoughts after him. In their playful terms of endearment she is her father’s “Meg,” and Henry knows that More will do anything for her. That’s why...
Cathy Venkatesh
God gives the law to the Israelites as a blessing and guidance for new life after generations of promise, care, and saving grace. And yet so often we get caught up in the law and forget the God who made it. In the life of faith, God comes first, and the law follows. When we put the law first, trouble eventually ensues.
Joshua 3:7-17
Joshua 3:7-17
David Kalas
So much of what we human beings learn to do, we learn to do by imitation. In some areas of life that is how we have become proficient. In other areas, it is how we have become dysfunctional.
The young child will begin to make sounds that resemble his mom and dad's words before that child really knows what those words mean. The baby is simply imitating what he hears most commonly around him.
When that child grows up, he will learn to write, swing a bat, and do multiplication and division by having someone say, "Here, watch me. Do it like this." He will learn how to do things around the house and in the yard by observing his mom and his dad.
The young child will begin to make sounds that resemble his mom and dad's words before that child really knows what those words mean. The baby is simply imitating what he hears most commonly around him.
When that child grows up, he will learn to write, swing a bat, and do multiplication and division by having someone say, "Here, watch me. Do it like this." He will learn how to do things around the house and in the yard by observing his mom and his dad.
All of us know that it is by the grace of God that we are what we are and that the church is what it is.
Even so, we somehow manage to convince ourselves as well as many others on the outside that we think there is something about us that is special and marks us as different from others.
I think that that is OK unless we mean to say that it is because we are better or more deserving or something of the sort. What is OK is to recognize that the difference between the sinners outside the church and those inside is that those inside are sinners who are willing to admit that they are sinners saved by grace.
Somehow we have managed to convince many that they are not quite worthy of sharing our fellowship. What is it? Is it our manner, our dress, our speech? If...
Even so, we somehow manage to convince ourselves as well as many others on the outside that we think there is something about us that is special and marks us as different from others.
I think that that is OK unless we mean to say that it is because we are better or more deserving or something of the sort. What is OK is to recognize that the difference between the sinners outside the church and those inside is that those inside are sinners who are willing to admit that they are sinners saved by grace.
Somehow we have managed to convince many that they are not quite worthy of sharing our fellowship. What is it? Is it our manner, our dress, our speech? If...
All Saints Day - A
Sandra Herrmann
What is a saint?
According to the Roman Catholic church, a saint is a holy person who has been elevated by God to heaven, there to pray for those of us who need their help. There is a three-step process: the request by those who knew the person in life, and who attest to their holiness; a witness by at least two people that they asked the candidate to pray for them and their prayer was granted in a miraculous way; and an investigation by the Vatican into all this evidence. The declaration is made by the pope.
In most Protestant denominations the word “saint” applies to all faithful Christians, following the example of Paul in the New Testament. However, we often hear people say, “She was a real saint, that woman!” We all know those whose prayers for others seem to...
According to the Roman Catholic church, a saint is a holy person who has been elevated by God to heaven, there to pray for those of us who need their help. There is a three-step process: the request by those who knew the person in life, and who attest to their holiness; a witness by at least two people that they asked the candidate to pray for them and their prayer was granted in a miraculous way; and an investigation by the Vatican into all this evidence. The declaration is made by the pope.
In most Protestant denominations the word “saint” applies to all faithful Christians, following the example of Paul in the New Testament. However, we often hear people say, “She was a real saint, that woman!” We all know those whose prayers for others seem to...
Mark Ellingsen
The text for this festival concerns how in our walk of faith we are inspired by the saints and love of God.
Revelation 7:9-17
The First Lesson is taken for an apocryphal book of the last first century expressing hope for salvation after a world-ending new creation. Although parts of the book may predate the fall of Jerusalem, it is likely that it achieved its present form during the reign of Emperor Domitian between 81 and 96 AD. Christians were being persecuted for refusing to address him as lord and god. Though the tradition ascribes the authorship to John, (1:1,4,9; 22:8) it is by no means clear that the author is one of the disciples. However, the book’s semitic Greek style does suggest its author was Jewish. It relies heavily on...
Revelation 7:9-17
The First Lesson is taken for an apocryphal book of the last first century expressing hope for salvation after a world-ending new creation. Although parts of the book may predate the fall of Jerusalem, it is likely that it achieved its present form during the reign of Emperor Domitian between 81 and 96 AD. Christians were being persecuted for refusing to address him as lord and god. Though the tradition ascribes the authorship to John, (1:1,4,9; 22:8) it is by no means clear that the author is one of the disciples. However, the book’s semitic Greek style does suggest its author was Jewish. It relies heavily on...
David Kalas
You have no doubt seen, as I have, the lingering effect of the songs that are sung at a loved one’s funeral. Certain individuals in my congregation reliably tear up during this hymn or that one, and I know that it’s because that song was sung at their parent’s, or spouse’s, or child’s service. And the experience of death and grief is so strong in us that that song, then, forever belongs to that occasion for that individual.
That has happened to me, as well. Indeed, you might say that I have a whole repertoire of such musical associations, for not only did we sing a lot of hymns at both of my parents’ funerals, a number of us had the opportunity to sing hymns together around my father’s bed the night before he died. And so I have a whole collection of songs that are connected...
That has happened to me, as well. Indeed, you might say that I have a whole repertoire of such musical associations, for not only did we sing a lot of hymns at both of my parents’ funerals, a number of us had the opportunity to sing hymns together around my father’s bed the night before he died. And so I have a whole collection of songs that are connected...
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