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Showing posts from March, 2017

caught in the whirlwind / dry as a bone

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& i don't think that i can make it on my own A sermon on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus : He’d been a success his entire life . There wasn’t any deal he couldn’t close.  And he put his skills to work building up his wealth.  In fact, his life was a testament to his success. He was always dressed in the latest fashions, and he could usually be found at the trendiest restaurants, too.  He was nothing like those louts who always seemed to be milling at the gates of his condominiums. Begging. He knew how to get along in this life… But it turns out he did have something in common with all those folks; because like everyone else, he died .  And there, in his death , all his success turns out to have counted for very little . None of his Italian suits or his reserved table at the 21 Club, can stave off death .  Be he’s not to be deterred by a little thing like his death. So the rich man does what he does best. There in Hades, of all places , an

there's no shade

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in the shadow of the cross A sermon from the 13th chapter of Luke : In the Gospel we hear as some folks with an obsessions with morbid headlines come up to Jesus. “Did you hear about that story, ‘18 struck down in when madman Pilate sent soldiers into the temple?’” In reply Jesus doesn’t offer any explanations, or even words of comfort. Instead, he talks about something we don’t expect given the question hanging in the air. Repentance . Repent. And let’s be honest, these days, the word repent has a decidedly negative connotation… Well, this Lent I haven’t had the heart to lay it on too thick…  Because I don’t have to be the one to tell you how broken things are. Do I? We all know that already …  Which is why I’ve been thinking a lot of about how this life Jesus calls us to isn’t a another thing to do, a way to be more religious. How Jesus calls us to a lite that’s fully human . How, at it’s heart, that’s what Lent is all about. Reclaiming the life Jesu

we start that long walk into town

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where we show a little mercy A sermon from Luke 10:25-42 : A lawyer stands up. Testing Jesus with a question he thinks already knows the answer to. “Teacher, What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus tosses the question right back. “You seem like the kind of guy who got perfect attendance in Sunday School. I bet you know. What have you year in the Bible?” And like the know-it-all the guy is, he gives the textbook answer. Word for word…  Turning to leave, Jesus shrugs . “You obviously have your answer. Do that.” But not to be put off so easily, the lawyer asks his now infamous follow-up; “And who , exactly, is my neighbor?” And you know the rest, don’t you? Why, this parable is so popular, it even has laws named after it. You too figure you already know the moral, the point of this parable… But does it ever bother you? That disconnect between what happens here and the rest of your life? The way the moral, the point never actually carries over into r