Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 - A
Wayne Brouwer
"Politics are almost as exciting as war and quite as dangerous!" said Winston Churchill. "In war you can only be killed once but in politics many times."
In one of his essays, Albert Camus describes a powerful scene: Jan Hus, the great Czech reformer of the church, is on trial. His accusers twist all his ideas out of shape. They refuse to give him a hearing. They maneuver the political machine against him and incite popular passion to a lynch-mob frenzy. Finally Hus is condemned to be burned at the stake. As the flames surround him, people who couldn't possibly have read his writings and who have no interest in either his perspectives or those of the governing authorities line up to assist in the murder. "When they were burning Jan Hus," writes Camus, "a gentle little old...
In one of his essays, Albert Camus describes a powerful scene: Jan Hus, the great Czech reformer of the church, is on trial. His accusers twist all his ideas out of shape. They refuse to give him a hearing. They maneuver the political machine against him and incite popular passion to a lynch-mob frenzy. Finally Hus is condemned to be burned at the stake. As the flames surround him, people who couldn't possibly have read his writings and who have no interest in either his perspectives or those of the governing authorities line up to assist in the murder. "When they were burning Jan Hus," writes Camus, "a gentle little old...
Mark Ellingsen
The lessons for this Sunday share common themes regarding knowing God (how he is correctly known) and also that he receives all the credit due him for what he does for us.
Exodus 33:12-23
The First Lesson, reporting the story of Moses’ intercession and preparation for a renewal of the Lord’s covenant with Israel, is taken from a Book so named for the Greek term referring to the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondages. Its Hebrew name (meaning “These are the names”) refers to the first words of the text’s prologue. Like all of the first four books of the Pentateuch, it is the product of three distinct oral traditions. This text likely originated with J (an oral tradition perhaps originating in the Southern Kingdom during the 10th...
Exodus 33:12-23
The First Lesson, reporting the story of Moses’ intercession and preparation for a renewal of the Lord’s covenant with Israel, is taken from a Book so named for the Greek term referring to the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondages. Its Hebrew name (meaning “These are the names”) refers to the first words of the text’s prologue. Like all of the first four books of the Pentateuch, it is the product of three distinct oral traditions. This text likely originated with J (an oral tradition perhaps originating in the Southern Kingdom during the 10th...
David Kalas
We were looking through some family photos the other evening, pictures taken from when we first moved into our present home, which was now twelve years ago. As you might expect, each picture was striking because of all that had changed. The interior of the house looks so different in many ways — different furniture, different colored walls, different carpeting, and such. The outside, likewise, looks different, as my wife has invested a good deal of time recreating and improving the landscaping. And then, of course, there are the people themselves. How the children have grown and changed in the past twelve years! (My wife and I, on the other hand, look exactly the same.)
The photos we were enjoying together were not deliberately taken for the purpose of being part of a before...
The photos we were enjoying together were not deliberately taken for the purpose of being part of a before...
Sandra Herrmann
E. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India, and a friend of Gandhi, wrote that we pastors must pray for our congregants on a daily basis, individually, if we are to minister effectively. I tried to do this in a very literal way early in my ministry, but this takes a good deal of time. And I didn’t want to sluff off by praying for my people en masse. And if you serve more than one church, or a congregation even of 75, this could take hours! But I did have the assistance of our church’s photo directory. As I paged through, looking at each family picture, I began to focus. As I focused in this way, I began to know who had gone missing from our church services. I called each household I was unfamiliar with, and in that way came to know what they needed in the way of prayer – or, that...
David Kalas
The preacher lives in a privileged place. He or she has the incalculable honor of standing as the intermediary between the word of God and the people of God. That's not to say, of course, that the people cannot read and receive it on their own. Certainly they can. Yet you and I both know that they look to us.
I see it in the body language and energy level as we transition each Sunday from the scripture reading to the sermon. The attention given to the liturgist who reads the scripture is so passive and half-hearted. I sometimes think that the liturgist could read the ingredients for pizza into the midst of the passage and half the congregation wouldn't notice. Yet when it's time for the sermon, the attention level perks up. This, they think, is what they really came to listen...
I see it in the body language and energy level as we transition each Sunday from the scripture reading to the sermon. The attention given to the liturgist who reads the scripture is so passive and half-hearted. I sometimes think that the liturgist could read the ingredients for pizza into the midst of the passage and half the congregation wouldn't notice. Yet when it's time for the sermon, the attention level perks up. This, they think, is what they really came to listen...
Wayne Brouwer
"Creation was the greatest of all revolutions," said G. K. Chesterton. When young Anne
Frank was hidden in an Amsterdam attic during World War II, fearful of the dreaded
Nazi revolution and longing for a day in the park with her friends, she concurred as she
wrote this note in her diary: "The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or
unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens,
nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."
Even in the harshest of storms, the magnificent power of God is displayed. After Sir Ernest Shackleton returned from one of his Antarctic expeditions, he told of the intense suffering he and his two partners had endured: extreme pain, numbing cold, haunting starvation...
Even in the harshest of storms, the magnificent power of God is displayed. After Sir Ernest Shackleton returned from one of his Antarctic expeditions, he told of the intense suffering he and his two partners had endured: extreme pain, numbing cold, haunting starvation...
Consider the humble dollar bill, which despite the assault on it by the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the more-recent Sacagawea dollar, has held its own in the tills of shops and the pockets of Americans. When was the last time you looked at it carefully? It is full of images and words and symbolism. It has the picture of George Washington, the Father of the country. "The United States of America" is emblazoned on both sides. The Great Seal of the United States is reproduced on the reverse, with its eagle and its strange eye-topped pyramid. In the all-seeing eye and in the words, "In God We Trust," the dollar pays brief lip service to the Creator.
Where does it belong; what is its proper realm? Well, there is little doubt. It is the national currency of one particular nation on...
Where does it belong; what is its proper realm? Well, there is little doubt. It is the national currency of one particular nation on...
In these days as political campaigns for various offices clutter our highway landscapes, our television commercials, and our radio waves, we the public yearn for the end of election day so that our lives might get back to normal. All this attention to governmental offices appears sometimes to be an intrusion into our lives, and while some citizens thrive on it, others can hardly tolerate it.
Our lessons for this Sunday challenge us to consider in the midst of all the campaigning the important role the scriptures place on the role of government, even the role that God gives to governmental authority and office. Whether the officeholders know it or not, they are God's agents doing the work of the Creator God in the world.
Isaiah 45:1-7
Our lessons for this Sunday challenge us to consider in the midst of all the campaigning the important role the scriptures place on the role of government, even the role that God gives to governmental authority and office. Whether the officeholders know it or not, they are God's agents doing the work of the Creator God in the world.
Isaiah 45:1-7
Will it ever end! Just when Moses thinks the Israelites have made a long-term commitment to be loyal, they disappoint him. Now he learns that God is so disgusted with them that the future is under a bleak cloud. Yes, God will see that they get to the land of promise, but God will not go with them (33:1-3). Once more Moses faces a crisis, and once more Moses must have a face-to-face confrontation with God. Moses finds himself again in the role of mediator.
As we saw a week ago, Moses has learned how to "bargain" with God. Though he continues to carry a heavy burden of responsibility, Moses reminds God again that "this nation is your people." He will not let God off the hook!
For his candor and persistence Moses is once more given a promise. But what unfolds is not...
As we saw a week ago, Moses has learned how to "bargain" with God. Though he continues to carry a heavy burden of responsibility, Moses reminds God again that "this nation is your people." He will not let God off the hook!
For his candor and persistence Moses is once more given a promise. But what unfolds is not...
Here and there in the Biblical record, one can find material that seems to issue a call for persistence which will guarantee results simply because of the persistence.
Sometimes you hear persistence dealt with in pictures which make it seem that God must somehow be convinced we are serious or he wants to make sure we earn what we have. The pictures seem to depict a God standing with something behind his back, holding it there till we have made the appropriate and obedient approaches.
It is clear from the Scripture selections for this Sunday that the importance of persistence is not linked to God's reluctance to give in to us, but to our need to be prepared to receive what he has to offer us.
The story of Jacob's striving with God is not an isolated...
Sometimes you hear persistence dealt with in pictures which make it seem that God must somehow be convinced we are serious or he wants to make sure we earn what we have. The pictures seem to depict a God standing with something behind his back, holding it there till we have made the appropriate and obedient approaches.
It is clear from the Scripture selections for this Sunday that the importance of persistence is not linked to God's reluctance to give in to us, but to our need to be prepared to receive what he has to offer us.
The story of Jacob's striving with God is not an isolated...
Lectionary Commentary and Sermon Illustrations
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For each week, Emphasis writers delve into the heart of the lectionary readings, providing you with several fresh, solid ideas -- based squarely on the lectionary texts -- for creating sermons that speak powerfully to your audience. They look for overall themes that hold the readings together. Then, they zero in on the themes and the specific scripture links, suggesting directions for the sermon and worship service. Since a single idea each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, writers suggest several, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.
