The first temptation most everyone who hears this parable faces is the temptation to do theological dentistry. That is, to try to pull the teeth of the parable. That’s usually done by saying that we are not like that rich man and we don’t act like he acted. Then we say that the real point…

This is the time of the year when congregations begin to think about the annual stewardship Sunday, or, as one colleague calls it, “The Fall Begathon!” In most congregations, this season is dreaded by the leadership-but someone has to do it. If everything goes well, the budget is met by pledges and promises, and if…

This sermon is written as an alternative for use on Sunday, September 16, 2001. It may be used in conjunction with the Lessons for the Day or as a topical sermon with other readings. It is difficult to pick up shattered lives. While many people have been able to return to a mostly normal life…

The Lectionary readings for today include two wonderful stories from the Bible – the Old Testament story (Exodus 32:1, 7-14) about Moses and God upon the mountain and the New Testament story of Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners and his story of the Lost Sheep. Among his many amazing talents, Moses would have…

There’s a great saying in the South that goes like this: “That preacher’s just gone from preachin’ to meddlin’.” And that’s exactly what Jesus has done in today’s Gospel. He’s gone from preachin’ to meddlin’. “If you don’t hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, you cannot…

It must have seemed like such a great idea. The Pharisees invite Jesus over for dinner thinking, no doubt, that they could humble him. That is surely what is meant by the words, “they were watching him.” You know, knock him down a few pegs, as they say. Expose him for the fraud he most…

Can you imagine what it’s like to experience an earthquake? I don’t mean a tremor that makes the china cabinet rattle — I mean an EARTHQUAKE that cracks streets, splits open houses, throws people to the floor, an earthquake where walls move, furniture slides, and you’re desperate to hang onto something solid. Can you imagine…

We human beings are stubborn. We may understand, or at least we may have heard, that we are God’s people and that our promise of salvation, of redemption, was purchased at great price. A price that was so great, God’s sacrifice of his only Son, it is hard for us to grasp what it might…

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Thus begins the beautiful tribute to our ancestors in faith, found in the eleventh chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews. Our Epistle lesson today includes only a part of that chapter, but it would be worth getting out your…

There is a delightful book called Tales From a Magic Monastery, by Theophane the Monk, (Crossroad, New York, 1981), that you might enjoy reading some day. It’s a collection of stories set in a very special monastery “off over there somewhere” — a place where the truth is always acted out. This is what happened to…