Christmas Day III

One of the readings suggested for Christmas Day is from the first chapter of Hebrews. It starts out with this introduction: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of…

We are all used to party political agendas. We’ve just survived an election season and although there’s two years to go before the next general election, the television networks daily parade possible candidates before us and we hear their plans to transform America. We can count on their plans being expensive. To get them enacted…

Who is this child born into our midst? It’s the question left before us on Christmas Eve, when the story opens with Jesus’ birth to Mary and Joseph, the angels sing, and the shepherds, real working and struggling people like us, come and behold this strange new gift to a world on the edge of…

Have you ever noticed that when you get together with your family and start telling stories about when you were growing up, or what happened years ago, the same events sound very different as different people tell the story? Depending on who’s describing it, the guy who used to live across the street was a…

Let this sermon begin with an invitation. Lift your hand in front of your face, and look at it. The reason your hand exists, from one moment to the next, is the Word of God. The Word of God always has been and always will be. All things were made through this eternal Word, and…

And now, after weeks of waiting, the blessed day has arrived. Christmas! Is there anyone in the Western World who doesn’t feel something different about this day from all other days? For children, it is the delight of gift-giving and receiving; for adults, it is seeing the pleasure of children and reliving the memories of…

Right now, there are babies laughing and crying in our world, and there are parents listening for those wordless cries and understanding them. After a few days or weeks of listening intently, caring for the newborn, simply being with the baby, parents learn to distinguish between the cry that means “I’m hungry — feed me…