Have any of you ever done door-to-door sales before? I never have, but I imagine it’s a pretty tough job. I mean, I know that as the person on the other side of the door, I almost always start out skeptical and annoyed when someone shows up at my house to sell me something. Before I even open the door, I have to convince the worst guard dogs ever to stop barking so that I can hear what the person is trying to sell me. But even after overcoming that initial hurdle, there are always plenty more. Maybe it’s an inconvenient time, maybe their product isn’t something I’m particularly interested in, maybe I’m wary of being scammed, maybe I’m just not in the mood to talk to anyone at all. More often than not, a door-to-door salesperson who finds themself on my front porch starts out at a distinct disadvantage.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
This story about Paul and Silas in prison is a strange one. It reads more like Christian gossip to me than Church history, with each claim more outrageous than the last: “Did you hear that Paul got arrested for driving a spirit out of a slave-girl?” “Well, *I* heard that he converted all of his fellow prisoners *and* the prison guard!” “Oh yeah? Well, *I* heard that God sent an earthquake so big that it knocked all the doors of the jail off their hinges and even loosened the prisoners’ chains!”
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
You may have noticed some yellow papers taped to the pews as you sat down this morning. If you’ve joined us for worship at any point over the past few weeks, you probably recognize them: they’re the names of marginalized groups that have been hanging on our walls since Ash Wednesday. These are not groups that *I* have decided are marginalized; they’re ones that you as a community have lifted up. These are the people that we tend to forget, disregard, and push away so that we don’t have to practice empathy or confront the ways that our society has failed them. These names have been on the walls throughout Lent to remind us how again and again - especially in Luke’s gospel - Jesus demonstrates compassion and solidarity with the very people that society would prefer to stay “out of sight, out of mind.” But they’re in our pews this morning because today, something is different. Something has changed. They are no longer out of sight and mind because today, the angels tell us, Jesus is not here.
*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.*
Additional Hymns:
*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.*
Additional Hymns:
*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.*
*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.*
*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.*
*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.*
Today’s passage isn’t one that we encounter very often in the context of worship. It’s not in the Revised Common Lectionary at all, and even here in the Narrative Lectionary, it’s usually lumped together with the healing of a different, paralyzed man - a much better-known miracle that IS in the Revised Common Lectionary and usually gets all the attention. In fact, I had a lot of trouble finding ANY sources or commentaries that could provide insight into this story from the end of John 4. Which I think is unfair: why should this man and his son be neglected and forgotten? Sure, as a royal official, he was a Gentile at best and an instrument of Roman oppression at worst - either way, certainly not a member of Jesus’ community - but he was facing one of the most universal, human experiences there is: fear for the life of a loved one.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
I’ve been to the Emergency Department exactly once in my life. It was about 12 years ago. I woke up with a slight twinge in my side, which slowly worsened throughout the day, until I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to ignore it any longer. By the time urgent care sent me to the hospital, it had developed into full-blown, excruciating abdominal pain. I had to sit in the waiting room with this pain for far longer than I would have liked, but the hospital staff eventually got me set up in a room and immediately hooked me up to an IV as they began to run tests.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
Most people are familiar with this passage for one of two reasons: either this strange conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus about being “born again,” or the fact that it contains John 3:16, one of the most frequently quoted verses in the Bible. These two tiny portions of scripture are the basis of some of today’s most popular theology - theology that separates believers from non-believers, that defines “who’s in” and “who’s out”’. Many Christians understand these verses to mean that there are certain very narrowly defined rituals, experiences, or beliefs one must have in order to be a “real” Christian - rituals like baptism, experiences like being “born again,” or belief in Jesus the way the church authorities define it. And in a way, it makes sense that so many people gravitate towards these interpretations: the boundaries of Christianity aren’t very clearly defined in scripture, so these simple “checkboxes” in John 3 allow them to feel confident in their belonging.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
*Neither our livestream OR recording were working this week, so there's no video or audio. Hopefully they'll both be up and running for next week.*
I have to tell you, I had an entirely different sermon planned for today. But as I was making notes and studying the scripture, I heard the news out of Minneapolis. Before I started writing, I saw the video. And I became angry. Angry that this sort of extrajudicial execution has become acceptable to our society, yes, but even more so angry at the people justifying and defending it and demanding that I ignore the evidence that I’ve seen with my own eyes. And this anger has been sitting as a pit in my stomach since Wednesday. As you can imagine, these are not ideal sermon writing conditions.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*
We’re all familiar with the saying, “It’s not the destination that matters; it’s the journey,” right? It’s a reminder to slow down, to notice what’s going on around you as you work towards an objective. It insists that there’s value in the experiences you have along the way to your goal. It’s a good lesson, but unfortunately, not one that our culture values much. In a society that measures success by what you’ve managed to accomplish - education, homeownership, skill mastery, financial security - we’re collectively very much not interested in the journey it takes to get there. The journey is just a necessary evil standing in the way of personal achievement.
*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 that you have either used or adapted it.*