Biblical Text: 1 Kings 3:1-15 NLT
What a day. Emergency organist replacements, still singlehanded, and a bunch of other things.
But this is one of those sermons you put in the book, the book of ones that you feel good about. What is the seat of wisdom? The text is Solomon’s request and then his life. It is also the answer that I am pretty sure we are missing in most of our troubles. I’d invite you to give a listen.
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The first Sunday after Christmas has what for me is a terrible text, The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents. Immediately after Christmas we get something that reminds us of the type of Kingdom, the type of King who has come. His Kingdom is not of this world while being firmly in it. This sermon is a reflection on that. (And I hope it is understandable. I had surgery on Friday afternoon, and so the pain killers were still working here. A nod to being in this kingdom while looking for that resurrection. The text is not quite as clean as I just don’t have my main hand, so I dictated and went rough.)
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A meditation on the Hebrews 1:1-6 reading – the Word Spoken long ago in many ways, today made ours.
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This is our Christmas Eve service which is largely lessons and carols. The sermon starts about 25 mins. Did you come for nostalgia, or did you come to worship? Nostalgia is a brittle thing. The incarnation, Christmas? Not so. Still the newest thing on this old earth. Worthy of worship.
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Biblical Text: Isaiah 7:1-17, Matthew 1: 18-25
What is the virginity of Mary all about anyway? That is what this sermon is about. Matthew tells you, but he tells you by pointing you at the Israel’s story, in this case at Ahaz and Isaiah. I’ll cut this short, it is about hope. It is about how God conceives hope, when all our natural hopes are gone. But this sermon takes a longer look at that. And why the Virgin Birth should conceive hope in all hearts.
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This was our children’s program, so the order is slightly different. It was also slightly different for us this year. Each year who you have changes, so you work around that. This year we had a bunch of late elementary. So less dress up, also less absolute perfection, but still perfect in its way. Part of the riotous glory of the creation my meditation speaks about the Christ child coming to save. He made it good, and came to live with us. Announced by Angels, to shepherds and sages. Proclaimed by silly preachers and humble children. Come and Worship, Christ, the newborn king.
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Biblical Text: Matthew 3:1-12
The Baptist calls Israel back to their core beliefs. God will come down and redeem us. We are not enough in ourselves, but the Lord fights for us. And this God is a creator God, and a re-creator. When God comes down and establishes his reign, he is not limited to what he finds. He shall create all things new. And so what we – what Israel – can do is prepare. We can prepare the way of the Lord. We can make his paths straight. What does that mean? It does not mean that we build the Kingdom. Neither does it mean we melt away into the Kingdoms of the World. What it mean is that we believe. We repent of where we have gone wrong. And we bear the fruits of that repentance. Christ has delivered us from sin, and the power of the devil. And he will deliver us from death. We prepare to re-cross that Jordan.
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Biblical Text: Matthew 21:1-11
The first Sunday in Advent often carries over a theme from the previous week – the Kingship of Christ. But instead of concentrating on the fulfillment of the Kingdom, Advent places us back in our temporal surroundings. It reminds us that the Kingdom comes humbly. It comes by invitation and promise. It comes one heart at a time. And yet it is a Kingdom. We are called to watch. It has a King.
This sermon is a meditation in a busy week of what it means in our day to have a King. And I think that most realistic analogy is when we talk identities. This is an advent pondering on putting on Christ.
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Biblical Text: Luke 23:27-43
This is the last Sunday of the Church Year which recent tradition has often labeled Christ the King Sunday. The gospel lesson from the year we spend in Luke is a preaching opportunity I relish. The criminal on the cross is the bane of the theologian, but I’d bet one of the best remembered by ordinary folks. He scrambles everybody’s system, but he holds out the greatest hope. And of course is rests simply on the Grace of the King. It rests on sovereign choice. This sermon for Christ the King Sunday, is a meditation on that King’s Choice. Why is rightly causes fear…and why it should cause love.
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Biblical Text: Luke 21:5-28
What do me mean when we talk about last things? There of course is the very literal, but other than 10,000 mile stuff, Jesus really doesn’t answer that. Because that is not what we are talking about. What we are talking about is impermanence and our anxiety caused by that impermanence. And that is was Jesus goes after. Even these “noble stones” of the temple will come down. This thing that centers our identity will fail. All earthly props will give way. And Jesus goes on to name them. And then he gives us a promise. “Not a single hair of your head will perish.”
You have both the knowledge and the promise. The knowledge that yes, the world is impermanent. Don’t place your faith in it, in any part of it. The promise that there is a permanent thing, and that you are already a part of it. The Kingdom of God is coming with power and great glory. So straighten up an raise your heads. Because this is your redemption. This is your hour.
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