This was my Maundy Thursday sermon this year. It was largely inspired by an insight I received while watching Adam Hamilton’s 24 Hours That Changed the World DVD study. In it, he asserts that Jesus and Judas must have been sitting next to each other at the last supper. As the story is told, it was Judas that was seated at a position of honor, even as he was the one that was to betray Jesus. Knowing Judas’s heart, what did Jesus do? He broke bread with him. This was an incredible act of grace, and forms the heart of this sermon.
Category Archives: Sermons
Sermon: You are the light of the world.
I wonder in this world, how many people have never been told that they are the light of the world. How many people, how many children? How many adults have lived their whole lives and no one has ever said to them, “You are the light of the world. You are the light of my world”? How tragic that is. There is somebody out there, maybe sitting right here. Maybe its a neighbor or a co-worker. Maybe it is someone that comes to our community dinner, or someone that we serve at The Wardrobe. Maybe there is someone you sit next to on an airplane or someone you see at the grocery store, or the waitress you will have at lunch after church. There is somebody that has never been told, “You are the light of the World.” There are people out there in the world living that have never been told that they are the light of the world. But I’m here to tell you, every single one of you, that you are the light of the world. But its not just my words, no one cares if I think you are. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High thinks you are the light of the world. You.
For the full sermon, click here.
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Be You. Be God’s. Be the Church.
Audio file of the full sermon. The music that plays during this sermon is by Christopher Grundy. The songs are called “Out on This Wire,” and “Stepping In.” The mission projects I talked about are the Redbird Mission, and Kids Against Hunger.
“Be You. Be God’s. Be the Church.”
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’
Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me,
‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,says the Lord.’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lordsaid to me,
‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’
Excerpts from the sermon:
“Being called into God’s ministry is for all who claim Christ. Those who call themselves Christian are called to do more, to be more, to be transformed, to be a part of God’s work in this world. God is calling. God is speaking today. God is calling you to be you; to be who God created you to be. There are a lot of stories, a lot of descriptors people use to define themselves. All too often we define ourselves by who we’re not. ‘I’m not old enough. I’m not strong enough. I don’t speak well enough. I’m not educated. I’m not good enough. I’m not qualified. I’m not pretty enough. I’m not smart enough.’ It’s all lies. It’s all lies. But all too often we believe them. It’s so easy to believe the excuses, and say ‘No I can’t do it….’ But God is calling you to tune out the lies, and let go of all the obstacles, and to be who you were created to be.
“Allowing yourself to be God’s is hard sometimes. Being God’s means that there will be words you are called to speak that you don’t want to speak. There are places you are called to go that you don’t want to go. There’s forgiveness that you need to offer that you don’t want to offer. There is shame that you are called to let go, but for some reason you still cling to. There is a neighbor that needs a friend. There is a stranger that needs a hand. A young person that needs a mentor. It’s not always easy. And if you try to do it on your own, it will be impossible. Because this is God’s work.”
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Sermon: The prayer we live
The Ancient Celts spoke of “Thin Places,” where the distance between the spiritual world and the material world was thin. This is an interesting idea, and one I touch upon in this sermon.
Full audio of the sermon: The Prayer We Live
The Lord’s Prayer is one of the first things that children are taught in Sunday school. It has been prayed by the congregation in nearly every worship service I have been a part of. For many Christians, the words “Our Father” trigger the rest of the prayer to flow easily. There is power in having the words of Jesus so readily available. There is also a danger. The danger is that the power of the words in the Lord’s Prayer can lose their edge. They can become something that we recite without thought. That is partly why I love the Common English Bible’s translation of the prayer. It is different from the prayer that I memorized as a child, and the difference points to something that is important that is sometimes lost. I’m lucky to have studied with a great pastor who opened up the Lord’s Prayer to me in a powerful way. The translation of the Common English Bible picks up on this:
When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask. Pray like this: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, uphold the holiness of your name. Bring in your kingdom so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven. Give us the bread we need for today. Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive those who have wronged us. And don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.’ (Matthew 6:7-13, Common English Bible)
“The Lord’s Prayer can’t be just words that we recite. It is a prayer that we live. It is one thing to say the words of the Lord’s Prayer, but it is an entirely different thing to live the Lord’s Prayer… When you live the Lord’s Prayer, it becomes more than words that you say. It is the choices you make, the grace you show, the forgiveness you give, and the bread you share.”
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Sermon: Declare that the dawn is coming
Click here for a podcast of the sermon, “Declare that the dawn is coming,” which was preached on December 23, 2012.
Click here for the blog-version of this sermon.
“God has called you to your life. Let it speak. Let nothing get in the way of being the person that you are. Zachariah claimed in his prophecy that through the birth of Jesus, “we have been rescued from the power of our enemies so that we could serve him without fear.” We need no longer fear. We need no longer hide from God or from each other. We are free to use the gifts that God has granted us for God’s purposes. We can serve God in our homes, in our churches, and in our workplace. We can serve God with our hearts, hands, feet, and minds. We are free to love God, because it is only in freedom that love is possible. We are free to love ourselves because we know that we were created in the image of the God that is love. We are free to love one another because God has called us to do no less.”
Scripture:
Luke 1:65-79
Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, ‘What then will this child become?’ For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty saviour for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
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Sermon: Remember Your Baptism
Sermon: Remember Your Baptism. “The problem with resolutions is that their power often relies on our on own resolve. So the resolution starts out strong, but then slowly fades. So today we’re invited not to make another resolution, not to make another promise to just try harder… We’re going to do something a little bit different. We’re going to renew our covenant…” To hear the whole sermon, click here.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
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Declare that the dawn is coming
I love holding babies. I have held many babies. Countless times I have held a baby in my arms, and looked down and wondered, “What will this child be?” I can think of no act in life that is more full of hope then holding a baby. I held each of my daughters within minutes of their birth. Each time I was filled with awe and wonder. Each time was a holy moment beyond explanation.
This year at Advent I have rediscovered Zachariah. I’ve been a Dad for a few years, but for some reason I’ve always been drawn to Mary’s song. I wrote last year at Advent about preparing for the coming of a child. This Advent though, I have been drawn to Zechariah’s prophecy when his son was born.
Zechariah praised God when his son was born. He praised God for the promises that God made. He praised God for the promises that God kept. He praised God for the promise that was in his son. For he knew that his son was created for a purpose. He knew that his son would be called a prophet. He knew that his son would “go before the Lord to prepare a way.” He knew that is son would “tell the people how to be saved through the forgiveness of their sins.” Zechariah was filled with joy at the birth of his son, so he praised God.
But I’m here to tell you that God rejoices no less for you than did Zechariah for his son. Zechariah so loved his son that he could glimpse him through God’s eternal eyes. God so loves you that he has laid out a path for you to follow. God has given you something that makes you uniquely you. There is something in you that transcends employment, labels, gender, race, or status. God has created you with a purpose, and is calling you to that purpose today. You were created to do no less than John once did – to prepare the way of the Lord, and “to show the people the way to salvation through the forgiveness of sins.”
God has called you to your life. Let it speak. Let nothing get in the way of being the person that you are. Zachariah claimed in his prophecy that through the birth of Jesus, “we have been rescued from the power of our enemies so that we could serve him without fear.” We need no longer fear. We need no longer hide from God or from each other. We are free to use the gifts that God has granted us for God’s purposes. We can serve God in our homes, in our churches, and in our workplace. We can serve God with our hearts, hands, feet, and minds. We are free to love God, because it is only in freedom that love is possible. We are free to love ourselves because we know that we were created in the image of the God that is love. We are free to love one another because God has called us to do no less.
Fear is powerful. Fear can be overwhelming. When we sit in the shadow of death, fear can be crippling.
Many of us have experienced that kind of fear. We have experienced that kind of sorrow or loss. When the chaos of the world is too much to bear, we sit in the shadow. When the diagnosis is positive, and the prognosis is not optimistic, we sit in the shadow. When the job is lost and the source of the next check is a mystery, we sit in the shadow. When we fail to love as we were called to love, we sit in the shadow. When thousands of children die from undernourishment or preventable disease, we sit in the shadow. When a man breaks through the sanctuary of a school and shatters the lives of innocents, we sit in the shadow.
Though some would claim that God does not go where God is not wanted, such a claim stands in direct opposition to the claim of Christmas. The claim of Christmas is that God goes where God is not expected and is not wanted. God goes where it one time seemed impossible. God breaks through the cosmos, tears through the curtain, crumbles our dividing walls, and makes the audacious and spectacular claim that God was made flesh. God was a baby.
The claim of Christmas is that God broke through the darkness. As Zachariah said, “Because of God’s compassion, the dawn from heaven will break upon us, to give light to those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide us on the path of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79 CEB)
Through our freedom, humanity has created many dark and terrible places. The shadow of death at times looms large over our world, but in the midst of darkness a baby is born.
Zachariah saw a great purpose in his son’s life. People wondered, “What then will this child be?” John grew to be the voice in the wilderness that cried out, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
What then will you be? For what purpose have you been created? Use what you have been given to do as John did. Prepare the way of the Lord. Show people the way of salvation. Find those that sit in the shadow of death, and sit next to them. Hold their hand. Weep with them. Give them love. Show them the light, and declare that the dawn is coming. Declare that the dawn is coming, and let the Holy Spirit guide us on the path of peace.
Listen to a podcast of this sermon.
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Let Your Life Speak is one of my favorite books. It was written by Parker Palmer.
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So, Is Jesus King?
Follow this link to hear a sermon called “So, Is Jesus King?”
“Sometimes this world doesn’t look like Jesus is king. We look around and see other rulers. We see the rulers of war and hunger and poverty, and it is easy to miss the true king. But I’m here to tell you, that Christ is King. I am a witness to what its like when Jesus rules. I’ve seen it. Have you?
Have you seen someone stretch themselves out farther than they thought they could. Have you seen someone answer the call of God – that still small voice in the night that tells them to do something that doesn’t make any sense. Have you seen someone, for whom cure is impossible, find healing anyway? I’ve seen it. I know what it looks like when Jesus Christ is King. And I think a lot of us caught a glimpse of it on Thursday (at our Community Thanksgiving Dinner)”
The song in the clip is “Live Like That,” by Sidewalk Prophets. This version was performed in worship by the Riverside Church youth praise team, OMG (Our Mighty God).
Follow this link to read the blog version called Jesus Didn’t Look Like a King.
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Jesus didn’t look like a King
Jesus didn’t look like a King. He didn’t act like one either. Kings raise armies and collect taxes. Kings have subordinates. They have grand, well-guarded homes. They have pomp and circumstance. Jesus didn’t. And yet people were talking about him.
“Pontius Pilate” by Michael Yazijian. The artist has a website at http://www.mikeyaz.com/
He was raising quite a fuss throughout the country. There were stories of him feeding multitudes, healing the sick, forgiving sins, raising the dead, challenging authority, and disturbing the peace at the Temple. People were talking, so when he was finally brought before the governor on charges of blasphemy and treason, Pilate already knew something of the man. Pilate had heard of him, or he would not have asked him this question.
“Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked Jesus. Pilate knew he didn’t look like a king. He didn’t act like one either. Jesus so much as admitted this. If my Kingdom were of this world, Jesus explained, “my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”
As far as Pilate was concerned, there was only one King. It was the man he answered to. It was the man that gave him the power to rule. The only King Pilate acknowledge was the Emperor of Rome. All others were insignificant. Please don’t believe that Pilate was somehow a passive bystander as Jesus was led to the cross of humiliation, shame, and death. Much evil has been done in this world by those claim that Pilate was an innocent bystander, manipulated by the bloodthirsty Jews. Pilate was the unquestioned ruler.
Jesus stood before Pilate, accused of blasphemy, of which Pilate cared little, and treason, for which Pilate cared a great deal. There was after all, only one King.
Jesus’ silence ultimately condemns him. He never directly answers Pilate’s questions. He never engages in Pilate’s rhetorical games. Instead of answering questions, like a good subordinate should do, he responds with questions. The Judean leaders had already made up their mind. In the Gospel of John, they had decided long ago that he must die. Pilate, who had little use for a poor Jew from the countryside, wanted only to maintain order. So he had him crucified like he had thousands of Jews before.
“So, are you a king?” Pilate asked Jesus. Left unanswered, the question has lingered through the centuries. It has become a haunting reminder of Jesus’ life, ministry, and his untimely death. It is a question that remains only for us to answer.
Jesus certainly didn’t look like a King. He didn’t act like one either. In two thousand years, that has not changed. Jesus still does not look like a king, which continues to be a source of conflict in a world that worships power.
So, is Jesus King?
That question is now yours to answer.
Who is the King? Is it Caesar? Caesar is the one who enforces order with the threat of terror. His grip on power is only as strong as his army. It is only as sharp as his sword. Caesar is the one that rules by dividing. He rules by accumulating followers that must serve him and him alone. Any question or challenge to his authority is met with swift and devastating violence. He guards the status-quo, protects the protected, and comforts the comfortable. His peace has no justice. His peace has no compassion. His peace is no peace at all.
Who is the King? Is it Jesus? Jesus, whose power comes from being anointed by God. His power comes from forgiving the sins of others, from welcoming the stranger, the outcast, the poor, the widow, the sick, and the foreigner. His followers come looking not for favor, but for love, compassion and kindness. His peace comes in the midst of terror. He comes offering not vengeance, but the bread of life and the living water. Jesus’ path to rule leads through humiliation, tragedy, mockery, and crucifixion. Jesus wept for the death of his friend. He wept for the people of Jerusalem. His night in Gethsemane was marked with sweat drops of blood as he searched his own courage and found that God’s will was more important than his own comfort. Is this the King that reigns?
He was the King that never looked like a King, and he lives and reigns and endures forever. On this Sunday before Advent we pause for a moment and remember what we are celebrating. Before the Church swings into high Christmas gear, we remember who reigns over it all. Even though it might not look like it, we know that Christ is the King.
There are still many Caesars and would-be kings. They sit on paper thrones and wear gilded crowns. They are the kings of consumption, selfishness, revenge, bitterness, poverty, and disease. The wield much power, and they continue to ask us all the same questions.
“So, is Jesus the King?”
Ours is the answer.
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Sermon: Excel in Love
Click here to listen to the sermon Excel in Love.
“If we claim as Christians that ‘God is love,’ as our Bible claims, then we have to believe that God is also justice. We who are created in God’s image are build for relationship… Loving relationships where God’s justice is shared and God’s blessing is available to all.”
“We are called to cast our crowns before God, not just our loose change. Not just the clothes that don’t fit anymore or the can in the cupboard you forgot you had. We are called to cast before God the best of who we are, the best of who we can be together. This is the way that we can fulfill the promises of God that were made so long ago. To excel in love, not just get by in love. Excel in love.”
This sermon refers to this blog post The Fat Pastor Goes to Washington.
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The Fat Pastor 