Sermon: "Knock Knock", Matthew 7:1-12 (February 5, 2023)

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At the end of last April, after two full years of avoiding it, my household was finally taken down by COVID-19. It was not fun, but having been vaccinated, we were only down and out for about a week. When I returned to the church office after quarantine, I felt fine, but continued to wear a mask around others out of an abundance of caution. I think we can all agree, however, that while they’re an effective way to stop the spread of illness, masks are THE WORST. Besides, there were times that I was the only one in the office all day. So as a way to keep other people safe from my germs while minimizing my own discomfort, I came up with an extremely clever solution (at least, by this pastor’s standards). I kept my office door closed, and I printed out a sign to hang on the door. It said, “Knock, and the door will be opened unto you (i.e., I’ll come out with a mask).” The sign is long gone by now, but the memory came back to me when I read this week’s scripture.

Sermon: "May Your Life Be a Blessing", Matthew 5:1-20

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Ah, the Beatitudes. Although Matthew’s gospel technically begins Jesus’ ministry at very end of chapter 4, the Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ teachings that Matthew reports in full, and the Beatitudes are the very first words of it that he speaks. We’re all familiar with the formula, although we may recall different words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful.”