Sermon: “Ralph Wiggum Apocalypse!”

This Sundy’s sermon is for Easter 6B, and the lections are 1 John 5:1-6, Revelation 20, and John 15:9-17.  This is my first draft, and I’m working a little  ahead, since I will be away most of the week for the Children, Youth, and a New Kind of Christianity conference in Washington, DC.  I’m following a little bit of a series:  Easter 4B (“Good Shepherd Sunday,” as it’s known to some) was a Girardian reading of the 23rd Psalm, the sermon was titled “The Sheep as Victim.”  This morning’s sermon for Easter 5B was on John 15:1-8 (the beginning of the “abide in me” discourse) and the Acts 8 story of the conversion of the Eunuch, titled “What is Cut Off from the Eunuch.”  The theme is following the Girardian teaching of the voluntary vicitimization of Christ being the logical exit out of systems of vicitimization.

Jesus says “You do not choose me, I have chosen you.”  This might sound all well and good, but we hear Jesus say this, and we can contrast it to the image of God separating the good from the bad at the end of time in Revelation 20.  So which is it—God chooses all of us, or we choose the ways of God?

Is this question not at the heart of all of the controversies surrounding mainline Protestant Christianity right now?  Two weeks ago the United Methodists at their General Conference were debating a resolution acknowledging the deep divisions in the church, stating that the church can be faithful in disagreement over human sexuality.  Right before the vote was taken an African delegate stood up and likened gays to those who practice bestiality; and then the denomination voted against the resolution stating that there is division in the church.

Easter Sunday Sermon: “Bad Easter Sermon!”

This Easter Sunday I am modifying the lectionary a little bit, preaching on Mark 4:1-20, 14:22-31, 16:1-8, and Acts 10:34-43.   I got the idea for the sermon from a commentary that I read a few weeks ago (Unbinding the Gospel of Mark) that connected some of the Lenten lectionary readings to the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from a question posed by the great folks at the Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary, and currently reading and teaching Peter Rollins’ book, Insurrection.  This is a first draft, I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Thanks.

Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seed, a story we’ve surely heard before, telling of the gardener who planted seeds on a pathway, and on rocks, and on rich soil.  As one might expect, the seeds on the pathway were eaten by the birds, and the seeds on the rocks sprouted up quickly, but, as Jesus says, because they “had no depth of soil,” the plants withered away when the sun scorched down upon them.  The other seeds on good soil sprouted and brought forth grain, increasing thirty, and sixty, and one hundredfold.

Jesus then explains that the seeds on the path had a good thing going but they spoiled it by not nurturing the presence of God and the burgeoning life within them.  The seeds on the rocks and thorns respond to the word of God with joy, but the joy did not endure and they quickly withered away, Jesus teaches that they hear the Good News, but are drawn instead to the things of this world, they desire the saccharine joy of faith but choke on the sweet candy of feel-good religion.  And, of course, those with good contexts around them bear good fruit and prosper.

Now, on Easter morning we then hear the story of the missing body of Jesus in the tomb, the man in white instructs the women to find the disciples, and the man in white singles out that they should find Peter in particular.  I would like to ask:  Why is Peter so central to the story of the resurrection?

Sermon: “Changing Change with Change?”: On Ritual Purity

Last Sunday was a service of anointing with oil, a traditional healing service we sometimes perform at Zion “Goshert’s” UCC.  I continued my exploration of ritual purity from my earlier blog entry with this sermon.  Here’s the draft text of my sermon; its lections are Exodus 20:1-17 and John 2:13-22.

In the study of religion, one speaks of “ritual purity” to refer to the ways by which religions dictate or religious people practice the act of cleaning or cleanliness as a ritual, or the ways that religious rules give the illusion or definition of being pure or clean.  Some of these rules are well known, we know that the Hebrew scriptures forbid eating pork or shellfish; these rules were directly related to health concerns of eating these foods in a time before refrigeration and these foods were believed to be connected to disease.

As it happens, in Judaism, all of the rules that are followed are understood as “kosher” laws—the Hebrew word for kosher means suitable for consumption or simply “clean”—which include laws involving food and laws involving daily life and where one’s place is to be in a community.  So rules involving everything from food, prayer, marriage, and even circumcision are understood broadly as “kosher,” or laws of purity.

In our Jesus story we hear Jesus going to the temple in Jerusalem and creating a disturbance.  There were a couple things happening here.  Because the temple was a point of attraction for travelers, and a place where Jews both inside and outside of the city made pilgrimage, it made sense that a local economy emerged around the temple as an attraction.

Lent 1 Sermon: “Neither This Nor That God”

This Sunday’s sermon is based on the Lent 1B lections (Genesis 9:8-17, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:9-15), but focused primarily upon the Hebrew Bible reading from Genesis 9, primarily because I feel like I preach on the baptism of Jesus often for some reason even though I preached on Noah’s Ark only a few months ago, as well.  The first Sunday of Lent is one of the few times Zion “Goshert’s” UCC celebrates Communion, so the Eucharist is a theme at work here, too.  I am thankful for the great Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary website for help this week.  I’m curious to hear your impressions of my draft as I sharpen it over the next few days.

We all know the story of Noah’s Ark:  it is one of the most imaginative literary stories in the Bible—with a big boat, animals, strange weather, and a great flood.  We teach it to our children because of the vivid images of the story; in fact, one of our most popular toys for children in our church is the Little People Noah’s Ark. 

We very often forget the violence of the story.  Everyone in the world dies except for just a few people, and all but two of each species survive.  The stage of the story is set that people are sinning—and it’s worth noting that this story represents the introduction of the word “sin” in the Hebrew Bible—by focusing their attention away from God and copying each other’s behavior.  You know how it works with children, when one person starts misbehaving, the others begin to misbehave.  And over time what was once considered misbehavior is now considered acceptable behavior.

“What are you doing on June 13, 2015?”: A Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30

The following is a draft of this Sunday’s sermon at Zion “Goshert’s” United Church of Christ, Lebanon, PA.  What I like about what I am working through in this sermon is that I am giving props to the traditional reading of this parable (the parable of the slaves’ talents) while at the same time turning the traditional reading inside-out.  Or at least this is what I was attempting to do, without declaring the mainstream interpretation to be completely wrong or dangerous.  I’d love to know what you think.  The preaching text is Matt. 25:14-30, which is the Gospel lectionary reading for November 13; this Sunday we welcome a new member into the church, as well.

This story is one of the familiar parables of Jesus, though it isn’t one of the most famous of Jesus’ teaching.  A slave owner gives one slave five talents; to another slave, two talents; and to a third slave, one talent, when he is about to go on a long journey.  After some time the slave owner returns, and the slave to whom five talents was given somehow had ten total talents, and the one to whom two was given somehow now had four, and the slave owner says that these slaves are trustworthy and that he trusts them to put them in charge of things.  But the slave to which was given one buried the money and kept it safe, and only had one to show to the master, and the master curses the slave for not making more money with the one talent.  The master uses harsh words, that what talents he has saved for his master shall be taken and given to the more industrious servants, and the lazy slave will be thrown into the darkness, “where there will be gnashing of teeth.”  This is what the Kingdom of God is like.

This parable is so deeply entrenched in our culture that the word “talent,” as in “talent show,” America’s Got Talent, or saying that someone is “talented” comes from the way in which Jesus speaks of “talents” in this parable. 

September 11, 2011 Sermon: “The 9-12 Error!” (Updated)

Here’s my first draft of my sermon for this Sunday at Zion “Goshert’s” UCC, which is of course the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  It’s still feeling kind of drafty and could be sharpened a bit, so I would welcome your feeback.  Thanks…  The lections I am using are the Hebrew Bible lectionary text, the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:19-31) and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).  UPDATED 9/8/11.

It’s been ten years since September 11^th, 2001, as you’ve surely been hearing from radio, television, and every other media outlet for the past two weeks.  September 11^th also holds significance to me because it was the day I was baptized as an infant in 1977, before I was quite nine months old.  I was obviously too young to remember my own baptism but it was on this date, September 11, 1977, that I began my formal life in the church, baptized in a country church outside of the town of Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Sermon idea!

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was travelling, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a Republican was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by, reasoning that helping him would fail to teach him self-reliance. So likewise a Democrat, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side, plotting in his mind the tax credits he could propose to give private-sector companies the incentive to help people in similar situations.

“But an illegal immigrant while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having put Neosporin on them. Then he put him in his own vehicle, brought him to the emergency room, and waited with him. While the man was being seen by a doctor, a police officer happened by and accused the illegal immigrant of loitering, which he used as a pretext to ask him his immigration status. Unable to prove he had a right to be in this country, he was detained and is currently awaiting a deportation hearing.

“Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Walking on Water sermon: “Slapped By Your Grandma!”

This is last Sunday’s sermon from Zion “Goshert’s” United Church of Christ.  The primary lection for the day (Year A, Proper 14) was Matthew 14:22-33.

The story of Jesus walking on water is a story that we know so well that there’s a whole category of jokes devoted to the idea of walking on water.

An Irish boy had heard stories of his father, and his grandfather, and his father before, that on their 18^th birthdays they walked across the lake from their homestead to the village to get their fist drink at the old pub on the other side of the lake.  This was part of the legend that nothing will stand in the way of a man in his family and his drink.

So the boy waited until the hot summer day of his 18^th birthday, and he assumed that it was now his turn to continue the legend of his father, and his grandfather, and his father before that.  He went out onto the dock, stepping out onto the water, and immediately fell in.

Walking back, soaking wet, he went to his grandmother’s to tell her that he could not walk across the lake like his father, and his grandfather, and his father before that.  He said, I’ve been a good Irish boy:  I love my mother; I pray to Our Lady the Holy Virgin; and I don’t like Protestants.  Why am I not as holy as my ancestors?  The grandmother slapped him and said, you’re not as smart as they were!

Like the “seed” of a mustard “tree”: a question

While rehearsing my sermon early Sunday morning–titled “Five Cent Coupon,” on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52–I started to go back to the scripture and re-think some of my research on the subject of the parable of the mustard seed.  The NRSV translation of the key part of the lection is this:

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

I really struggled with writing the sermon this week, perhaps because last week’s sermon (“You Put Your Weeds In There”) was on the parable of the seeds and weeds, where the weeds are burned.  But this week is a celebration of the weed, specifically the mustard weed.

A key issue here is that mustard doesn’t grow into grow into trees, it’s a weed.  So in this parabolic fantasy realm, what does it mean beyond its obvious statement about proliferation?

“All Things Shining” — Another AUFS Sermon!?

In the spirit of audio offerings recently discussed by Anthony & the recent sermons posted here by Chris, I offer you now the audio from my sermon today, “All Things Shining” [PDF]. (As it turns out, Chris & I appealed to the same text and found inspiration from the same source. Go figure. & bonus points for those who can identify the phrase given to me by Anthony in a conversation on Saturday.) People who thought I was joking about making a Wallace Stevens poem my Scripture for the day proved to be surprised.