Sermons on Spiritual Life (Page 25)
Why?
Acts 3:12-19 Luke 24:36b-48 Why do you wonder at this? Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Both this morning’s readings ask why. Why are we surprised at the way God works among us? Why do we doubt when miracles happen? The first reading this morning from Acts is a short passage taken out of its context in a longer story. In the exciting, heady days of the early church, Peter and John were going…
Prayer of Assent
This morning’s gospel reading comes from the very beginning of Mark’s gospel. Jesus was beginning his ministry, and we are told that he got up early in the morning and went to a deserted place to pray. Mark doesn’t tell us anything about how he prayed, but we can imagine that this was a regular practice of Jesus’. He rose early in the morning to pray. Prayer, contemplation or meditation are fundamental to the spiritual life. Prayer was foundational to…
The Light of Hope
Each day on my way to work I get to have alone time with God. And, one of my daily prayers is a verse from Psalm 51, which reads: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Today’s gospel story is Mark’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry following His baptism in the River Jordan. Immediately preceding the story, Jesus has just called Peter, Andrew, James and John from their boats to…
A Whale of a Tale
Jonah 3:1-5, 10 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh…
Pageantry and passion
There are at least two ways of approaching Scripture. I’m going to loosely categorize them as the Engineer’s way and the English Major’s way. The hypothetical engineer wants to know the facts of the situation and how these fit with other known facts; the English Major is more interested in metaphoric layers of symbolism in the passage. This morning’s reading is especially troubling to the engineer. There are more unanswered questions than there are certainties with this narrative. Where did…
Branchings of the Vine
John 15:1-5
All Saints Day
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I sometimes wonder what it means to be proud. Am I proud of who I am? Is that okay? And why? Did I have anything to do with it? What have I done to take pride in? Upon pondering these things I find myself thinking that I’m proud to be a child of God, but I can’t take credit for that. I can say I’m proud…
Entirely Fire
After the last few weeks when we have heard parables of violence and exclusion, it’s something of a relief to get to the two great commandments, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ And ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ For most of us this is the center of Jesus’ teaching. But I wonder whether that is right. Jesus himself says, “On these two commandments…