January 2026 – Wicomico Presbyterian Church

God’s Grief

This morning I picked up a devotional book called, For Such A Time as This, by Hanna Reichel, turned to page 46 and read this bit of verse from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. People turn to God when they are sore bestead; pray for help, ask for peace and bread; seek release from being ill, guilty, and dead; so do they all, all, Christians and heathens. People turn to God when He is sore bestead, find him poor, scorned, without roof and bread, devoured by weakness and sin, near dead: Christians stand by God in God’s grief. God turns to all people when they are sore bestead, feeds their souls and bodies with God’s bread; for Christians and heathens at the cross God meets death: and gives both of them relief. (translated from German by Martin Tel and Hanna Reichel) This week our grief and confusion, our fear and anger are heightened by the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Bonhoeffer […]

The Gift of Bold Action

Matthew 4:12-23 This sermon was recorded and released before hearing about the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Such reckless violence and cruel loss of life adds weight to the need for Christians to act boldly. I once had a pastor who loved Taco Bell. It was his go-to. I think their taco supreme and nacho cheese chips were a staple in his diet – that is, until the day he decided to participate in a boycott of Taco Bell. This was back in 2001. There was a nationwide boycott of the restaurant chain in support of migrant farm workers – the ones who pick the tomatoes for the tacos. The concerns included poor working and living conditions and extremely low wages for workers who had very little power to stand up for their rights. Several denominations supported it – the PCUSA, the United Methodist Church, the Disciples of Christ, […]

The Gift of Curiosity

John 1:29-42 During these weeks between Epiphany and the start of Lent, we are exploring the gifts of God that keep on giving. Gifts that may not seem like gifts at first glance. Gifts that only God can give. And this week it is the gift of curiosity. My mother liked to talk about how I would drive her crazy when I was young, by always asking, “Why?” I guess, like a lot of children, I just wanted answers. I was very curious. Not terribly adventurous – I was cautious about where I went and what I did. But, you find out, curiosity will sometimes lead you right into great adventures. Think of Moses. Out in the wilderness with the sheep when he sees something unusual in his peripheral vision. It’s a bush that seems to be in flames. Moses was curious; he wanted to know why this was happening, […]

The Gift of Community

Matthew 3:13-17 The Baptism of the Lord Sunday is a good time for us to remember our baptism, which is something we share with Jesus. He was baptized by John in the Jordan River. John didn’t actually want to baptize Jesus, He protested, “I should be baptized by you! Why are you coming to be baptized by me?” John wasn’t wrong about this. But Jesus was doing something new. With his life, Jesus was writing a story – a story about who we are as human beings. A story about a family knit together by love and faith. A story that began long before he was born and continues long after we are gone. Jesus submitted to John, letting himself be submerged in the river, and when he rose up from the water a voice from the heavens was heard saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I […]

The Gift of Unexpected Gifts

Matthew 2:1-12 I wonder if you all received what you wanted to receive this Christmas. Perhaps you received some surprises. Good surprises, I hope. I have a childhood memory of opening a gift from my mother and being disappointed by it. It wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want to be a rude and ungrateful child, but I couldn’t seem to hide my disappointment. She kept watching me and she asked, “Don’t you like it?” I think I said yes, I do, but not very convincingly. I was disappointed in the moment. Later I grew to like the gift very much, and I tried to tell her that often. Although I don’t think it made up for the poor way I received it. Receiving gifts can be fraught with difficulties. Very often there are expectations we have with one another – that the gifts given and received should be approximately […]

Meanwhile, In The World

Matthew 2:13-23 Like many families, in our home we want everything to be beautiful and joyful and satisfying on Christmas. We want everyone to feel comfortable and loved and content. And we do a pretty good job of it, it seems. Yet the real truth of Christmas has the power to come through any shiny veneer we might put on it. In Matthew’s gospel, we hear about the angel who came to Joseph and told him not to be afraid; the one who is responsible for Joseph being there when Mary’s child was born. And we hear about the Magi who followed the star all the way to Bethlehem where they knelt before the child and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Both are beautiful pieces of the story we cherish and retell each year. But no sooner have the Magi left when we hear that an angel has […]

Slow Work, Good Work

I learned something new this week: Christmas Eve marked 70 years that the North American Aerospace Defense Command has been tracking Santa’s sleigh. According to the story I read, it started in 1955 when a child tried to call a Santa hotline, but accidentally called this defense agency and got Colonel Harry Shoup on the line. Initially the Colonel was confused, but he recovered quickly and realized the opportunity here. From that point on they made it their responsibility to track Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, providing regular updates on the sleigh’s location. Every year, they answer phone calls from children around the world, assuring them that all is well and Santa is on his way. It’s a truly unique way that our military offers protection and assurance to the citizens of the world. A kinder, gentler face of our fighting forces – but apparently all in line with the […]

Child of God

Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew 1:18-25 I can still remember some of the things people said to us before our first child, Kira, was born. Everybody had some kind of advice – some good, some not so great. One of the things I remember was you should go out on dates, do adult things, just take advantage of the fact that your time is your own. Because that life is about to end. This is one of the things you sacrifice when you have children. But it’s only one of the things. Lots of things change when you have children no one ever tells you about. You only find out after the fact. They are definitely more expensive than the tax deduction you got, that’s one thing. The last time I slept through the night was over forty years ago, that’s another. You discover ways to worry and sources of frustration that […]