Sermons on Teaching of Jesus (Page 9)

Discipleship and Forgiveness – Lorienne Schwenk

Reconciliation by Vasconcellos, Coventry Cathedral Photo by Martinvl [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)] 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Matthew 5:21-37 This morning I am going to continue the theme of discipleship we have been hearing in Epiphany. We will look at discipleship through two lenses: one much needed, the other a trap. Forgiveness and Idolatry. Our Gospel is full of provocations and that’s good. Like the question we discussed at our tables just three weeks ago at the Annual Meeting. As a reminder: “…in…

Salt of the Earth

Matthew 5:13-20 When I hear Jesus’ words to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth: but if salt has lost its taste, How can its saltiness be restored? My brain goes contrary and asks: Just how can salt lose its taste? And of course, I’m thinking of those little salt granules We put on our food. To relate to Jesus’ teaching, it helps me To picture a salt lick out in a field; They’re put out for livestock.…

Hope

Photo by Kelly Sikkema @ unsplash.com Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 I read in the news this morning the sad story of Ron, a man in Maine, who rigged a pistol in his front door so that anyone who tried to enter would be shot.  Unfortunately, he made a mistake – I don’t know the details – but on Thanksgiving he walked into his own booby trap, was shot by the pistol and later died of his wounds. This…

Living from both pockets

Photo by Matthew Smith @ unsplash.com Text: Luke 18:9-14 Purpose:  We recognize both the Pharisee and the toll collector, both the saint and the sinner within ourselves. Prayer: Guard my lips and guide our hearts, O God, our help and our rock. Some days everything goes right.  Some days everything goes wrong! Some mornings we awake and say “Good morning, God.” Other days it’s more like, “Good God, it’s morning.” On those good days, it’s sunshine and blue skies, no…

Humility

When we think about St Benedict and his Rule or Way of Life, most of us think about balance or moderation or hospitality. Yet his longest chapter was about humility. In fact, he lists 12 steps of humility. Some of them are not immediately useful for us today, such as the one that says we should speak only when necessary and without laughter – after all we often associate gentle laughter with holiness; or the one that says that humility…

The peace of God is not peace

Photo by Faye Cornish @unsplash.com Isaiah 5:1-7 Luke 12:49-56 Sometimes I hear an Old Testament reading – like the one we heard today or the one we had a few weeks ago where Hosea was told to take a “wife of whoredom “ – and I wish we could skip all that and just listen to Jesus. But then we get to gospel passages like this one. Jesus is not having a good day. He is looking ahead to his…

Be Like Carson

Photo from Wikimedia Commons Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24 Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Luke 12:32-40 I confess that I’m a Downtown Abbey fan. I got quite caught up in the Crawley’s comings and goings, and enjoyed it even more the second time I watched it. I’m really looking forward to the film coming out next month. Today’s gospel reading makes me think of Carson. The lord goes off to a wedding feast (and in those days, weddings took several days…

Ask and it shall be given…

Photo by Michael Heuss unsplash.com Hosea 1:2-10 Psalm 85 Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) Luke 11:1-13 I imagine that quite a few of you had a hard time with that first reading from the prophet Hosea! Our First Testament readings during the season of Pentecost this year give us a quick tour of the prophets. We started in the 9th century Before the Common Era  – that’s 2900 years ago – with stories of Elijah and Elisha. Now we’ve moved up a…