Matthew 5:13-20 Along with many, it is one of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve. On one of the longest nights of the year, we come together in the darkest part of it. We hear the much loved story of God coming to us in human flesh. We sing the familiar carols. And we dim …
Month: January 2017
The Beatitudes: A Road Map for the Reign of God
Matthew 5:1-12 It is but a few short verses before this in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus encapsulates his message in one urgent phrase: “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!” (Matthew 4:17) Indeed, with that as a backdrop, I find myself wondering if the start of his sermon here is actually a road …
Following Jesus: That For Which We Are Made
Matthew 4:12-23 It caught my attention a few days back — a news clip featuring Steve Harvey standing in the lobby at Trump Tower. Apparently he had been invited by both transition teams to a conversation with the President Elect and Ben Carson, nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. They want him to …
Staying with Jesus…
John 1:29-41 “The disciples came and saw and stayed…” (John 1:39) So what is it to ‘stay’ with Jesus? What must that have been for Andrew and the other disciple? Was it a place of peace? Or challenge? Or both? Was it what it might have been to finally come home or was it like …
Bruised Reeds and Dimly Burning Wicks
Isaiah 42:1-9 Matthew 3:13-17 It is so that I do not remember many sermons — not even my own. Among such a handful, though, is one I listened to more than thirty years ago. I was in my first year of seminary. Daily chapel was held then in an old gymnasium where students and faculty …