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Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-20 When I was a graduate student in Texas, I attended a Lutheran campus ministry. We had services every Sunday morning, just like most churches. We followed the lectionary, we heard a sermon, and we celebrated the sacraments. Our pastor, whom we called PJ, had a certain way he liked to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. He would invite us all up to the front, to stand in a circle around the altar. And the first thing he would do was take a little dish of salt. He would go around the circle to each one of us, take a pinch of salt and put it on our tongues, saying, “remember your baptism.” Remember your baptism. I was always a little bit mystified by this ritual. I wasn’t entirely certain I understood what salt had to do with my baptism. But I liked it. A little bit of salt tastes […]

The Blessing Way

Micah 6:1-8 Matthew 5:1-12 There is a movie called Hashtag Blessed. It’s about a young woman who is miserable in her life for a variety of reasons, but one key cause is that she is trying to live her life through the lens of Instagram. And that is a lens that is almost guaranteed to make you feel like your life doesn’t measure up. She scrolls through and sees a picture from a friend who just got a new car! #blessedlife! Other friends looking fine in their fancy clothes, hanging out in elegant places, surrounded by dazzling, glittery things – #blessedlife! Real life just doesn’t measure up to that for most of us. Sometimes we are a little confused about what it means when we talk about blessing, being blessed. In the popular vernacular, to be blessed is about the same as being lucky. Or maybe being good – good […]

Saying “Yes”

Matthew 4:12-23 Something that has become a popular thing for the church to do around epiphany is a thing called Star Words. This activity is based on the premise of the magi followed the star to find Jesus. And so each person is given a star with a single word printed on it. Somehow, we follow where that word leads us. Spiritually. For a whole year. You can use it in your daily prayer, journaling, art, or however you like. I have never done it before, but this year I went to a presbytery Epiphany luncheon where I was offered a star. I selected a bright pink one. The color made me smile. But when I turned it over and looked at the word I stopped smiling. The word was “Try.” Try? Who would think that this word would be a good word to meditate on? Try? Just looking at […]

What Men Are These?

Matthew 2:1-12 Because I wanted to get off to a riveting start this year, I thought we might begin with a little examination of the genealogy of Jesus. Shall we? Yes, I know. Some of you are thinking reading through the genealogy is about as riveting as reading through the card catalog. And others of you are now thinking what’s a card catalog? But, come on. It will be fun. “Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers” – and it goes on for a bit like that. Typically, genealogies in scripture contain the names of the men in the line of descent – the patriarchs. And there are plenty of them in this list. So many that most readers probably don’t even notice that Matthew has thrown a few women in. Four, to be exact. What […]

Sacred Doing

Isaiah 63:7-9 Matthew 2:13-23 I have been reminded this week about a remark someone made to me once. Nothing you probably haven’t heard too. Just that all the things that happen in our lives – the happy things, the sad things, the crazy things, the boring things – they all stay with us and remain a part of who we are and always will be. Our life experiences – all of them, not just the ones we choose, make us the men and women we are. The good, the bad, and the indifferent. We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is choose how we will remember it, and that is a choice. How we choose to remember the things that have made up our lives, it matters. The ways in which we remember things are important for how they shape us, how they give our life meaning. […]

The Face of God

In the Old Testament stories of the fathers of our faith – Abraham, Jacob, Moses – they speak of seeing the face of God. For these men of ancient days, there was the longing to see, the hope of seeing, and yet, for most, the impossibility of seeing God face to face. Still they hoped. We, too, might know this yearning, this desire to see God and feel God’s presence more fully. Because there is something in us that knows: in nearness to God we may know life in its fullness. It is a great mystery, one that we find ourselves drawn to again and again. It is this mystery that showed itself to Mary and Joseph, each one of them visited by an angel. In these visions, or dreams, they learned that they would become parents together of a very special son – one who would bring salvation to […]

Sacred Knowing

Isaiah 7:10-16 Matthew1:18-25 I don’t think I have ever quoted rap lyrics before, but the words that I keep thinking of all week come from the Notorious B.I.G: If you don’t know, now you know. If you don’t know, now you know: that something, maybe something you never wanted to know, something you never even guessed at…something your imagination could not encompass…well, now you know. Now you know…and the question is, what are you going to do with it? Like King Ahaz, whom we meet in Isaiah. Ahaz is in a tight spot. Caught between two choices, neither of which feels good to him. Ahaz thinks he knows what is right. He knows the law, as he should. But he also knows he is afraid, like everyone else around him is. The Lord comes to Ahaz and asks him: wouldn’t you like to know what I know? But Ahaz doesn’t want […]

Sacred Space

Isaiah 35:1-10 Luke 1:46-55 Frederick Buechner wrote, “Happiness turns up more or less where you’d expect it to – a good marriage, a rewarding job, a pleasant vacation. Joy, on the other hand, is as notoriously unpredictable as the one who bequeaths it.” And joy is as surprising as usual today in our texts. The song from Isaiah is shockingly glorious! Imagine: the gladness of a dry land; a full blossoming in the desert! Weak hands mysteriously and suddenly made strong! Burning sands become a pool of refreshing water; the haunt of the jackals becomes a reedy, mossy swamp. Life-giving water abounds! A highway runs through it called the Holy Way, and not even a fool could get lost on it! The redeemed shall walk there, they will come singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. Everlasting joy, in the place one would least expect it. The Bible […]

Sacred People

Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 Years ago, Kim and I went out to the store to buy a door mat. We looked around at all the options. I argued that it was essential for us to have a mat that says “Welcome.” You know, just in case someone might think we are not welcoming people, our mat would assure them of our good intentions. But that’s not enough, is it? Having a mat at my door that says “welcome” is like having a sign in my kitchen that says “clean.” It’s a nice thought, but will words actually get it done? Are words enough? Every Sunday I stand in the pulpit and say the word “Welcome” to everyone in the room and everyone watching our livestream. Every Sunday we have someone posted at the parking lot door to welcome each person that comes in. Friendly individuals in our congregation will always make the effort to find the folks who may be here for the first time, or who haven’t been here for a while and offer them a warm welcome. All these things are essential. But […]

Advent One: Sacred Time

Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 When we come to the season of Advent we begin again. We begin the cycle of our worship year, and we begin with waiting. Waiting accompanies beginnings in a natural way. We wait for the beginning of a new life through nine months of pregnancy. We wait for the beginning of a new school year. We wait for vacations, for promotions, for the release of a long-awaited movie or a new book from a favorite author. We wait for a response to our email. We wait for someone to return our phone call. We are always waiting. We wait for doctor appointments and dentist appointments. We wait for the furniture we ordered to be delivered. We wait. We wait for spring and then for summer. We wait for someone to notice us and offer us what we need. We just wait. We wait for the […]

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