An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. From Abraham to David: Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar. So read the first three verses of Matthew’s Gospel. The statement about Tamar is straightforward enough. […]
Psalm 103: Thanksgiving
November 21, 2018 by
My soul, bless the Lord; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord and do not forget all His benefits. Oh, if only, if every wish of my heart, bone, and being, thought and breath, contained the strength to esteem our Lord! How impossible! For when I tell my being not to […]
All Saints: Tobit 3:7-8, 7:10-12; Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 22:23-29: Who’s Doing the Counting?
November 4, 2018 by
All the counting in Scripture. On its first page, the words, “In the beginning” ring out, commencing the count. So tabulate the days as they unfold. “The evening came and morning followed—the first day” all the way to “the seventh day” when the Creator “finished his work” (Genesis 1:5, 2:2). Much later, after recounting so […]
Isaiah 66:1-2: Reformation, God Working Through Our Human Failures
October 29, 2018 by
A monk at Wittenberg, nails a document on a church door. Written in Latin, he desires to spark a debate. For this man spots others selling something called “indulgences,” which claim to cut short someone’s time in purgatory. So, what’s the issue? For the Church of Rome, unless someone lives a super-virtuous life, he dies […]
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, Luke 12:13-21: Enjoy All in Christ
October 29, 2018 by
In the realm of wealth, we listen today to an expert. The teacher is Solomon, the wealthiest king of Israel. To put his life in modern terms—he owned cars, houses, yachts. Personal chefs, women, entertainment, the best food, an enormous wine cellar, gardens, and vineyards all occupied his life. In Ecclesiastes, he writes his report, […]
Mark 4:35-41, Revelation 14:13: Donna Kind-Gappa’s Funeral Sermon: Blessed are the Dead Who Die in the Lord
September 21, 2018 by
The story is the tale of your life, soaked into the bones and marrow of your being. The sun warms your face, but distant thunder cleaves your ears. Soon, dark clouds banish the brightness, and blackness descends, unasked for and unwanted. The still waters rebel and lash out in chaos. Venomous bile stings your throat, […]
Mark 9:14-29: Faith and Faithfulness
September 16, 2018 by
In today’s Gospel, Jesus triumphs in a spiritual miracle, casting out a demon. For us, this is almost unrelatable because we can explain, in some way, people’s bizarre conduct. In our world, people exhibit many weird behaviors. Still, we almost always come up with some explanation, often traceable to an illness—Bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s, a horrible […]
Sandy Webb’s Funeral Homily: Baptism Does What?
September 15, 2018 by
John 3:1-7, 14-17; Genesis 7:11-13, 22-23; 8:1, 9:8-15; 1 Peter 3:18-21 Sometimes, someone enters your life who speaks the truth, flowing from a heart of love, without pretense or agenda. Whenever a friend like this becomes part of your life, don’t let him go. Such people are rare. Don’t allow being comfortable to obstruct genuine […]
Mark 7:24-37: Knocked Down by Sin and Death
September 13, 2018 by
In less than a week, two deaths—Sandy Webb and Donna Kind-Gappa. So close together, we are left unable to make sense of this. Inside, we are a mess of emotions, disturbed and rattled. Somehow, this smacks of betrayal. For if God is real, how can he let this happen, a few days apart? Only a […]
Ephesians 5:22-33: Love and Submission?
September 13, 2018 by
Such a reviled word, submission. Given a different worldview, which concerns itself for others, we set aside our desires and rights for the benefit of another. Now, this is part of following Jesus because He did the same for us. The rights and privileges of being God, He put away, becoming human, walking the road […]
