Matthew 22:15-22 There was an evening one December when I sat around a table with the elders of the church I was serving. Somehow, we got talking about the “War on Christmas.” This was back when it was a pretty hot topic. It still comes around every year, but it’s lost a lot of the energy it had back then. The big issue then was whether it was lawful, I guess you could say, to wish people a Merry Christmas. Some of the elders talked about how angry they were when store clerks wished them “Happy Holidays” and what they wanted to hear was “Merry Christmas.” One of the elders got very agitated, saying she didn’t care what their beliefs were, what they were celebrating or not celebrating. This is America and in America the majority rules. But, of course, in the matter of religion, that is exactly the opposite […]
Continue readingAuthor: Maggie Gillespie
Stories that Teach, Week 5: Responding
Matthew 22:1-14 There’s a good chance you are familiar with this parable. But I’m going to venture a guess that you didn’t remember that part about the man who forgot his wedding robe. You know, the guy who was thrown into the outer darkness because he was dressed inappropriately? Did you forget that detail? I know I try to. If I preach or teach on the parable of the banquet, I usually choose Luke’s version, because it doesn’t have all this nastiness, all this violence. Luke’s is the G-rated version of this parable, the “good news” that goes down easily, whereas Matthew tells a story that gets caught in our throats. Typical of Matthew. Yet, we might have conflicting feelings about this story. I think there are elements of the parable that are very appealing to us, elements that resonate with our lives. We know how it feels to plan […]
Continue readingStories that Teach, Week 4: New Fruit
Matthew 21:33-46 Let me tell you a story about an experience I had. I was leading a Bible study in a congregation where I had just begun working. At the end of our study we stood and held hands for a circle prayer – we would go around the circle and those who want to add their petitions do. We got to Cathy and she opened her mouth to speak and just started sobbing – big shaking sobs. She spoke her prayer, all the while sobbing. It was alarming to me. I thought, “Oh my goodness, what’s the matter? What’s she so troubled about?” I was also kind of disturbed that no one else seemed to react at all. The next week it happened again. I gradually learned that this is just what Cathy does. It is a part of who she is. She opens her mouth to pray and the sobs just come falling out. Everybody knew it […]
Continue readingStories that Teach, Week 3: Doing the Work
Matthew 21:23-32 What do you think? I have a personal affinity for this parable of the man with two sons. When I hear it, this is what I think: I have two daughters. When I would say to the first daughter, “Do this,” she would say, “No.” But then she would do it. When I would say to the second daughter, “I think you should do this,” she would say, “Yes.” But then she would not do it. Which of the two did the will of her mother? This is the parable as I have lived it. And so all the action in the parable evokes real feelings for me – remembrances of how I felt in that same situation. And even if you haven’t lived this parable as I have, it is probably not too hard for you to relate to it, somehow. I identify with the father, […]
Continue readingStories that Teach, Week 2: God’s Economy
Exodus 16:2-15 ; Matthew 20:1-16 When I call the gospel “good news,” it is not without a certain amount of trepidation. Because I know there are parts of the gospel that don’t necessarily strike us as good news. There are parts that makes us utterly confused. And there are parts that make us squirm uncomfortably. And there are parts that, when we hear them, we just say, “Nope.” Not all of the good news feels good. And I suppose that was intentional. Jesus didn’t want his listeners to just feel good, he wanted them to change! Consider the conversations that have been going on up to this point. It was just a few verses ago that some people brought their children to Jesus. They wanted Jesus to lay his hands on them and bless them, which seems perfectly reasonable to us. But his disciples were all into crowd control. There […]
Continue readingStories that Teach, Week 1: Forgiveness
Matthew 18:21-35 Did you ever hear the story of Alvin Straight? Alvin lived in Laurens, Iowa. When he was 73 years old he set out on a 240-mile journey to see his estranged brother, Henry, in Wisconsin. Henry had recently had a stroke, Alvin heard. They had not spoken to each other in 10 years. But now Alvin felt the need to reconcile with Henry. The only problem was Alvin didn’t have a driver’s license anymore. But he did not let that stop him. He hopped on his John Deere lawn tractor and hit the road. People thought he had gone off his rocker, but Alvin was determined to make his way to his brother somehow. It took him six weeks. There was a movie made about Alvin, called The Straight Story. There’s a scene in the film where, as he gets near Henry’s home, he has an […]
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Exodus 3:1-15 Last week I talked to you about the best first lines of novels. Today I want to tell you about one of the best book titles I have heard: A Good Walk Spoiled. It’s a book about the game of golf. I don’t play golf, but I like the title very much. It speaks to me, and I’ll tell you why: The author writes, “One week you’ve discovered the secret to the game; the next week you never want to play it again.” This could be said about ministry. And when I say ministry, I mean every Christian who is called to walk the walk of faith. Sometimes it feels like a good walk spoiled. Moses would relate. There he was, out for a walk – just Moses and the flock – and the angel of the Lord calls to him from this burning bush. He just had to look. […]
Continue readingBy the Grace of God
Exodus 1:8-2:10 A favorite pastime among readers is to list the best first lines of novels – sentences that are so good they hook the reader instantly. Think of the opening line from Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Or Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” from A Tale of Two Cities, and my personal favorite: “124 was spiteful,” from Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. And chapter 1, verse 8 from the book of Exodus, is also one of the best: “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Now, you might say it doesn’t count because it’s not the first line – it’s the eighth line of the book. Technically you are right – but I think verses 1-7 are more like a prologue to the story. The real […]
Continue readingMeaning and Purpose
Genesis 45:1-15 Some years ago when I was a campus minister, I knew a student named Megan – a very dear young woman. She had this ability to find the silver lining in everything. Megan could find something hopeful in every disappointment, and she would always say: “In a way, I’m glad this happened,” and then she would tell me how she had found some new opportunity in the setback. Megan had a talent for reframing her disappointments. Of course, these were all relatively minor disappointments. I don’t know how she would have handled a real crisis, the kind of thing Joseph was thrown into again and again and again. So much has happened to Joseph since last week, when he was trotted off to Egypt with the Ishmaelite caravan. There he was sold to Potiphar, an official in Pharaoh’s court, and Joseph rose quickly in Potiphar’s household, soon put […]
Continue readingDreamers
Genesis 37:1-38 When I ask people about their dreams, often they say, “I don’t have dreams, I just don’t dream.” Or, if they do have dreams, they don’t remember them. But, sometimes, if we continue talking they will remember a dream they had … then maybe another dream will come to mind. When it comes to dreaming, I think we all do it – it’s a matter of being mindful of our dreams. During the past six months, I have read, many people have been experiencing pandemic dreams. Some of them are pretty obvious – like dreams about being sick, or having a loved one sick with the virus, dreams about being unable to breath or desperately trying to find your lost face mask. But some are weird and funny dreams – like being wrapped up in toilet paper and being the envy of all who see you. Being surrounded […]
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