Sermon: “The X(mas) Files: WHY?” John 3:16-17 (December 24, 2023 - Christmas Eve)

Over the four weeks of Advent, the congregation of Boone Church has been playing detective as we investigated the familiar scripture that informs our understanding of Christmas. I’ve been putting on this hat and asking the basic “W” questions to help us better understand the nature of this Messiah whose birth we celebrate each year: who, what, when, and where. We’ve discovered that when we ask these questions about the Christ with open and inquisitive minds, we can learn just as much about ourselves as we do about God. The question of “Who” the Messiah is led us to ask who it is that we actually follow as our messiah. The question of “What” the Messiah is coming to accomplish led us to ask what we might be misunderstanding about Jesus’ agenda. The question of “When” the Messiah would come led us to ask if we’re able to see ALL the ways that God has been, is, and will be working in the world. And just this morning, the question of “Where” the Messiah can be found led us to ask how far we’re willing to go to find him. So we’ve learned a lot from this ancient story that we’ve heard thousands of times before…and we’ve learned a lot about how its message echoes in our own lives even today.

Liturgy, Christmas Eve: The X(mas) Files: WHY?, Lessons and Carols (December 24, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Lighting of the Advent Candles

Sermon: “The X(mas) Files: Where?” Micah 5:1-5/Matthew 2 (December 24, 2023 - Christmas Eve)

Of all the questions we’ve asked this Advent, I’d have to guess that “Where” is the most practical. Even if we think that we’ve got the “who”, “what”, and “when” of the Messiah figured out, the “where” is what brings it all together; it’s the part that takes the Messiah from the hypothetical realm to the incarnational. And we can’t worship the Messiah very well if we don’t even know where to look! As they say in real estate, it’s all about “location, location, location”! So, for one last time before we gather to celebrate Christ’s birth tonight, let’s put on our detective hats, gather the clues, and see what answers we can find!

Liturgy, Advent 4: The X(mas) Files: WHERE?, Micah 5:1-5a/Matthew 2:1-8 (December 24, 2023)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #105, “People Look East”

Hymn GTG #467, “Give Us Light”
Hymn GTG #317, “In Christ There Is No East or West”

Hymn GTG #93, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”

Sermon: “The X(mas) Files: When?” Psalm 13/Luke 1:46-55 (December 17, 2023 - Advent 3)

I forgot to hit record - the sermon audio starts at the * in the first paragraph.

About six months ago, I dusted off my old Duolingo account and started learning French again. I’ve formally studied Spanish, French, Greek, and Hebrew at one time or another, but I stuck with French the longest, so I figured it’d be the easiest to pick back up again. I was right, but *even as the vocabulary and grammar started to come back to me, I also (re)discovered one of the most difficult parts of learning a new language: reframing the way that you think about time.

Liturgy, Advent 3: The X(mas) Files: WHEN?, Psalm 13/Luke1:46-55 (December 17, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #82, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”

Hymn GTG #92, “Sing Out, My Soul”
Hymn GTG #384, “Soon and Very Soon”

Hymn GTG #100, “My Soul Cries Out”

Sermon: “The X(mas) Files: WHAT?", Isaiah 61:1-4/Luke 4:16-30 (December 10, 2023)

This week, we continue our investigation into the familiar prophecies and stories that inform our understanding of Christmas. If we want our faith and relationship with God to continue to grow throughout our lives, we have to be willing to question what we think we know and to be prepared to discover things we hadn’t considered before. Last week, on the first Sunday of Advent, we asked our first question, “Who?”, and we realized that it’s less important for us to ask WHO the Messiah is than it is to ask who WE are treating as our Messiah. Now, let’s put on our detective hats once again to explore the “What?” of the Christmas story: what is it that the Messiah has been sent to do, or as I like to call it, “The Jesus Agenda”.

Liturgy, Advent 2: The X(mas) Files: WHAT?, Isaiah 61:1-4/Luke 4:16-30 (December 10, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #86, “The People Who Walked in Darkness”
Hymn GTG #90, “Wait for the Lord"
Hymn GTG #852, “When the Lord Redeems the Very Least”

Hymn GTG #772, “Live Into Hope”

Sermon: "The X(mas) Files: WHO?", Isaiah 40:1-5/Luke 3:2-9, 15-16 (December 3, 2023)

This Advent, we’re going to be investigating “The Xmas Files” together: we’ll be taking on the role of detectives: digging into the scripture that informs our understanding of that first Christmas Day over 2000 years ago, and examining how those events still echo in our lives today. Although undoubtedly a worthwhile endeavor for the weeks leading up to Christmas, this task won’t be easy because, if we’re being honest, we’re pretty far from objective as investigators go. These stories have personal meaning to us, and we’ve heard them so many times (usually in the exact same context and manner) that our understanding of them has calcified over the years into something easy and comfortable. While this generally suits us fine in an otherwise festive time of year, if I had to pick any two words that absolutely do NOT describe God’s kindom, I’d probably choose “easy” and “comfortable”. So, as members of a denomination that traditionally places a high value on intellectual curiosity, we’re going to let go of what we think we know, put on our detective hats, and trust God’s Word enough to subject it to questioning – starting this week with the question of WHO?

Liturgy, Advent 1: The X(Mas) Files: WHO?; Isaiah 40:1-5, Luke 3:2-9, 15-16 (December 3, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #88, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (vv. 1, 3, & 7)
Hymn GTG #95, "Prepare the Way of the Lord"
Hymn GTG #145, “What Child Is This?”

Sermon: "Bet Your Life", Hosea 11:1-9 (November 12, 2023)

As you all know, I had a minor medical procedure on Friday, which is temporarily impacting my voice. I’m so grateful to for the help of our currently serving leadership so that I don’t have to talk for an hour straight this morning, but I still felt it was important to preach the sermon myself. Since most of my weekend has been taken up by the procedure and recovery, I’d originally planned to recycle a sermon on Hosea that I wrote four years ago. But apparently, as is so often the case, the Holy Spirit had other plans.

Liturgy: Hosea, Hosea 11:1-9 (November 12, 2023)

  *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

GTG #60, “Your Endless Love, Your Mighty Acts"

GTG #435, “There's A Wideness in God's Mercy”

GTG #39, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

Sermon: "R.O.I.", 1 Kings 18:20-39 (November 5, 2023)

Today’s scripture reading may be a new story to some of you, but regardless of how well you know it, we can all tell right away that we’re supposed to take a side here. The obvious choice, of course, is Elijah, right? He’s depicted as such a cool guy, the paradigm of a self-assured protagonist: sassing back to King Ahab, calling out the people on their indecisiveness, taking on 450 of Baal’s prophets singlehandedly, then making fun of them when they’re unsuccessful…you start to understand why he’s such a big deal, scripturally speaking, even without a book of prophesy named after him. He’s a wise-cracking, no-nonsense biblical superhero!

Liturgy: Elijah at Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18:20-39 (November 5, 2023)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

GTG #409, “God Is Here!”

GTG #326, “For All the Saints”

Sermon: "From Scratch", 1 Kings 12:1-17 (October 29, 2023)

One of the most valuable pieces of preaching advice I ever got is, “Don’t be afraid to throw out your babies.” It doesn’t mean that children and pets should be exiled until the sermon is written (although that definitely would speed up the process significantly). What it means is that inevitably, an especially clever turn of phrase or a particularly insightful point will find its way into your sermon every so often. You will be tempted to preserve that sentence or paragraph at all costs because you like it so much; you may attempt linguistic or interpretive gymnastics in order to make it work. But if it doesn’t strengthen the point of the sermon – or worse, detracts from it – you have to be willing to cut it out. You have to be prepared to let your “baby” go completely for the sake of the message.

Liturgy: The Kingdom Divided, 1 Kings 12:1-17 (October 29, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

GTG #275, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

GTG #379, “We Shall Overcome”

GTG #313, “Lord, Make Us More Holy”

Sermon: “For the Briefest of Moments…”, 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6:1-5 (October 22, 2023)

Now that we’re over halfway through the First Testament in this cycle of the Narrative Lectionary, it’s worth remembering where we’ve come from before we find out where we’re going next. We began this Lectionary Year with the second creation story in Genesis, considering what was dysfunctional about the relationship between Adam and Eve. Then, we skipped ahead to Abraham and Sarah’s communication problems, which were uncovered when they learned that they would have a son despite their age. Next, we spent a week with their grandson, Jacob, who would apparently prefer to wrestle with a stranger than have a conversation with him. After that, we picked up the story many years later with Moses and his excuses about why he shouldn’t have to free God’s people. We fast-forwarded past the plagues, the Exodus, and the Israelites wandering in the desert, and then we heard part of Moses’ final speech to the Hebrews, where he begged them to pretty please remember that there’s only one God and that it’s SO IMPORTANT to follow God’s commandments (spoiler alert: it doesn’t work). And finally, we spent last week with Ruth and Naomi in the time of the Judges, after the Israelites had settled into their new home and, as scripture puts it, “there was no king in Israel, [so] people did whatever they felt like doing.”[1]

Phew. That’s a lot of ground to cover in six weeks. Looking at the history of God’s people from a bird’s eye view like this, a theme begins to emerge – it turns out that human beings are really bad at living together. We just keep messing it up. Despite our best intentions and God’s best efforts, human beings are forgetful, selfish, combative, and divisive.

Liturgy: David Anointed King, 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6:1-5 (October 22, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #37, “Let All Things Now Living”

Hymn GTG #74, “When God Restored Our Common Life”
Hymn GTG #769, “For Everyone Born” (verses 1, 2, 3, & 5)

Sermon: "Bound By Love", Ruth 1:1-17 (October 15, 2023)

Just over a week ago, the world reacted in horror when Hamas, the so-called “Islamic Resistance Movement” within Palestine, violently and unexpectedly attacked Israel. Although this specific strike came as a surprise, it was far from an isolated incident: it’s just the latest event in the long and complicated history of conflict between Israel and Palestine, dating back to over 70 years ago. Yet even though there are many factors in play (including the fact that between 40-50% of the Palestinian and Israeli people oppose Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, respectively)[1],[2] many people see this struggle as a black and white issue: one side is right, and the other side is wrong. The global community seems to be just as starkly divided as the nations that are actually involved in the conflict. Each nation has done whatever moral calculus makes sense to them, and they’ve chosen a side.

Liturgy: Ruth, Ruth 1:1-17 (October 15, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #306, “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds”

Hymn GTG #340, “This Is My Song”
Hymn GTG #300, “We Are One in the Spirit”

Sermon: “K.I.S.S.”, Exodus 3:1-15 (October 1, 2023)

Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?” His point, of course, was to say that one’s name is unimportant, that it doesn’t change who the person behind the name is. While that sentiment does have SOME merit, it’s ultimately irrelevant: a name may not change who a person is, but it definitely impacts how we move about in the world and how we’re perceived. (And this is, whether intentionally or not, exactly what Romeo and Juliet wound up proving in the end.)

Liturgy: God's Name, Exodus 3:1-15 (October 1, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Exodus 3:11-14)

Leader: Moses asked God, “Who am I to free your people?”
People: And God said, “You are the one I am sending.”
Leader: Moses asked God, “And who are YOU to deliver the Israelites?”
People: And God said, “I Am Who I Am.”
Leader: We are enough as we are, and God is enough now and forever – and that is enough.
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: “Behind the Laughter”, Genesis 18:1-2, 8-15 (September 17, 2023)

I have to confess that I’ve abbreviated today’s reading quite a bit from the original text given by the Narrative Lectionary. The full reading includes verses 3-7, plus Isaac’s birth in chapter 21. It wants us to focus on Abraham’s hospitality and to tie up the story with a nice big bow: the impossible promise being fulfilled. But framing the story in this way is unfair to Sarah. So much of Sarah’s story is overshadowed by her husband and HIS relationship with the Lord. Although she’s as much a part of God’s covenant as he is, she remains relegated mostly to the background, silent and alone, for much of the story. I’m tired of her experience being rendered invisible, and so – at least for today – Sarah will be at the center of this story.

Liturgy: God Promises the Impossible, Genesis 18:1-2, 8-15 (September 17, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Call to Worship (based on Genesis 17:17, 18:12)

Leader: God promised, and Abraham laughed.
People: It is hard to believe the impossible.
Leader: God promised, and Sarah laughed.
People: It is hard to let hope enter a grieving heart.
Leader: Open our hearts, O God, to the unexpected.
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: “Rewriting Creation”, Genesis 2.4-9, 15-24 (September 10, 2023)

We’ve been bopping around the Bible throughout summer months, with adventures in Isaiah, 2 Peter, the Wisdom Literature, and Deuteronomy, but today, we’re jumping back into year two of the Narrative Lectionary. The point of this lectionary, as you may recall, is to read through Scripture more like a story, which means we’re headed back to the beginning. Back to the origins of God’s people in Genesis.

But not quite the VERY beginning. You’ll notice we’re not starting this year with the FIRST chapter of Genesis. This isn’t for any sort of nefarious reason; we’ll get the chance to read Genesis 1 in year 4 of the lectionary cycle. But this is a good opportunity for us to remember that, while the Narrative Lectionary does its best to present Scripture as a single, integrated account, that’s not, in fact, what the Bible actually is – ESPECIALLY in Genesis, and that goes double for the first 10 chapters or so of the book. The Bible is an anthology of texts from countless authors spanning thousands of years of history, many of which existed as oral traditions for centuries even before that.

Right off the bat, we have two separate accounts of creation that conflict with one another. In chapter 1, all human beings are created at the same time and after everything else, while in chapter 2, they’re created individually and before any other living thing. The first story is written as poetry while the second is written as narrative prose. The first exclusively calls God “Elohim”, while the second prefers to emphasize the Lord’s proper name, “YHWH”. In the first, God does all the talking, while in the second, humanity gets chatty. These are clearly two very different accounts of creation that developed independently before finally winding up as neighbors in Genesis.

All this is to say that it’s okay for us to struggle with scripture, because scripture often struggles with itself. Which is, frankly, a good thing because I really struggle with this second creation account, personally. This passage has historically been used to justify horrific misogyny and homophobia, claiming these attitudes to be ordained by God – and as you might imagine, I’m not cool with that. But unfortunately, the text itself, taken at face value, doesn’t do much to disabuse people of this conclusion. It’s a tough one to tackle with all the historical baggage it comes with.

But as I was begrudgingly reading through the text this week, it stirred within me a memory that felt almost as ancient as the stories found in Genesis, buried deep in the recesses of my brain. The way the passage concludes, by explaining, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife,” reminded me of a long-forgotten unit on African folklore from all the way back in elementary school. I remember funny stories about Anansi, the trickster spider, and an assortment of other anthropomorphic animals. Many of these tales were obviously meant to teach morals, but the ones I enjoyed the most were the ones that provided a creative explanation about some small aspect of how the world works. Stories like, “Why the dog barks”, “Why the antelope lives in the bush”, and “Why mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears.”

Whether or not this particular type of story is meant to be taken as fact (which isn’t for me to say) they’re generally more observational than judgmental in nature. Some of the characters in these tales might make questionable choices, but the stories themselves never make any assertions about morality – they don’t say, “This is the way things SHOULD be,” just, “This is how things ARE.” Their only objective is to offer some context for the kinds of things that everyone knows to be true, but nobody necessarily has an answer as to why.

Lest we carelessly label such stories “primitive” or “fanciful”, I should note that this sort of folklore isn’t exclusive to African cultures. Many different peoples, from the ancient Greeks to Native Americans all across North America, have similar stories. Judeo-Christian cultures have their share, too. There’s a legend about why dogs’ noses are wet and cold (because a quick-thinking dog saved Noah’s ark by using its nose to plug a hole in the side), and in fact, there’s a well-respected genre of scriptural interpretation, called “Midrash”, that, in the words of Rev. Dr. Vanessa Lovelace, “not only engages the words of the text, behind the text, and beyond the text, but also focuses on…the words left unsaid by each line.”[1] Midrash steps in to help answer questions that scripture itself doesn’t directly address.

If these sorts of stories can be found across human cultures AND religions – including our own – then wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume, given all the different types of literature found in the Bible, that scripture itself could contain examples of this genre, too? Once this thought occurred to me, it completely changed my approach to this text. Genesis 2 has troubling implications when read as the PARADIGM for human relationships, but what if it’s read as an EXPLANATION for why human relationships seem to follow this pattern? What we find in chapter 2 doesn’t necessarily sound to me like something that God would want for us…but it sure does sound like the sort of situation that humanity would create for itself.

God wants “the human” (whom we traditionally call Adam) to be happy, so God decides to create wild animals and birds from the soil to keep him company. We know that everything God creates is good, so any of these creatures would have been a perfectly fine companion for the human. But this story is NOT about what God wants at all, but about what ADAM wants, and Adam isn’t satisfied with any of these beings that are made from the same stuff that he is. Only once God presents Adam with a creature made from HIS flesh, HIS essence, is Adam satisfied – and he says as much.

Think about that. GOD isn’t the one who declares “the woman” (or Eve) to be the perfect companion; ADAM is. And to him, her perfection isn’t because of her personality or her intelligence or even just the fact that she can have a conversation with him; he declares her “the one” because she’s reliant on him for her being. Given the choice, Adam decided that he couldn’t be happy unless his companion was an extension of himself. And this is why, the story concludes, people leave their families to enter into co-dependent relationships with one another (you know, in not so many words).

God gives us free will in choosing and forming our relationships – romantic and otherwise. And too often, we settle for unbalanced relationships with people who either fawn over us or lord over us. Regardless of the genders or specific relationships involved, these are unhealthy patterns of behavior. Have you ever had a friend who somehow always makes you feel “not good enough”? Or an employee whose constant praise comes across as disingenuous? Or a family member who won’t let you forget that they’re more educated than you? Or a neighbor who’s always trying to “keep up with the Joneses” – the Joneses being you? Or – be honest – have YOU ever been any of these people? These sorts of relationships are toxic and unhealthy, and yet – as this story observes – it seems to be a common way that humans relate.

But the story also hints that this isn’t what God wants for us. Just before discovering exactly how ego-driven human beings can be, God says, “I will make [the person] him A HELPER that is perfect for him.” The Hebrew word translated as “helper” here is the same word used to describe GOD throughout many of the psalms: “Trust in the Lord! He is your helper and your shield!” Although the English word “helper” tends to have the connotation of “assistant” or “apprentice”, that’s certainly not what the psalmist meant! In contrast, this Hebrew word means something closer to “one who provides succor” or even “deliverer.” So God didn’t want to give Adam a pet or a servant, but someone who could provide strength and aid – a true partner. Eve may have been the companion that Adam WANTED (and vice versa, for that matter), but not the one that God wanted for HIM. God wants all of our relationships to be with people who can bring out the best in us, and us in them.

Now, spoiler alert, but things don’t end up going well for Adam and Eve. They mess up, blame each other, and are subsequently exiled from paradise. And yet we want to emulate this relationship? That doesn’t seem like the best choice. Think about what’s lost when we assume that this story is about “the way things should be”. We lose our chance to live in paradise. We lose the opportunity for a partner who supports us and inspires us to be a better version of ourselves. We lose out on relationships that are life-giving and kindom-building. When we understand this story as “the way things should be,” then there’s no reason for us to change, and we remain lost to our sin.

But when we understand this story instead as more of a folktale, explaining rather than instructing, we can find a new way forward. Rather than following the poor example of this first Adam, we can instead look to the one that many theologians (including the Apostle Paul) call “the NEW Adam”: Jesus Christ. In his resurrection, Christ rewrites this second story of creation, destroying the power that sin has held over us from our beginning – not just the sin of disobedience, but the sin of choosing to be in wrong relationship with one another. Christ rewrites “the way things are” and offers us the chance to live “the way things ACTUALLY should be”.

 

In freeing us from the inevitability of our relational sin, Jesus has handed us a pen. We get to rewrite creation alongside God. We get to cultivate, practice, and pursue holy relationships with one another. We get to work our way back to an Edenic existence, not as creatures who care only about ourselves, but this time as true partners. We get to call out those who idolize toxic patterns of relationship, especially within the Church, so that no one has to feel “less than” ever again. We get to learn the right lessons from this story – whether we believe it to be factual or more ambiguously “true” – and determine to do better.

Ancient ways of thinking are hard to change, just as ancient stories are hard to tell differently. But all things are possible with God, and God isn’t done writing yet. The end of our story is yet to be, and we get to have a hand in telling it. What do you imagine it will ultimately look like, this rewritten creation, this new beginning? Scripture has already told us: it will look like paradise. So let’s start rewriting. Amen.

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[1] Lovelace, Vanessa (September 11, 2018). "Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne, written by Wilda C. Gafney". Horizons in Biblical Theology. Volume 40 (Issue 2): pages 212–215.

Liturgy: God Creates Humans - Genesis 2:4-9, 15-24 (September 10, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Genesis 2:7)

Leader: Scripture tells us that the Lord God formed the first human from the earth’s soil and from heaven’s breath.
People: We are creatures of flesh and of spirit, of now and of eternity.
Leader: We belong both to this world and the world to come.
People: We are called by God to honor both parts of our being.
Leader: Let us worship the one who gave us breath!
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: "Shoot for the Moon", Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (September 3, 2023)

About a month ago, NPR’s Scott Detrow interviewed Russell Moore on the radio show “All Things Considered”. Russell Moore serves as editor-in-chief of the magazine Christianity Today, is the author of a new book about Evangelicalism in America, and USED to be a high-ranking official in the Southern Baptist Convention. I say “used to be” because he resigned from his position and left the denomination in 2021. He was gravely concerned about how the Southern Baptist Convention had handled allegations of sexual abuse as well as what he perceived as its tolerance for white nationalism within the church.[1] In his interview with NPR, he shared his thoughts about the crisis that Christianity is facing in America today.

Liturgy: 14th Sunday after Pentecost (September 3, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Psalm 133)

Leader: How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
People: God has anointed God’s people as family.
Leader: Together, we seek God’s blessing.
People: The Lord has ordained blessing for those living in beloved community.
Leader: Thanks be to God!
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: "But Why?", Deuteronomy 6:20-25 (August 27, 2023)

Kids ask a LOT of questions. I think we can all agree. It’s in their nature. A 2017 British study found that children ask an average of 73 questions a day,[1] which, while lower than the estimated 2.3 million that most toddler parents probably would have guessed, is still an impressive number. A majority of these questions are directed towards a parental figure – while kids today have access to technological resources like Google, Alexa, and Siri right at their fingertips, their caretakers are still their primary source of new information. This is probably for the best, considering how many of their questions require a nuanced response: Alexa may be able to tell your 3-year-old how much an elephant weighs without incident, but you don’t necessarily want her fielding the “were do babies come from” inquiry, and she’s certainly not equipped to satisfactorily explain why people who don’t finish their vegetables don’t get dessert in your house.

Liturgy: 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Deuteronomy 6 (August 27, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Deuteronomy 6:24)

Leader: Why does the Lord command us to live a certain way?
People: So that all of God’s beloved children might live full and prosperous lives.

Sermon: “Unlocking Eternity”, Ecclesiastes 3:9-17 (August 13, 2023)

The other day, when Nick and I were out to dinner, he brought up an experiment he’d read about recently (Our shared love language seems to be catching each other up on unusual or significant news stories). The article in question was about a scientist who’d figured out how to control aging in mice.[1] At first, I assumed this meant that he could speed up or slow down the rate of aging a little bit, but no; this scientist has figured out how to accelerate AND EVEN REVERSE aging in the experiment subjects. As you might expect, our dinner conversation quickly turned to the moral implications of this experiment, especially its role in the ongoing human quest for immortality.

Liturgy: 11th Sunday after Pentecost, Ecclesiastes (August 13, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Leader: To everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
People: A time for mourning and a time for dancing.

Sermon: "Mining for Wisdom", Job 28 (July 30, 2023)

You may be surprised that today’s reading is from Job. We don’t usually associate this book with Wisdom. Most of what we remember is its uncomfortable premise: Job, a completely blameless and virtuous man, has his property, his family, and ultimately even his own health ripped away from him as the result of a divine wager. A member of God’s heavenly court (referred to as “ha satan” or “the adversary”) bets God that Job is only righteous because of the many blessings he’s received. God accepts this challenge and gives Satan permission to essentially torture Job in order to find out.

Raise your hand if this premise makes you uncomfortable…You’re not alone. None of us signed up to worship a capricious God who’s willing to mess with humanity for the sake of a bet; if we wanted that, we’d have stuck with the Greek Pantheon. And this would be a legitimate concern…IF this were meant to be a historical narrative. But this book has never been considered a historical document. Job belongs, of course, to the genre of Wisdom Literature. It isn’t INTENDED to be taken literally; it’s supposed to teach us deeper truths about ourselves and about God, which we, in turn, are supposed to use to inform how we live our lives.

When we approach Job as a fable or a thought experiment[1] instead of a historical account, it’s easier to look past its details and consider the implications of the bigger picture. The divine wager isn’t intended to ANSWER the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” (The answer offered by the text, “because God gets bored sometimes”, is so absurdly inadequate that this should be obvious.) Instead, this story provides a hypothetical context that allows us to ASK the question, “How do we react to the realization that our understanding of God is wrong or incomplete?” We might prefer the knowledge of the former, but this book instead offers us the wisdom of the latter.

Every character in Job represents a different potential response to this (hypothetical) question. Early on, Job’s wife encourages him to “Curse God and die.”[2] A little intense, but this is nevertheless an important option to consider. It’s certainly an understandable reaction. Job did everything right, and God let him down. If you were betrayed by someone you trusted in any other context – a friend, colleague, partner, or family member – you’d certainly be tempted to give up on your relationship with them, to cut ties completely, wouldn’t you? So would Job’s wife.

Of course, being a man of faith, Job rejects his wife’s extreme suggestion, but that doesn’t mean that he takes his circumstances lying down. No, Job gets ANGRY. He doesn’t go so far as to curse God, but he’s not afraid to voice his frustration, confusion, and despair LOUDLY. Early on, he curses the day he was born[3] and belligerently accuses God of unfairness. He’s not afraid to call God all sorts of names over the course of the book’s 42 chapters. He may not be ready to disown God completely, but he definitely feels the sting of betrayal and responds emotionally. This is, in all honesty, probably the healthiest response out of all those depicted – fitting for an honest man of “absolute integrity.”

The most important responses to the hypothetical question posed by this text, however, come from Job’s friends. They spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy trying to explain the unexplainable: how a just and righteous God could allow such terrible things to happen to Job. The assumption underlying each of their lengthy speeches is that THEY understand God perfectly, and therefore everything that’s happened must somehow be Job’s fault. Eliphaz patronizes his friend: “Think! What innocent person has ever perished? When have those who do the right thing been destroyed?”[4] Bildad God-splains him: “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?”[5] They completely discount Job’s own lived experience, brushing off his claims of innocence and spending page after page justifying Job’s suffering to make it fit with what they think they know.

Thanks to dramatic irony, though, we know that this ISN’T, in fact, the case. Job ISN’T being punished for something that he or his ancestors or his children had done wrong; God IS perverting justice. In this thought experiment, Job was being harmed for no other reason than to prove a divine point. And so, for all their (presumably) good intentions, the friends’ responses aren’t helpful because, no matter how orthodox they might be, THEY’RE. NOT. RIGHT. Clinging to their own meager understanding of God in spite of all evidence to the contrary is actually the worst thing they could do because it destroys any possibility of them coming anywhere near the ACTUAL truth.

Outside of the hypothetical, contrary to what Job’s friends imply, innocent people DO perish. Righteous people ARE destroyed. We see it every day. And if we, like them, believe in a just and omnipotent God, it’s hard to explain why these things are allowed to happen. But when we try to rationalize the disconnects between our theology and the realities of life rather than allowing them to exist in tension, we don’t leave room in our faith for a God that’s bigger than our understanding. And that’s a big problem.

When God responds to Job out of the whirlwind, God’s greatest outrage is reserved for the presumption that any human could claim to understand God’s ways. “Who is this darkening counsel with words lacking knowledge?” God demands.[6] The Lord specifically calls out Eliphaz, saying, “I’m angry at you and your two friends because you haven’t spoken about me correctly as did my servant Job.”[7] God’s problem isn’t primarily with Job; it’s with those unwilling to admit that they don’t actually “get it”.

And this brings us to today’s reading – a section of scripture that seems out of place in the midst of the book’s dialogues. Chapter 28 serves as the “moral” of this fable, dropped right in the middle of one of Job’s speeches. And as Wisdom literature so often does, this chapter uses poetic metaphor to communicate its lesson: in this case, a mining metaphor. Human beings are willing to go to great lengths for items that we perceive to be of value, digging into the farthest depths, miles away from civilization, hanging tenuously as we slowly descend into the earth for the sake of iron or copper. We will literally take mountains apart, piece by piece, cut straight through boulders, and manipulate the most powerful forces of nature in order to attain precious gemstones.

But these things have little value compared to Wisdom, scripture argues. And she can’t be found anywhere that humans already know about, even those deepest and darkest places. She’s somewhere else entirely – somewhere only God has access to, somewhere beyond our understanding. If we seek Wisdom, we need to be willing to let go of our own understanding and trust God completely, because we have no idea where we’re going, and we can’t find our way on our own. Are we willing to give up our certainty for a chance to encounter something even more valuable?

To take some liberties with Socrates’ words, “The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing (about God).” Job’s friends are willing to go to great lengths to perpetuate their own understanding of God, but they aren’t willing to venture into the territory of the unknown and unexplained for a chance to encounter divine Wisdom. They spend thousands of words mining the depths of their own understanding, bending over backwards all to avoid the most terrifying three words known to humankind: “I don’t know.” We, too, will willingly excavate what we already know, no matter how difficult or dangerous it gets (for ourselves or for others), but as soon as we’re asked to dig in unfamiliar territory – even knowing that we’re following God – we balk.

We know, of course, that God would never actually subject anyone to the sort of trials presented in Job, but we also know that there will be times in our lives – many, many times – that we don’t understand what God is doing. We won’t get through these times by trying to come up with explanations that fit our existing paradigm; that will only serve to close us off further from Wisdom. We have to be willing to mine the unknown, humbly letting God guide the way, and we have to recognize that even then, we might never figure it out completely. It’s this paradox – seeking understanding by acknowledging that we may never understand – that is the beginning of Wisdom.

NONE of us, not a single one, is anywhere near understanding God completely. We may think we’ve done all the mining possible – worshiping weekly, studying the Bible, praying daily, attending seminary – but even the most engaged among us have only begun to skim the surface. We must be willing to dig into the depths of our own souls and be honest about what we find there; only then can we realize the extent of our own ignorance and our reliance on God. Only then can we admit these things without fear. Only then can we begin the task of mining for divine Wisdom.

As a thought-experiment-slash-fable, this book could have just ended with God rebuking Job and his friends. It would have served its purpose. But instead, it concludes with God repaying Job double what he’d lost and telling us that Job ultimately died at 140, “old and satisfied.” Don’t mistake this as a reward for Job’s faithfulness or as proof that his friends were right after all. It’s evidence that even an entirely hypothetical thought experiment cannot deny the extravagance God’s goodness and love. For all that we don’t understand God, these are the things that we can stake our lives on. So as we embrace our own ignorance, as we begin to let go of our worldview and take our first few steps into the unknown, know this: God is with you. You may never discover the full understanding that you’re mining for, but you can be certain that with every shovel that you dig, with every assumption you release, with every certainty you surrender, you are doing the most faithful thing possible – you are letting God be God and letting that be enough. Amen.

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[1] Carol A. Newsom, “Job”, Women’s Bible Commentary, 3rd ed., p. 209
[2] Job 2:9.
[3] Job 3:1.
[4] Job 4:7.
[5] Job 8:3.
[6] Job 38:2.
[7] Job 42:7.

Bonus quote from the cutting room floor:

Liturgy: 9th Sunday after Pentecost, Job 28 (July 30, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Job 28:12, 28)

Leader: Where can Wisdom be found?
People: Reverence for the Lord is Wisdom.

Sermon: "Word & Wisdom", Proverbs 8:12-31 (July 23, 2023)

Human beings seem to have a near-universal desire to share wisdom with each other. Every major life event is marked with an avalanche of advice, from high school graduation to a new job to marriage to buying a house to retirement. Such wisdom-sharing can be informal, offered as an off-handed comment over coffee or an axiom accompanied by a knowing glance, or it can take a more ritualistic form, as a party game at a wedding shower or a formalized Ethical Will. These insights might not always be received gratefully, but nevertheless, we insist on offering them at every opportunity.

LIturgy: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost - Proverbs 8:12-31 (July 23, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on John 1 & Proverbs 8)

Leader: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
People: Wisdom was with God at the beginning of God’s way, before God’s deeds long in the past.

Sermon: "The Menace", 2 Peter 2:1-2, 10b-22 (July 9, 2023)

Today’s reading is unusually long, but after establishing 2 Peter’s tone last week, I really wanted to give you a sense of why Pretend Peter has the reputation he does. Also, to be completely honest, I couldn’t pick anything to cut. There’s just so much in here, and it’s all FASCINATING. Name calling! Hypocrisy! Unruly parties! A talking donkey! Pretend Peter pulls out all the stops to make a lasting impression on his readers. Let’s take some time up front to really take it all in.

Liturgy: Sixth Sunday after Pentecost - 2 Peter 2 (July 7, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Matthew 22:36-40)

Leader: What is the greatest commandment?
People: We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

Sermon: "The Impression That I Get", 2 Peter 1:1-11 (July 2, 2023)

Now that we’ve finished with Isaiah, the next mini sermon series that the Narrative lectionary suggests for the summer is on 2 Peter. It’s an unusual choice – preachers tend to avoid this epistle, for reasons that we may uncover shortly. 2 Peter isn’t the shortest book of the Bible, but it’s definitely a quick read at just three chapters long. Like many other biblical texts, the authorship of 2 Peter is uncertain – scholars believe that neither 1 not 2 Peter were actually written by the Apostle. In fact, evidence suggests that they were written by two different individuals at least a generation after Peter’s death.

Liturgy: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - 2 Peter 1:1-11 (July 2, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on 2 Peter 1:3-4)

Leader: The Lord has given us everything we need to live a righteous life.
People: Through God’s honor and glory, we have been gifted much!

Sermon: “God’s Hygge”, Isaiah 40:1-11 (June 18, 2023)

Do you remember, about six or seven years back, when the whole world suddenly seemed to become obsessed with the concept of hygge? Hygge, spelled H-Y-G-G-E, is a Scandinavian term that describes “a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.”[1] This concept has been around in Danish writing since the turn of the 19th century and has become a major part of Danish culture and identity since then.[2] But it’s been relatively unknown outside of Scandinavia until around 2016, at which point we all lost our collective minds over it.

Hygge decorations, hygge clothing, hygge magazine articles, hygge vacations, hygge self-help books, hygge, hygge, hygge – we couldn’t get enough! The craze was so widespread that when Disney began work on turning their hit movie “Frozen” into a stage musical, they wrote an entire song all about hygge and stuck it right at the top of the second act. It describes hygge with the sort of catchy rhymes that you’d expect from a Disney musical: “Hygge means comf’table/hygge means cozy/hygge means sitting by the fire with your cheeks all rosy.” In order to drive the point all the way home, the lyrics go on to specify things that AREN’T hygge: finding a spider in your shoe? Not hygge. Having an annoying thing to do? Not hygge. Complete with a dance break and kick line, this descriptive song embodies the moment of cultural celebrity that hygge enjoyed at the time.

Nobody knows exactly why hygge took off the way it did, but there are theories. Some people believe that our preoccupation with hygge emerged out of the cultural and political chaos that was 2016. Our memories of that time may be a bit fuzzy seven years down the road, but 2016 was the year that both Brazil and South Korea impeached their presidents, North Korea conducted not one, but TWO nuclear tests, and Britain voted to leave the European Union. It also happened to be the year of the most contentious and divisive election season in U.S. history. The world was in turmoil, and nothing seemed certain. The theory goes that, in times of such uncertainty, insecurity, and anxiety, human beings gravitate towards anything that can quickly provide tangible comfort. We wanted to forget all the terrible things that were happening around us and go into hibernation mode. Someone realized that Scandinavians seemed to have comfort down to a fine art, so we collectively embraced hygge as a form of escapism.

If hygge had existed during biblical times, it probably would have sounded attractive to the former citizens of Judah, too. Right up until the very end of chapter 39, Isaiah has been proclaiming dire warnings to the southern Jewish kingdom about the chaos that lay in store for them. These prophecies seem to have finally been fulfilled somewhere between the last verse of chapter 39 and the first verse of 40 – suddenly, instead of warnings, Isaiah’s prophecies are offering comfort and compassion. What happened is that the people have been conquered by the Babylonians and find themselves in exile. They finally realize that they aren’t invincible after all, that their earthly kingdom ISN’T eternal. They can finally see that their hubris has been an enormously consequential mistake. Their lives have been turned completely upside down.

The Lord, being a just but merciful god, sees all this. So God offers comfort through Isaiah in the wake of the kingdom’s fall. This message must have come as an enormous relief. The people in exile probably clung to the idea of comfort like we clung to the idea of hygge during the traumatic events of 2016. They would have heard the words, “Comfort, comfort my people!” as reassurance that their suffering would be short-lived. “Don’t worry; everything’s going to be fine.” They would have heard “Proclaim to her that her penalty has been paid,” as a promise that the hard parts are over. “Any day now, the Babylonians will leave, and you’ll be able to go back home.” They were probably hoping – maybe even assuming – that God would take them out of the nightmare that had come to pass and restore them to their former glory.

The people looked to God for a way out just as we turned to hygge for escape. But when we did this, we were making some bold assumptions about how comfort actually works. We wanted it to displace our feelings of uneasiness completely, so we tried to fill our lives with hygge until there was no room left for anything else. We tried to turn hygge into something that we could commodify, something we could control. We tried to make every day feel like a vacation at a ski lodge. In consuming all things hygge, we were trying to create a permanent state of comfort. But it turns out that comfort as a way of life? Not actually hygge.

In a part of the world that’s cold, dark, and rainy for much of the year, hygge arose as a way to cope with that reality, not to shut it out. [3] It’s not a lifestyle; it’s a feeling that you carry within you like a candle to light your way in the dark. Nobody can live their entire lives in a ski lodge, but we CAN find ways to make the winters of our lives more bearable. Ultimately, hygge can’t change anything but your perspective. It doesn’t make life comfortable – it offers comfort in the midst of life’s struggles.

God is offering the people in Isaiah 40 this same kind of comfort. God’s version of hygge is about being able to find comfort in faith even when things look bleak. It’s meant to help them get through the difficulties still to come. No matter how much the people may want God’s hygge to manifest as immediate, feel-good solutions to their problems, that’s not the kind of comfort that God is offering here. Avoiding the consequences of their past actions? Not hygge – the Babylonian conquest may be over, but the people’s exile has just begun. Ignoring their sin? Not hygge – the people still have to address the fact that their faith is as capricious as a flower that blooms one day and wilts the next. Neglecting their responsibilities in favor of an untroubled life? Not hygge – even in exile, God’s people still have to practice their faith and prepare the way of the Lord in a fallen world. But finding comfort in God’s presence in the midst of all these things? Now THAT’S hygge.

It’s natural for us to WANT to feel happy all the time. And there’s nothing wrong with praying for things like more resources, a vacation, help with our responsibilities, relief from stress, a fresh start, or anything else that would make our lives easier. After all, Jesus himself prayed that the cup of suffering be taken from him in Gethsemane.[4] But the key part of HIS prayer is what came next: “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” We pray those exact same words every single week, but how often do we think about what they really mean? When we pray for comfort, are we really asking for the divine presence to help us face the dark of night and the cold of winter in our lives? Or are we praying for OUR version of hygge, a life completely absent of pain and suffering? Whose will are we REALLY praying for?

Life is hard. There’s no getting around that. But the struggles aren’t all there is. There’s also God. There’s also community. There’s also the promise of a future where heaven will be found on earth, and the promise that all creation will get to take part. These things are the hygge that we should cling to, like a chunky sweater or a cozy blanket, to get us through the winters of life. Expecting God to take all your troubles away? Not hygge. But trusting God to comfort you where you are, to show you a way forward, and to be with you through it all? Definitely hygge.

I haven’t seen much buzz about hygge in recent years. Do you think it’s because life has gotten easier since 2016? I’ll answer for you: nope. Definitely not. But maybe, just maybe, it’s because we’ve stopped trying to hide from it and we’ve started trying to live through it. Or at least because we’ve come to realize that we CAN’T hide from it. Either way, I think we all can agree that a scented candle and a mug of hot cocoa will never be able to change trauma, hardship, grief, loss, or any other kind of suffering into something that it’s not.

The good news is that hygge never was in that candle or that cocoa – it’s the feeling of comfort, deep within you, that helps you to get through the difficult parts of life. And we’ve got something even BETTER than hygge. We’ve got God’s hygge, a promise that we are not alone, no matter who we are, no matter what we’ve done, no matter what’s in store for us. That includes you. Yes, you. No conditions. No exceptions. And that’s a kind of hygge more comforting than even the bulkiest sweater could ever be. (And it’s far less itchy.) Carry this gift with you and share it with everyone you meet. There’s plenty of God’s hygge to go around. Amen.

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[1] Dictionary.com, “Hygge”.
[2] https://denmark.dk/people-and-culture/hygge.
[3] https://mashable.com/article/hygge-scandinavian-lifestyle-trend.
[4] Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:42.

Liturgy: Third Sunday after Pentecost - Isaiah 40:1-11 (June 18, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Isaiah 40:9-10)

Leader: O people, raise your voices and shout,
People: “Here is our God!”

Sermon: “Everything Old is New (and Old)”, Isaiah 9:1-7 (June 11, 2023)

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This morning, we’re continuing our mini sermon series on Isaiah. Last week we talked about Isaiah’s call to prophecy, and over the next three weeks, we’ll be exploring one prophecy from each of the major divisions of the book: the section written before the Babylonian exile, the section written after the southern kingdom of Judah had fallen, and the section written in anticipation of Israel’s eventual restoration.

Liturgy: Second Sunday after Pentecost - Isaiah 9:1-7 (June 11, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Isaiah 9:2)

Leader: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
People: On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.

Sermon: "I Don't Belong Here", Isaiah 6:1-8 (June 4, 2023)

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The Narrative Lectionary takes a break over the summer, but it offers suggestions of scripture to take a closer look at, parts of the Bible that are glossed over or skipped entirely during the regular cycle. So, during the month of June, we’ll be looking at Isaiah, a book that’s long been called “the Fifth Gospel” in Christian circles because of the large number of messianic references contained within its pages.

Liturgy: First Sunday after Pentecost - Isaiah 6:1-8 (June 4, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Isaiah 6:3-4)

Leader: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces!
People: All the earth is filled with God’s glory!

Sermon: "Follow the Thread", Acts 2:1-8/Romans 8:26-30, 38-39 (May 28, 2023)

Today is Pentecost. It’s the day that we mainline Protestants finally remember that the Trinity is more than just the Father and the Son, that there’s another divine person who often gets forgotten in our sacred storytelling. So the pastors all unpack their trusty metaphors for the Holy Spirit and the props that help drive their descriptions home: pinwheels, bubbles, red streamers, candles; basically anything that can be used to represent wind or fire.

Liturgy: Pentecost - Acts 2:1-8/Romans 8:26-30, 38-39 (May 28, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Acts 2:1-3)

Leader: When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place.
People: Gather us in as your people, O God!

Sermon: "Schrodinger's Baptism", Romans 6:1-14 (May 21, 2023)

You’ve all heard of Schrodinger’s cat, right? I’m no physicist, but I’ll do my best to summarize (my apologies in advance to any physicists who may be pained by my rudimentary explanation). As I understand it, Schrodinger’s Cat is a thought experiment performed by physicist Erwin Schrodinger to demonstrate the paradox of quantum indeterminacy (non-physicists, stay with me). This principle says that the physical state of a quantum particle cannot be definitively known apart from observation of it – in other words, observation itself plays a role in determining the particle’s physical state. Schrodinger took this idea out of the realm of quantum particles and into the “real world”: he posited that if a person were to seal a hypothetical cat in a box with something that could eventually kill it, they wouldn’t be able to tell whether the cat was alive or dead until they open the box to look. Therefore, according to quantum indeterminacy, the cat would be both alive AND dead until the box was opened and the cat’s state was observed.

Liturgy: Hope of Resurrection - Romans 6:1-14 (May 21, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

*Call to Worship (based on Romans 6:3-4)

Leader: Christ did not die to quell the wrath of a vengeful God.
People: Christ died to reconcile humanity with a God of abundant love.

Sermon: “Silent and Unsettled", Acts 14:8-18 (April 30, 2023)

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[Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that this sermon is going to touch on some tough subjects, like sexuality and abortion. If you need to step away because these topics are too personal for you, I encourage you to do so. But if you find yourself squirming in your seat just because these topics make you uncomfortable, I encourage you to try and stick it out.]

I find this to be an unsetting passage. Do you? I don’t find it unsettling because it’s especially disturbing; it doesn’t contain anything particularly sad or violent or dangerous, as some Bible stories do. No, I find it unsettling in the literal sense – it just ends without any sort of satisfying resolution; it’s unsettled. Paul and Barnabas aren’t able to convince the crowd of their own humanity, there’s no successful conversions recorded, no minds or hearts changed. Just a failed attempt at evangelism. Especially after last week’s wonderful example of living out the Great Commission from Acts 10, this story is more disheartening than anything. Where’s the good news?

Liturgy: Paul's Mission - Acts 14:8-18 (April 30, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Call to Worship (based on Acts 14:13)

Leader: Worshipers of Zeus and Hermes bring bulls and wreaths as sacrifices.
People: But the Lord takes no delight in burnt offerings and worthless gifts.

Sermon: "I Am Learning...", Acts 10 (April 23, 2023)

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On Easter, we completed our journey through Matthew’s gospel, finishing the story of Jesus’ life with the account of his resurrection appearances to his followers. Last Sunday, we punctuated that narrative sentence by focusing on Jesus’ very last earthly words, what we’ve come to call “The Great Commission”: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you.” This week, the Narrative lectionary offers a story about one of the disciples’ earliest attempts to do exactly that.

Liturgy: Peter's Vision - Acts 10:1-17, 34-48 (April 23, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Call to Worship (based on Acts 10:36-43)

Leader: The message of peace God has sent to us is this:
People: Jesus Christ is Lord of all!

Sermon: "Unlocking Salvation" (Easter Sunday), Matthew 28 (April 9, 2023)

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Christ is risen! [He is risen, indeed!]

I just had to get that out of the way up front. There’s a common anxiety among pastors that arises every single year – “What on EARTH can I say about this story that hasn’t been said before?” The prevailing wisdom, of course, is that we don’t HAVE to say something new; our job is to preach the good news as it’s been given to us, just as the women did on that first Easter morning so many years ago. So, again, I proclaim: Christ is risen! [He is risen, indeed!]

Liturgy: Maundy Thursday, Matthew 24:1-26:46 (Lessons and Carols; April 6, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

 (Palm Sunday Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Maundy Thursday Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)

Liturgy: Lent 6, Matthew 21-23 (Lessons and Carols; April 2, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

(Lent 5 Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Lent 5 Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)

Liturgy: Lent 5, Matthew 18-20 (Lessons and Carols; March 26, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

 (Lent 4 Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Lent 5 Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)

Liturgy: Lent 4, Matthew 14-17 (Lessons and Carols; March 19, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

 

(Lent 3 Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Lent 4 Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)

Liturgy: Lent 3, Matthew 12-13 (Lessons and Carols; March 12, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

 (Lent 2 Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Lent 3 Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)

Liturgy: Lent 2, Matthew 9-11 (Lessons and Carols; March 5, 2023)

*You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

 (Lent 1 Liturgy here)

As we did last year, Boone Memorial Presbyterian Church in Caldwell, ID, will spend this Lent reading straight through a gospel from beginning to end: this year, Matthew. We will NOT have sermons during Lent, instead structuring worship around a "lessons and carols" model. All hymns are from the PC(USA)'s "Glory to God" hymnal.

The theme that will accompany this project is "Unlocking Salvation". As we work our way through Matthew's gospel, we will make note of the things standing between God and humanity (and specifically each of us) and how Jesus "unlocks" the doors that separate us. 

I will post the liturgies for ensuing weeks as I write them. I'm happy for anyone to use any part(s) of this series in their own worship contexts with proper attribution, but I would request that you let me know in the comments that you're doing so.

*NB: If there is nothing written under the heading, it's a portion of worship that I do extemporaneously.*

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Lent 2 Worship Service (Liturgy by Rev. Katey Schwind Williams)

(Bold words are to be read aloud in unison, * indicates an invitation to stand)